Gold Trap

During the Masters program at IIIT-Bangalore. I had taken a course on Design Patterns and wanted to implement those patterns in an App. I was amazed by the amount of popularity that games like Candy Crush and Subway Surfers had gained. So, I decided to create a game - Gold Trap.

Download it at http://bit.ly/gold-trap

This is a traditional "Join the Dots Game" with a twist. You have to collect the goodies and complete the tasks. There are more than 60 levels of this exciting game with various challenges to complete in the game.













There are also cheats to assist the players:

1. You can skip your turn.
2. You can play an extra turn.
3. The best cheat. You can swap your points with your opponents' points.

This uses Material Design guidelines and uses Google Play Game Service and integrates Turn based game API. It integrates with some of the cool things introduced in Google I/O like Native Ads, Firebase FCM notifications, Player Stats, Invites API, SVG vector graphics. 

Privacy Policy:

1. This app collects no data of users.
2. This app is integrated with Google Analytics and it uses the interaction behaviour of users anonymously. No PII is collected or passed outside of the app.
3. For Leaderboards and Multiplayer games, the app requires the players to sign in into the Google account.
4. This app uses Player analytics.
5. This app shows Ads to the players in few screens. No user data is passed explicitly for the ads.

Look Around: An Augmented Reality based Indoor Navigational App

Imagine you are in an Airport or a Shopping Mall and you want to go to your terminal or find a store. How would you do this? Google Maps won't help you here. You need to ask the people around you or read the signs and boards.

Wouldn't it be awesome if there were to be an app that showed you directions on your phone? Well, your wait is over. This new app called Look Around does exactly that. To put icing on the cake, it provides you with an Augmented Reality view! Just like in those science fiction movies!

Enough of intro, let's look at the app!

This is the Augmented Reality View. It shows the location pins right on the Camera View.

How do you get this app?

Download the app from Google play at http://bit.ly/look-ar

Open the App and do a Search (by location co-ordinates or by name)

Download the map by tapping it

Click on the downloaded map and Look Around!

Map Preview/Bird's eye view:

Now, how do you create the indoor maps?

Click on the Drawer Menu in the top left.

Select My Maps.

Signin with Google+ account

Add new Map by clicking "+" on the Menu item.

Enter the Location Name and detail and save it.

Now start adding Points of Interests.

You can choose location co-ordinates from the GPS or by tapping on the map directly!

Supported on Tablets too!

This is a free app with no Ads or in app purchases!

Ultimate Tic Tac Toe

So I was reading an answer in Quora on how to make a Tic-Tac-Toe interesting. It was a cool concept. So I thought of downloading an app for this in Android. But unfortunately I couldn't find any app having this feature and if it had, it was a paid app. So, I thought I should be doing this app for the sake of humanity! So, after working on it non-stop on a weekend, I was able to complete this app and publish it on the Google Play.

Download it at https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.asb.ttt.ultimate

Some of the screen shots of the app:

General Elections 2014 - A Complete Analysis

2014 India General Elections were the biggest elections in democracy that humans have ever witnessed.

The elections were held from April 7th 2014 to May 12th 2014 in 9 phases. A total of 814.5 million voters were eligible to vote and about 553.8 million votes were casted.

Taking the data available in the public domain, I ran some analytics and found some interesting results.

Top 5 parties with maximum number of seats

PARTY	SEATS
BHARATIYA JANATA PARTY	282
INDIAN NATIONAL CONGRESS	44
ALL INDIA ANNA DRAVIDA MUNNETRA KAZHAGAM	37
ALL INDIA TRINAMOOL CONGRESS	34
BIJU JANATA DAL	20

Well, everyone knows that isn't it? Let's see top 5 parties with maximum number of 2nd place.

Top 5 parties with maximum number of 2nd place

PARTY	SEATS
INDIAN NATIONAL CONGRESS	224
BHARATIYA JANATA PARTY	54
BAHUJAN SAMAJ PARTY	36
SAMAJWADI PARTY	31
COMMUNIST PARTY OF INDIA (MARXIST)	30

As many as 431 parties won ZERO seats!

Which party fielded maximum number of candidates?

Maximum number of candidates - Party Wise

NO. OF CANDIDATES	PARTY
503	BAHUJAN SAMAJ PARTY
464	INDIAN NATIONAL CONGRESS
432	AAM AADMI PARTY
428	BHARATIYA JANATA PARTY
232	BAHUJAN MUKTI PARTY

Well, Well, Who got maximum number of votes?

