http://www.computerworld.com/s/article/9188198/Devs_bet_big_on_Android_over_Apple_s_iOS
Reading that article, I would agree with Schwartzhoff:
Reading that article, I would agree with Schwartzhoff:
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Developers: Android over iOS for the long haul
- Thread starter belvdr
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Not to dis iOs but that's kind of like Duh. I mean android is being offered on multiple phones, across multiple carriers. That means any given app will be exposed to a much larger audience then iOS will be.
With that said, google needs to clean up the marketplace or developers won't stick around. Too many apps that are quasi-legal, others are clear rip off or enable you to steal content. Why spend a lot of effort on an app only to have it ripped off by some opportunist.
With that said, google needs to clean up the marketplace or developers won't stick around. Too many apps that are quasi-legal, others are clear rip off or enable you to steal content. Why spend a lot of effort on an app only to have it ripped off by some opportunist.
Except people tend to ignore the fact that google basically promised that there won't be any policing. Not for quality or usability anyway.
Good luck on the platform where every device is different (and with writing JAVA).
So far that has not been a huge issue and performance the apps and using android's ndk has been such AFAIK that performance is great.
The beta of angry birds is a great example of an app performing very well. On my droid x, I have a demo of Need For Speed Shift and again visually a great looking game and performance is excellent.
The knee jerk comments on platform fragmentation is vastly over blown and typically used by other fanboys to spread FUD but like any FUD its more about misinformation rather then accurate portrayal of the facts
I'm not a programmer, but Java is platform independent. Since the OS is the same, how does the device matter?
You can trash it all you want, as it makes no difference to me. If the developers are looking to Android long-term, then that surely means there will be more apps developed for that platform. That is not good news for Apple's iOS.
True, but that's also why google has provided the NDK so developers can produce apps that perform very well, like games without dealing with the java penalty.
Which Java's performance ? Java the language ? Java the Virtual Machine ? Java the platform ?
You just stepped into a huge stereotype that just showed how little you actually know about what you are talking about.
Why develop for a platform when there's no guarantee it'll work across all the popular models? I know it's been discontinued, but the Nexus One didn't even have multitouch for crying out loud.
I don't quite understand why analysts keep saying Android is this hyooge platform when so much of it is fragmented.
I don't quite understand why analysts keep saying Android is this hyooge platform when so much of it is fragmented.
The sad thing is that apple could have been the winner here. However they choose to go down the control freak path and gave the market to google on a silver platter.
Umm Nexus one has Multitouch. it was not enable in the US at first because of Apple. It was later added in.
As a developer I think this article is waaay off.
These phone platforms are mostly dominated by indie developers. Indie devs do not have the time/money/manpower to go scooping up each piece of hardware out there and testing it individually.
They have to do this on android. If someone tells you otherwise they need to learn more about android or they just don't care about quality control on their app.
Now, android is horribly fragmented, meaning you have to test on pretty much every different version out there since there is no guarantee a particular handset will even have the newest version of the OS. Fragmentation, combined with the inevitable deprecation that happens in new versions of OSs is very frustrating to developers. Its just not worth the time and effort.
So many people who don't have a clue what they are talking about say things like "Apple has a walled garden, apple wants control over everything, blah blah". In reality, Apple always was, and even is more now, loose on their restrictions. Follow the HIG, don't do shady stuff with your app, make sure it works, dont duplicate default iPhone functionality and your good. No problems. These "celebrity devs" you see crying about their app being rejected should have simply contacted apple, found out what in their app violated the guidelines, fixed it and resubmitted instead of being internet drama queens.
The reason developers are attracted to Apples platform is that the hardware and OS is consistent. Even with updates, usually only minor tweaks are needed to update an app.
I could not make a game on android and be confident it worked on all phones (not to mention each hand set has different screen sizes). If it didn't work on a particular phone, then my app would get bad mouthed and sales would suffer.
These phone platforms are mostly dominated by indie developers. Indie devs do not have the time/money/manpower to go scooping up each piece of hardware out there and testing it individually.
They have to do this on android. If someone tells you otherwise they need to learn more about android or they just don't care about quality control on their app.
Now, android is horribly fragmented, meaning you have to test on pretty much every different version out there since there is no guarantee a particular handset will even have the newest version of the OS. Fragmentation, combined with the inevitable deprecation that happens in new versions of OSs is very frustrating to developers. Its just not worth the time and effort.
So many people who don't have a clue what they are talking about say things like "Apple has a walled garden, apple wants control over everything, blah blah". In reality, Apple always was, and even is more now, loose on their restrictions. Follow the HIG, don't do shady stuff with your app, make sure it works, dont duplicate default iPhone functionality and your good. No problems. These "celebrity devs" you see crying about their app being rejected should have simply contacted apple, found out what in their app violated the guidelines, fixed it and resubmitted instead of being internet drama queens.
The reason developers are attracted to Apples platform is that the hardware and OS is consistent. Even with updates, usually only minor tweaks are needed to update an app.
I could not make a game on android and be confident it worked on all phones (not to mention each hand set has different screen sizes). If it didn't work on a particular phone, then my app would get bad mouthed and sales would suffer.
Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (Linux; U; Android 2.1-update1; en-gb; Orange San Francisco Build/ERE27) AppleWebKit/530.17 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/4.0 Mobile Safari/530.17)
I guess I'll have to stop using pinch to zoom or multitouch on my Nexus then.
