Aiming for a February release, I managed to get RomanDigital 3.0.0 out in the nick of time (Feb 28, 23:31 UTC). The release replaces exact-alarm-based widget updating with service-based widget updating responsive to Android's time tick signal, improving widget time reliability while reducing battery consumption. Also, in response to a feature request, it adds typeface selection of app and widget(s) time display.

This version really *does* fix the problem on Android OS's with aggressive battery optimization like XOS that version 2.2.1 was intended to fix, as verified by an XOS user.

https://github.com/dfyockey/RomanDigital/releases/tag/3.0.0
https://f-droid.org/en/packages/net.diffengine.romandigitalclock/
#AndroidDev #RomanDigital @androiddev #FDroid

@kundu For analysis and crashes, you might want to consider using FOSS alternatives, as suggested at https://f-droid.org/en/docs/FAQ_-_App_Developers/#which-libraries-and-dependencies-are-good-to-use

Rollback release 😞

https://github.com/dfyockey/RomanDigital/releases/tag/2.2.2
#AndroidDev #RomanDigital @androiddev #FDroid

Unfortunately, the fix didn't work. Worse than that, it caused crashes on some devices and functionality problems on other. So, it's got to be rolled back. 😞

@androiddev

Anyone happen to have an Infinix device running XOS, an Android based OS? Anyone even heard of Infinix or XOS before?

XOS apparently has aggressive battery optimization that can be overzealous in killing background apps and alarm intents. Got a bug report about an Infinix and XOS user finding that my clock widget stopped after having the lock screen engaged for a while.

I just pushed out a fix that will hopefully overcome the problem, and hopefully I'll hear something back from the user one way of the other, at least once the fix is up on F-Droid. But if not: Infinix devices and XOS are popular in the Eastern Hemisphere, and I don't know if they're even marketed in North America. I'd never even heard of them before this. As a consequence, there unfortunately isn't one available for testing. So, any possibility that someone might have one and be willing to do a brief test?

https://github.com/dfyockey/RomanDigital/releases/tag/2.2.1
#AndroidDev #RomanDigital @androiddev #FDroid

Antarctica is starting to look a lot like Greenland—and that isn’t good
Global warming is awakening sleeping giants of ice at the South Pole.
https://arstechnica.com/science/2025/10/antarctica-is-starting-to-look-a-lot-like-greenland-and-that-isnt-good/?utm_brand=arstechnica&utm_social-type=owned&utm_source=mastodon&utm_medium=social

Supreme Court refuses to pause Play Store changes while Google appeals antitrust case
The first app store changes are due in a few weeks, with the major changes coming next summer.
https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2025/10/supreme-court-refuses-to-pause-play-store-changes-while-google-appeals-antitrust-case/?utm_brand=arstechnica&utm_social-type=owned&utm_source=mastodon&utm_medium=social

Released RomanDigital version 2.2.0 back on October 1, which arrived on F-Droid yesterday. It adds autosizing of time display text to fit the widget pixel width and height.

It seems that there's a difference between how the Paint class handles DIPs and PXs in Android <=12 and Android >=13, Paint being needed in the autosizing. Couldn't find where it's documented but did manage to make things work. For anyone interested, see the calcTimeDisplayTextSize and findMaxTextSize methods in TimeDisplayWidget.java in the source.

https://github.com/dfyockey/RomanDigital/releases/tag/2.2.0
https://f-droid.org/en/packages/net.diffengine.romandigitalclock/
#AndroidDev #RomanDigital @androiddev #fdroid

In new level of stupid, RFK Jr.’s anti-vaccine advisors axe MMRV recommendation
The vote to strip the recommendation came after a day of inept discussion.
https://arstechnica.com/health/2025/09/in-new-level-of-stupid-rfk-jr-s-anti-vaccine-advisors-axe-mmrv-recommendation/?utm_brand=arstechnica&utm_social-type=owned&utm_source=mastodon&utm_medium=social

Android: il sideloading avrà bisogno del Wi-Fi
#Android #AndroidDev #App #Google #Novità #Sicurezza #Sideloading #TechNews #Tecnologia

https://www.ceotech.it/android-il-sideloading-avra-bisogno-del-wi-fi/

I'm writing this post here today in hopes to bring some attention to something that is near and dear to my heart, and that's an update to the current situation with Nova Launcher, that I worked for and with for nine years up until August of 2024.