Maximum number of votes

CANDIDATE	PARTY	CONSTITUENCY	VOTES
RAMCHARAN BOHARA	BHARATIYA JANATA PARTY	JAIPUR	863358
SUMITRA MAHAJAN (TAI)	BHARATIYA JANATA PARTY	INDORE	854972
NARENDRA MODI	BHARATIYA JANATA PARTY	VADODARA	845464
C. R. PATIL	BHARATIYA JANATA PARTY	NAVSARI	820831
L.K.ADVANI	BHARATIYA JANATA PARTY	GANDHINAGAR	773539

Which constituency had maximum number of votes casted?

Constituency with maximum number of voters

STATE	CONSTITUENCY	TOTAL VOTES
ANDHRA PRADESH	MALKAJGIRI	1620397
ASSAM	GAUHATI	1511729
KARNATAKA	BANGALORE RURAL	1455244
ASSAM	DHUBRI	1369624
WEST BENGAL	GHATAL	1366709

Let's look at the vote shares of Top 10 parties.

Vote Shares

PARTY	PARTY VOTES	TOTAL VOTES	VOTE SHARE
BHARATIYA JANATA PARTY	171657549	553801801	0.31
INDIAN NATIONAL CONGRESS	106938242	553801801	0.1931
BAHUJAN SAMAJ PARTY	22946182	553801801	0.0414
ALL INDIA TRINAMOOL CONGRESS	21259681	553801801	0.0384
SAMAJWADI PARTY	18672916	553801801	0.0337
ALL INDIA ANNA DRAVIDA MUNNETRA KAZHAGAM	18115825	553801801	0.0327
COMMUNIST PARTY OF INDIA (MARXIST)	17986773	553801801	0.0325
INDEPENDENT	16743719	553801801	0.0302
TELUGU DESAM	14094545	553801801	0.0255
YUVAJANA SRAMIKA RYTHU CONGRESS PARTY	13991280	553801801	0.0253

Who were the undisputed winners of 2014?

Winner by maximum vote share

CANDIDATE	PARTY	CONSTITUENCY	VOTES	TOTAL VOTES	VOTE SHARE
DARSHANA VIKRAM JARDOSH	BHARATIYA JANATA PARTY	SURAT	718412	947922	0.7579
NARENDRA MODI	BHARATIYA JANATA PARTY	VADODARA	845464	1161577	0.7279
C. R. PATIL	BHARATIYA JANATA PARTY	NAVSARI	820831	1160747	0.7072
GOPAL CHINAYYA SHETTY	BHARATIYA JANATA PARTY	MUMBAI NORTH	664004	946562	0.7015
NEIPHIU RIO NAGA	PEOPLES FRONT	NAGALAND	713372	1038910	0.6867

Who lost the maximum deposit?

No. of seats with < 1/6 votes

NO OF CANDIDATES	PARTY
448	BAHUJAN SAMAJ PARTY
414	AAM AADMI PARTY
232	BAHUJAN MUKTI PARTY
178	INDIAN NATIONAL CONGRESS
140	SAMAJWADI PARTY

Who won with maximum difference in votes?

Maximum Difference

CONSTITUENCY	WINNER CANDIDATE	WINNER PARTY	WINNER VOTES	RUNNER UP CANDIDATE	RUNNER UP PARTY	RUNNER UP VOTES	DIFFERENCE IN VOTES
VADODARA	NARENDRA MODI	BHARATIYA JANATA PARTY	845464	MISTRI MADHUSUDAN DEVRAM	INDIAN NATIONAL CONGRESS	275336	570128
GHAZIABAD	VIJAY KUMAR SINGH	BHARATIYA JANATA PARTY	758482	RAJ BABBAR	INDIAN NATIONAL CONGRESS	191222	567260
NAVSARI	C. R. PATIL	BHARATIYA JANATA PARTY	820831	MAKSUD MIRZA	INDIAN NATIONAL CONGRESS	262715	558116
JAIPUR	RAMCHARAN BOHARA	BHARATIYA JANATA PARTY	863358	DR. MAHESH JOSHI	INDIAN NATIONAL CONGRESS	324013	539345
SURAT	DARSHANA VIKRAM JARDOSH	BHARATIYA JANATA PARTY	718412	DESAI NAISHADHBHAI BHUPATBHAI	INDIAN NATIONAL CONGRESS	185222	533190

Who won with least difference in votes?