Melrose said:
I guess I'll have to stop using pinch to zoom or multitouch on my Nexus then.
The same guarantee that developers stopped developing for the 3G
Face it, developers are flocking to the android platform.BS
The N1 has multitouch and I know because I owned one
Its hyooge because consumers are buying android based phones that will shortly exceed the iPhone. As I stated the fragment platform is FUD and used by fanboys trying to defend the iphone. The simple fact is that developers are writing great apps for the android platform
Mine had it
First, the Nexus One is not discontinued. In fact, a major carrier here just started shipping it. It's now a carrier model instead of a direct sales from Google model. Carriers are free to carry it.
Google still does sell it directly through its developer program.
And another hint : It has multi-touch.
Like PCs have always been fragmented ? Hint : the framework is built in a way that it doesn't matter. Devs write code in a way that it doesn't matter. This has been the trademark of programmers for the last 30 years, write your code and make sure to check before you use a particular feature that might not be present.
Even iOS devs have to account for the differences between an iPhone 3G, 3GS, 4, the different iPod Touches, the iPad, etc..
The only place you hear about this "fragmentation" is from Apple forum posters who have never written a line of code in their life but feel threatened by Android.
Rodimus: I didn't know multitouch was added on the Nexus One, all I remember was the big wave it made not having it on release, when other popular models did. At the time, it was a supposedly big detraction from the product.
Stop living in a bubble. Maybe you happen to have only heard it from iPhone users... I've heard it from several people who own Android and non-Apple devices, including developers. And thank you so much for the 'hints' I can't believe how helpful they are! OMG!
Stop living in a bubble. Maybe you happen to have only heard it from iPhone users... I've heard it from several people who own Android and non-Apple devices, including developers. And thank you so much for the 'hints' I can't believe how helpful they are! OMG!
Rodimus: I didn't know multitouch was added on the Nexus One, all I remember was the big wave it made not having it on release, when other popular models did. At the time, it was a supposedly big detraction from the product.
Of course, sensationalist articles are sensationalist. The Nexus One had multitouch on release, day 1, first unit shipped on its first day out of the factory, etc..
If you downloaded apps from the Android Market that used multitouch gestures, like the Dolphin Browser, they worked flawlessly.
It just wasn't enabled in the default apps Google shipped in the US model.
Thank goodness the phone is so perfect. It certainly did sell in humungous numbers.
Well it's a good thing you say so, heavens, I was starting to think all those developers and tech writers were full of it. If you'd read my previous posts closely, I wasn't defending the iPhone at all. To say Android is sorely lacking in an area doesn't mean I must by default be kissing Apple's ass; insisting it does is just childish.
Thank goodness Google selling it direct was an experiment. They did not market it, nor did they subsidize it. Direct sales of unlocked phones don't do so well, news at 11.
Of course, now that it is also known as the HTC Desire and is getting sold by carriers either as the HTC branded model or the Nexus One, sales are better thanks to subsidies and marketing.
Seriously, are you just here to spread FUD and nitpick ? Look, I understand you might feel scared, but iOS is not going anywhere. There's plenty of room in the market for both platforms to thrive and succeed. Go have a warm glass of milk and a sound night's sleep.
This is a public discussion forum, and the topic at hand is smartphone operating systems. I mention a couple points that make sense to me and related to the topic at hand - how is this nitpicking? The beauty of a discussion forum is for people to voice their opinion; It would be helpful if you didn't expect everyone to feel the way you do, which you can hardly expect to find online. If you're trying to win an argument to feel better, you can win.
Your condescending attitude doesn't help either, it just makes you sound arrogant.
I'm not going to discuss this point any further. The thread is yours. Have at it. Just don't derail the thread any further.
None of your points have been about the topic at hand. They have been at best rehashing of Android weak points, at worst, outright misinformation.
- Fragmentation of devices
- Sales of Nexus One through Google's online effort
- Multi-touch on the Nexus One
Maybe you'd like to offer your insight on the true topic here : How Android is a being seen as a better long term bet by developers, while iOS remains the platform of choice in the short term. You can then branch on to things Apple can do to change things around if you want, you could then still be on-topic.
Do I really have to explain ?
Why thanks for noticing. That's kind of the style I am going for in reply to the "Apple is always right, everyone else is wrong, bad, and crap!" crowd.
Come on Melrose, why should anyone with any knowledge of Android take notice of this at all:
You chose one of the least sold individual models to use as an example of fragmentation due to lack of Multitouch, even tho the multitouch API's have been available since Android 2.0 (the Nexus launched with Android 2.1 FYI).
You may have some great points on Android fragmentation, but when you can't get the basics right it does detract from the message you are trying to get across.
This is how fragmented Android is:
http://developer.android.com/resources/dashboard/platform-versions.html
Over 69% of Android devices that access the Android Market are running Android 2.1 which isn't a bad API level to develop for if you were an Android developer.
You chose one of the least sold individual models to use as an example of fragmentation due to lack of Multitouch, even tho the multitouch API's have been available since Android 2.0 (the Nexus launched with Android 2.1 FYI).
You may have some great points on Android fragmentation, but when you can't get the basics right it does detract from the message you are trying to get across.
This is how fragmented Android is:
http://developer.android.com/resources/dashboard/platform-versions.html
Over 69% of Android devices that access the Android Market are running Android 2.1 which isn't a bad API level to develop for if you were an Android developer.