The Android Developer Console has been experiencing numerous issues and outages over the past several days, Google confirms. As of this morning, these problems remain unresolved. Beginning March 31st, many Android developers began reporting trouble accessing the Developer Console, Google’s backend system that allows for the publication of Android Market applications and updates to existing apps. In the official Android Market Help Forum, developers said they’ve encountered error messages, problems with data and statistics not updating and failures in loading application lists.
However, Google tells us that the problem is only affecting “some” developers.
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4-Day Android Developer Console Outage Continues
There are now over 160 posts on the forum thread titled “404 Error signing up for Android Developer Profile” and 62 posts on a related thread here. Many of the posts are replies to the original developer’s post, saying, essentially, “same problem here.” According to these developers, the issues they’re experiencing include the following:
Receiving 404 error messages, not loading applications in the console, being told your applications don’t belong to you, statistics being off, data not updating and Google Checkout skipping a day in payments.
While some developers complain about the effect this is having on their app business, most were frustrated that there wasn’t any information from Google about the outage. However, on March 31st, a Google employee did post in the forums that Google was investigating the issue and was sorry for the inconvenience.
Google also has a Known Issues website which tracks ongoing Market problems, something which perhaps these developers did not know to check.
As of this morning, the problem related to 404 errors is still showing on this Known Issues page, along with nine other Market-related problems. Here, the specific issues affecting the Console and Publishing system are: 404 errors, an issue with missing applications, error messages when uploading apps and a problem with incomplete statistics or no data displayed in graphs.
We asked Google for an update on this situation yesterday and were provided with the following statement:
“Some developers may be experiencing issues accessing the Android Market developer console. We’re aware of the issue and are working quickly to resolve it.”
Beyond that, we don’t have any information on what has caused the outage or an ETA on when it will be resolved. Google did say it would let us know when a fix has occurred, however. As of the time of writing, we have not heard back from Google with an update.
Test Apps Show Up on Users’ Devices, Including New Google Music App
Meanwhile, in what may or may not be a related issue, some Android smartphone owners have gained access to a test version of the Android Market. As reported by the blogs Android Central and Download Squad, both citing a post on the Tech From 10 website, the test version of the Market is nearly identical to the current version except for a slightly different app carousel, the addition of content ratings for apps and an updated Music application.
The new Music app is the most intriguing change, considering CNET’s report in late March that stated Google is now testing a new Music service internally at company headquarters. “Google Music” is rumored to be a streaming service, similar to the one Amazon recently launched, which allows users to store tracks on Google’s servers in order to stream them over the Internet to PCs, Android smartphones, tablet computers and other devices.
According to the Tech From 10 blog post (note: the website is currently down), the Music app looks similar to the Honeycomb (Android 3.0) version installed on the Motorola Xoom tablet, but resized for a smartphone’s screen. It also looks much like the accidentally leaked version uncovered last month by developers on the XDA Developers forum.
The folks over on Tech From 10 also discovered test versions of other apps, including some from Sony and three more from Google: Gallery 3D, Camera v12 and Desk Clock 10. None would install, they said. The files themselves (the APKs) were posted to the Tech From 10 website, but at the moment, the site is down.
Note: other sources reporting on the outages: Android Community, The Next Web, Android Police
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