I hate apps that fall over on an imperfect network.

I hate apps that fall over on an imperfect network.

• Trying to post on Google Plus with spotty 3G? It throws away everything.
• Create a masterpiece in Draw Something a little too far away from the WiFi? The app forgets the drawing completely, without even an apology!

As a user, I find it unacceptable for an app to lose data just because the network isn't perfectly reliable. But as a developer, I'm more sympathetic: writing robust sync code is hard work!

So today I'm very excited that Square has open sourced Tape. It's an easy-to-use file-backed queue that makes it easy to survive even the worst connectivity. We use it for payments!

If you're an Android app developer, you probably want Tape in your arsenal.