AndroidZoom: two light-years

Dear AndroidZoomers,

Two years ago today, AndroidZoom took off. When we started, Android had just been updated to version 2.0 Eclair and the most used OS was BB RIM. Android had only a few more than 20,000 apps. There were a few more than a million Android devices around. Angry Birds hadn’t been launched yet.

In that scenario, we had to bet. We had to zoom in on something. Those subtle vibes that tell you whether something is going to be okay had to be acknowledged. We had to give time and pay due attention. If we were going to start something, we should be able to be faithful to it till the end.

Although it’s hard to believe at this point, AndroidZoom wasn’t developed. It was crafted, done with the right mix of business, eager ambition, hope and talent. Then, that charming green bot grew and blessed us when it gave us the go-ahead in its own, quiet way.

It seems that our bet was right, though. It seems indeed that those vibrations haven’t betrayed us, because if they had, neither we’d be writing this nor you’d be reading it. Big smile here.

Nowadays, AndroidZoom is still a small family where we see each other’s faces every day and where we can keep the innocence needed to not lose the users’ point of view of everything. We’re glad that AndroidZoom is also a place where we can try to help a young starting developer at the same time that we chat with large and well-known companies. We’re proud of every new “congrats”, “think you should” and “thanks” we receive. It can sound as a cliché, but there’s still room to learn something, however small it may be, from every concise comment sent to us. We share what we know, as we firmly believe that’s the only way for Android to glow and grow. Beyond the discourse about how open source philosophy may become something useful to make the world a better place, there’s also a strong commitment with users and developers alike. That’s us and that’s how we work. We wouldn’t know how to do it otherwise.

During the last few weeks, we have been working frantically on a lot of improvements invisible to the naked eye, but that will soon allow us to offer a thousand and one new features. In the meantime, AndroidZoom remains a leading site for Android apps and games, somewhere to glance through, read any of our nearly two thousand reviews done to date and let yourself amaze by discovering applications you wouldn’t even imagine. Since we’re talking here about reviews, let us tell you that, from the early beginning, we chose that AZ would be a place where users go through the best Android apps at their whim. At that point everything was rather messed up, so we tried to tidy it all in the best possible way. Later, we add our reviews to the pot, which explained pretty quickly how much an app is worthy of downloading and whether we’ll like a game beforehand, as if they were that close friend we’re always asking about. Reviews had to be –and so still are- brief and straightforward instead of long and boring technical explanations, ideally conceived to be read on a mobile device.

At the same time, if you kindly visit our Facebook you’ll find, to name just one thing, AZCartoons every other week. Here at this blog, our editor team excels at presenting new apps that have passed over other sites and we launched, not so long ago, our brand new Youtube Channel where we find out great Android videos and (be this a big AND written in caps) our videoreviews are uploaded each week. Lastly, those of you who follow us on Twitter are up to date with remarkable reviews and news. Ultimately, let’s wonder at all how much can be done with our favorite toys.

There’s a huge competition among developers, and keep in mind that the best is yet to come. Market will be as good as they are its best apps. We’re expectant for natural selection to show off in the Android ecosystem. At the moment you are reading this, there are more than 150 million Android devices roaming out there, we’re celebrating the imminent advent of Android 4.0 and there are more than half a million apps uploaded.

Seen this way, the wholesale transformation Android has undergone in really seems to had started more than two years ago, two light-years away indeed. Two long light-years that have gone by quickly for Androidzoom, and that’s only the start of a journey we don’t know where it’ll take us.

That’s about it. Thank you; wish you all have a great day.

AndroidZoom team.