Nail Biting Finishes

CONSTITUENCY	WINNER CANDIDATE	WINNER PARTY	WINNER VOTES	RUNNER UP CANDIDATE	RUNNER UP PARTY	RUNNER UP VOTES	DIFFERENCE IN VOTES
LADAKH	THUPSTAN CHHEWANG	BHARATIYA JANATA PARTY	31111	GHULAM RAZA	INDEPENDENT	31075	36
MAHASAMUND	CHANDU LAL SAHU (CHANDU BHAIYA)	BHARATIYA JANATA PARTY	503514	AJIT JOGI	INDIAN NATIONAL CONGRESS	502297	1217
RAICHUR	B.V.NAYAK	INDIAN NATIONAL CONGRESS	443659	ARAKERA SHIVANAGOUDA NAYAK	BHARATIYA JANATA PARTY	442160	1499
LAKSHADWEEP	MOHAMMED FAIZAL P.P.	NATIONALIST CONGRESS PARTY	21665	HAMDULLAH SAYEED	INDIAN NATIONAL CONGRESS	20130	1535
HINGOLI	RAJEEV SHANKARRAO SATAV	INDIAN NATIONAL CONGRESS	467397	WANKHEDE SUBHASH BAPURAO	SHIVSENA	465765	1632

Which constituency had maximum number of candidates?

All want to be leaders here

CONSTITUENCY	NO OF CANDIDATES
CHENNAI SOUTH	43
VARANASI	43
HISAR	42
CHENNAI NORTH	41
BEED	40

EC allowed up to INR 70 Lakhs for election expenditure. Assuming that every candidate spent exactly 70 lakhs, we see some interesting results. Cost per seat excludes parties that won no seats.

Cost per vote. Best Performers.

PARTY	TOTAL COST	VOTES PARTY GOT	COST PER VOTE
SWABHIMANI PAKSHA	14000000	1105073	12.6688
NAGA PEOPLES FRONT	14000000	994505	14.0774
TELUGU DESAM	210000000	14094545	14.8994
ALL INDIA ANNA DRAVIDA MUNNETRA KAZHAGAM	280000000	18115825	15.4561
BIJU JANATA DAL	147000000	9491497	15.4875

Cost per vote. Worst Performers.

PARTY	TOTAL COST	VOTES PARTY GOT	COST PER VOTE
BHARAT VISHAL PARTY	7000000	161	43478.2609
RASHTRIYA JANKRANTI PARTY	7000000	217	32258.0645
RASHTRIYA JATIGAT AARAKSHAN VIRODHI PARTY	7000000	259	27027.027
AKHIL BHARATIYA ASHOK SENA	7000000	296	23648.6486
VISHVA SHAKTI PARTY	7000000	263	26615.9696

Cost per seat. Best Performers.

PARTY	TOTAL COST	SEATS PARTY WON	TOTAL PARTICIPATED SEATS	SUCCESS RATIO	COST PER SEAT
ALL INDIA N.R. CONGRESS	7000000	1	1	1	7000000
KERALA CONGRESS (M)	7000000	1	1	1	7000000
SIKKIM DEMOCRATIC FRONT	7000000	1	1	1	7000000
BIJU JANATA DAL	147000000	20	21	0.9524	7350000
ALL INDIA ANNA DRAVIDA MUNNETRA KAZHAGAM	280000000	37	40	0.925	7567567.568

Cost per seat. Worst Performers.

PARTY	TOTAL COST	SEATS PARTY WON	TOTAL PARTICIPATED SEATS	SUCCESS RATIO	COST PER SEAT
SAMAJWADI PARTY	1379000000	5	197	0.0254	275800000
JANATA DAL (UNITED)	651000000	2	93	0.0215	325500000
COMMUNIST PARTY OF INDIA	469000000	1	67	0.0149	469000000
AAM AADMI PARTY	3024000000	4	432	0.0093	756000000
INDEPENDENT	22645000000	3	3235	0.0009	7548333333

A total of 17 Candidates contested from 2 constituencies*

I shall represent this and that

CANDIDATE	CANDIDATE
A.K.Aggarwal	Arvind Kumar
Ashok Kumar	Ashok Singh
Bhola Singh	Dinesh Kumar
Harekrishna Sarkar	Jaswant Singh
Mulayam Singh Yadav	Narendra Modi
Sanjay Kumar	Sunil Kumar
Sutharapu Padmaiah	Thakur
Hemendra Veer Singh	Vijay Kumar Singh
Vinod Kumar

But did it really help them? Not exactly. Vijay Kumar Singh won and lost in one each. Narendra Modi, Mulayam Singh Yadav, Bhola Singh won in both. Other 13 candidates lost in both.

