Google Reader/Docs updates [or… how the Market app is really annoying me]

Those who know me, know I love Google stuff. I’m no fan boy, but I do like a synchronous experience across a platform.

So I’m always excited when I see updates for the apps. As we’ve seen lately the proliferation of the Google+ platform and it’s features seep into the web apps [Gmail and Reader both updated their web apps to add G+ functionality and feel] it was only inevitability that the Android apps started to reflect.

Today, when I went to the market, I was notified of not one, but 2 Google Apps that needed updating.

Google Reader & Google Docs

So, I go about clicking the update button to start the process. I don’t like doing the ‘update all’ as I’m afraid that it’ll start to set the apps to ‘auto update’, but I like to know when updates happen.

I start with Reader. At first it didn’t say it needed an update – and this happens from time to time, usually I wait a few minutes, try again and it’s fine. Which is what happened.

Some of the updates here are pretty… miniscule. There’s no ‘like’ as with the webapp, but there’s no +1 either. Hrmm… share option is the standard Android ‘share’ where you can email it etc…, so not sending it to G+ by default. That’s unlike the webapp.

Other than that, there’s not a whole lot to this update except they stripped out the ‘like’ option. No biggie.

As for Docs. My favourite Google app thus far. I love it. Seriously. Which is why it was such a frustration point to see that it wanted an update, but when I click on it TO update, it didn’t show there was one. Hrmm… I try again after waiting a few… nothing. I check app – it’s version 1.0.27. Check the web, it says latest is 1.0.27. Hrmm… weird. Yet the market app is saying it needs to update, but something is amiss.

I go and check my tablet, and it’s exhibiting the same behaviour. This time I ‘force’ it with the ‘update all’ option [as I had both Reader and Docs to update on my tablet]. This time it downloads and installs for my tablet. I click on the app in the market and it says 1.0.27. Click into the app and the about and it says 1.0.30. Go to the web and it says 1.0.27. Something is seriously amiss.

Now I just wait. Debate about rebooting, but that’s usually a pain. So I wait, and eventually the phone’s market app lets me do the update. Except it downloads, installs and SAYS it’s updated, but the app still says 1.0.27. So I check the web again and now the web says 1.0.30, so I do a remote install from the web and that finally does it. Man this is a pain. Why am I being so OCD over an update. After all, the update says it only “fixed bugs in previous”.

Some have said on the web the new Docs interface is more ICS UI… umm… looks the same to me. I’ve even compared photos from my last update blog for Docs, and theirs they are showing, and mine… things look similar to me. Oh, maybe the widget is ‘square-er’.

Anyways, part of my post I want to talk about here is the problems with the Market itself.

ANYBODY ELSE NOTICE SIMILAR ERRORS?

Often I’ll have apps telling me there’s an update, but then nothing will occur.  Sometimes the web will show there’s a newer version and I can force update [heh… star wars reference] from a web install, but otherwise I’m left in the lurch.

Does this have anything to do with being Canadian?  Can the Canadian IP address I’m using mean that the market hasn’t received the international version yet?  Then why does the market app tell me there’s an update, but then not make it available to me?  Very frustrating!

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