1. XDA: Past, Present, Future!
A platform for learning and sharing for you!
Prateek Gujral
Twitter: pg1o1

2. Summary
• Beginnings
• Present
• Changes and Development
• XDA India
• Developer/Manufacturer Relationships
• Future
• XDA Dev DB and XDA University
• Q&A

3. Humble Beginnings
Located in Amsterdam
Original Founders
Peter Poelman
itsme

4. Facelifts
2003 – 2014

5. 2003 – 3016 Users

6. 2004 – 5668 Users

7. 2006 – 129,150 Users

8. 2011 – 3.5 Mn Users

9. Today – 5.5+ Mn Users

10. 3016 5668 23393
129150
263574
756059
1531421
2334493
3852642
4661839
5532397
0
1000000
2000000
3000000
4000000
5000000
6000000
Year
XDA User Growth 2003-2014

11. Changes and
Developments
From humble beginnings in 2003 to the World’s
largest Mobile Development Site, today.
Sold to JB Online Media in early 2009.
JB Online Media commits to growing XDA and
developer focus

12. • Administrators
• User Experience Admin
• Server Admin
• Forum Admin
• Portal Admin
• Developer Admin
• Member Advocate Admin
XDA Structure

13. • Moderator Committee
• Developer Committee
• RC/RT Committee
• Senior Moderator and Liaison Staff
• Forum Specific Moderators
XDA Structure

14. Rise of the FSM
• Population Explosion == Trolls
• Had 20 moderators in 2009, realized need for more
• Moderator Committee was formed
• Streamlining moderation
• Introduction of RC in 2012
• Now over a 100 FSMs (primarily selected from a
pool of RCs) and Senior Moderators

15. Present
5.5+ million Users
Returning to Developer Roots
SRD/RD/RC/RT Programs
Creating Environments Where Developer Can
Learn and Collaborate
Quality Emphasis over Quantity
GPL Compliance

16. • Launched a dedicated section to India Specific
devices.
• An attempt to collaborate with the Indian OEMs like
Micromax, Karbonn etc.
• Main devices (HTC One, S4 etc.) remain on the main
site.
• Issue: GPL
XDA India

17. Original vs. Derivative
Stock ROM

18. Original vs. Derivative
Original Android Development

19. Original vs. Derivative
Everyone Working Towards
Perfection

20. Original vs. Derivative
Stock ROM
Win-zippers

21. Developer/Manufacturer
Relationships
Collaboration Amongst Developers & Manufacturers
is Key
Open Source Emphasis
Sony with AOSP and DASH
Oppo collaboration leading the first Chinese OEM
with open source kernel.

22. Developer/Manufacturer
Relationships (cont.)
Needed Changes
Manufacturers open-source kernels on git-like service
Carriers out of the loop, opening up the update chain
Full GPLv2 compliance (working, buildable kernel source)
Open Communication and Relationships with
Manufacturers

23. • Discussions initiated with Micromax and Karbonn.
XDA India Relations

24. Future
Stronger OEM relationships
Site Upgrades
New Features
Theme
New Widgets
New Feature for Developers…..
XDA Mobile App

25. LAUNCHED IN 2013

26. forums work well, but…
• not the ideal content management
system for software
• development work is not easily
searchable or sortable
• different users want different things

27. • Features
• Developers can add new projects from
special console
• XDA is a forum first!
• each project spawns a forum thread
• use XDA as usual if you want
• Reviews, bug tracking
• “follow a project” for email/PM updates
• development work displayed in central hub
on device category pages
• launched early 2013

28. • www.xda-university.com
The Android development community is strong when people learn and share!

32. • Originality of the idea
• Originality of the App
• Usability
• UI
App showcase

33. Q&A