Facebook runs their weekly Operation Developer Love to keep the development community up to date on the newest features hitting their platform. It’s pretty great and one of the many unique things about the platform. Some recent changes from Google make it seem like their pushing for more of an Operation Developer Love You And Never Let You Go.
The three new features that hit Google this week are extremely important from a developer’s point of view. There’s a need for feedback and collaboration that you don’t see a lot unless the developer sets up their own Web site or if they seek out forums and communities for it. Google did the hard work for them with the latest features hitting the Chrome Web Store and Google Play.
Earlier this week, Google unveiled a new commenting tool for developers. It allows developers to reply directly to user reviews on Google Play and the Chrome Web Store. It’s a great benefit to developers because they can now directly interact with the users without the use of emails or dedicated communities. It also has the added bonus of allowing developers to defend themselves against malicious attacks that take the form of reviews on Web sites like this.
The other big news for developers is Google Developers Live. It’s been described by the folks at Google as a Google I/O that lasts year round. In reality, it’s more of an expansion/continuation of the weekly Office Hours hangouts that various departments within Google hold. The expansion comes in the form of new programming for developers including game shows.
These changes show that Google is at least trying to make it look like they care about developers and it’s working. I’m sure most people have already forgotten the pain Google inflicted by not telling developers about the changes coming to Google+. It seems that Google is ready to be more open and forward with developers about changes coming to their platforms.
