To those of you who are are following the mini-series on using maps in Android it will not come as a great surpise that I have now released my first Android application which implements Google Maps. The free application is called FillLPG and can be downloaded from the Android Market.

fill lpg app

The application is aimed at drivers in the UK who have vehicles running on LPG (Liquefied Petroleum Gas) and want to be able to locate the cheapest filling station with the data coming from an existing website (FillLPG) where registered users can add new stations and update prices of existing ones so that the data remains accurate.

I used the development mainly as an exercise in learning Android using a real world application rather than the contrived examples you find in books and on the web. On the whole it has been a very useful exercise and together with the FillLPG website owner I intend to add functionality to the app over the coming months.

After the first day the application has been installed 20 times and only uninstalled once – not a bad ratio in my opinion, especially when I suspect that the person who uninstalled the app was probably the same one who complained that there were stations missing and that the prices were out of date.

I have to say that I put my head in my hands – the whole point of the website is that the LPG community at large maintains the data for the good of the community. The application is an extension of this to allow users to update prices on the go and to locate stations in their area and across the country – really useful when travelling to a new area.

If you download the application and have any problems, feedback (good or bad – just please be constructive) or suggestions then please feel free to leave a comment on this posting.