For those that haven't seen the news, Kevin Barry, the founder and developer of Nova has left Branch which in turn means he's now no longer involved with Nova Launcher in any way going forward.

https://teslacoilapps.com/nova/solong.html

For the past year or so Kevin has stated that he was working on the open source version of Nova Launcher so that if/when this time came, it would be out in the open and the community could take it over and contribute to it and have it continue being developed.

However, it seems that Harish Thimmappa and others at Branch had told him to stop working on that effort as they didn't want him to continue doing that for unknown reasons. This is sad news because this was something that former CEO, Alex Austin, had promised both via a contract and publicly that if Kevin were to ever leave Branch, Nova Launcher would become open source. You can find that quote here:

https://www.reddit.com/r/Android/comments/w2q6al/comment/igzoniu/

and another very similar quote with similar conversation here:

https://www.reddit.com/r/Android/comments/w2q6al/comment/ih25ntz/

The reason for this post is to try and draw some attention to the folks at Branch, specifically folks like Harish Thimmappa to do the right thing and honor these promises and any writings in the contracts from 2022 and to fully focus on releasing Nova Launcher as an open source app.

The community deserves this more than anything, since that was something that Kevin was very adamant about when he allowed Branch to acquire Nova Launcher back in 2022. Plus, this is just something that Branch should do since it is something that has been promised.

There is currently a petition on Change.org to try and get Branch to do this as well. After only 3 days of it being posted to Change.org, it sits at almost 1,500 signatures, and that's with very little to no press coverage at this time, which is something that would be super useful to bring full attention to this situation. You can find the petition here:

https://www.change.org/p/make-nova-launcher-open-source-let-the-community-continue-its-development

I ask that everyone who sees this post can share it with their followers as I would love to see Branch do the right thing and follow through with their promises that were made back in 2022 when they acquired Nova Launcher and release it fully as an open source app now that Kevin is no longer working for Branch and not involved in Nova Launcher.

I'm going to tag some folks below that I worked with at Branch in hopes of getting this post seen by as many folks there as possible.

#NovaLauncher #Nova #Branch #BranchMetrics #OpenSource #OpenSourceNova #Petition #Android #Apps #Google

Version 2.1.0 of RomanDigital, with customizable app time display color, arrived on F-Droid today 🙂

https://f-droid.org/en/packages/net.diffengine.romandigitalclock/
#AndroidDev #RomanDigital @androiddev #fdroid

Didn't expect it'd be so tough to develop the custom color dialog preference 🤨

https://github.com/dfyockey/RomanDigital/releases/tag/2.1.0
#AndroidDev #RomanDigital @androiddev

#EU wants to ask app (and app store) developers about their interactions with app stores (specially of the very big kind) in the context of the Digital Services Act #DSA

The study aims to better understand content moderation practices, recommender systems, advertising mechanisms, and emerging challenges within the app ecosystem.

If you have 15-20 minutes to share your experience, make sure you visit the link until Tuesday May 27th, 2025.

Go: https://ec.europa.eu/eusurvey/runner/c7161c9d-9db5-c881-5f50-7faab4af7387

The "Open source developers don’t care about UI" trope is incredibly insulting.

It’s like telling the forth runner across the finish line at a marathon they clearly don’t care about winning.

Nobody wants their app to look bad. We can and do look at other apps and try to follow trends. Trends change rapidly and UI development is difficult and time consuming.

Good to see this happening in Japan -- I think scrutiny of deals around preinstallation of software on #Android devices is important for the future growth of projects like @fdroidorg
, and of mobile freedom in general. #google

https://www.engadget.com/big-tech/japan-clamps-down-on-googles-android-app-pre-install-deals-130050220.html

"Premature optimization is the root of all evil." ~ Donald Knuth

https://github.com/dfyockey/RomanDigital/releases/tag/2.0.2
#AndroidDev #RomanDigital @androiddev

This fix should have been added to RomanDigital long ago. 🙄

https://github.com/dfyockey/RomanDigital/releases/tag/2.0.1
#AndroidDev #RomanDigital @androiddev

RomanDigital app and widgets can now be configured independently. Options to set widget time zone time display and layout including a time zone label have also been added.

https://github.com/dfyockey/RomanDigital/releases/tag/2.0.0
#AndroidDev #RomanDigital @androiddev