Report Card these winning Candidates

CANDIDATE	PARTY	CONSTITUENCY	VOTES
VIJAY KUMAR SINGH	BHARATIYA JANATA PARTY	GHAZIABAD	758482
NARENDRA MODI	BHARATIYA JANATA PARTY	VADODARA	845464
NARENDRA MODI	BHARATIYA JANATA PARTY	VARANASI	581022
MULAYAM SINGH YADAV	SAMAJWADI PARTY	AZAMGARH	340306
MULAYAM SINGH YADAV	SAMAJWADI PARTY	MAINPURI	595918
BHOLA SINGH	BHARATIYA JANATA PARTY	BEGUSARAI	428227
BHOLA SINGH	BHARATIYA JANATA PARTY	BULANDSHAHR	604449

You can get all the complete set of reports here on GitHub.

* A string match of Names and Party were done. This is not fool proof. There could be 2 individuals with same name and belonging to the same party.

Edit: Earlier ALL INDIA TRINAMOOL CONGRESS were shown to have 44 seats, but it's 34. It was a typo. Thanks to Anand Kislay Singh for pointing out this error.

Spandan 2014

This new app that I've created has lot of new features that I've used for the first time in my apps. The app acts as a handy guide for the participants and organisers of Spandan*. Some of new features/APIs that have been used in the App include:

• GridView: 
• This is a cool view that is not used quite often in the apps. I feel this view is better than the ListView.
• ExpandableListView: 
• This view provides a nice accordion effect in the app.
• Infinite Scrolling: 
• This is probably the easiest and the most exciting API. This can be achieved by implementing OnScrollListener and attaching it to the scroll event of ListView. This gives a beautiful infinite scroll feature to the app.
• PushNotifications: 
• Push Notifications is real simple with the Google Cloud Messaging services. This is used for providing alerts in real time. The Alerts Activity is launched in the Intent.
• Spock:
• This is the coolest part! The app has Spock! Actually, it's SPOC, but who cares, it's SPOCK (minus K)! Fascinating.

The app can be downloaded from Google Play at http://bit.ly/spandan2014. The app is supported from API level 8 - Froyo.

Some of the screenshots:

Spandan*: Spandan is an annual sports extravaganza at IIIT Bangalore. The sporting events will go on for three days. It's from March 7th to March 9th, 2014. The official website can be found at here. Game On!

Graphs!

When I released the app in June, it got a great response. Especially on Windows Phone platform. It got almost 5000 downloads in less than 3 months. This is huge because $0 was spent on marketing the app.

The app also received an invitation from Google to be included in Google Play for Education and I take great pleasure in announcing that it got approved.

Today, I have great news for all the users of the app. The most requested feature - "The Graphs" has finally made its way into the app. Yes, you can now plot the graphs for all the 170 equations with all the combinations. This is optimised for tablets as well. Below are the screenshots of the app plotting the graphs.

You can download it at http://bit.ly/androidhsp
Oh, By the way, the app was also featured in NextBigWhat.

Better Education with Apps

What I really liked at Google I/O this year was Google's initiative for having a Google Play for Education. This is great announcement because a smartphone or a tablet with right educational tools can create miracles in the life of a student.
The educational apps provide a lot of advantages to the students. It gives the freedom from carrying heavy books to the schools. It has interactive learning features that allows student to learn with more ease and help them to understand the concepts clearly.

Keeping the same goals in my mind, I have created an app called High School Physics. As we know Mathematics is the language of Physics and is very critical for understanding some of the advanced concepts in it. But many times, a great number of Physics enthusiasts often get intimidated by the vast amount of Mathematics used in Physics.
The app High School Physics tries to solve that problem. This app provides a great tool that helps student to concentrate on Physics without having to be drowned in the sea of Mathematical Equations.

Features of High School Physics App:

• Equations Calculator for over 170 equations covering over 20+ lessons.
• 160+ Definitions covering all the topics.
• Descriptions for all the Units and Lessons.
• Wiki pages for all the Units and Lessons inside the app.
• Equations List for all the formulae.
• Clipboard support for all the Equations and Results

You can download it from the Google Play here.

Below are some of the screenshots of the app.

The App is also available for Windows Phone platform. Some of the screenshots of WP are are below:

It can be downloaded at http://www.windowsphone.com/s?appid=f3708bd8-32a3-4308-99c8-143c6da181a8

Privacy Policy:

This app collects the email id of the users so that the resource is not abused. The email id will not be shared with anyone and no promotional mails/offers will be sent.

The app has been featured in popular media like Times of India, NextBigWhat, Technodify and YourStory and Android Dissected.