As the owner of a relatively new Droid, I'm still in the "Oh, cool, what else can I do with this?" phase. So when I wander around CES, I tend to gravitate to booths that feature apps that offer Android versions. However, in doing the rounds at the Showstoppers event last night, I learned a bit more than I expected -- that while developers like Android because of its open structure, there are advantages to Apple's more structured platform policy.
I talked to Karl Good, director of consumer apps for Truphone, a London-based company that offers VoIP calls on mobile devices. They were touting the launch of their new app for Android 2.0, but when I pulled out my Droid, Good grimaced slightly. He explained that the app worked best on HTC-based handsets, but that others like Motorola's Droid offer less support for the type of audio needed by a relatively complex VoIP app.
"On the plus side, Android is compelling and accessible," he said. He told me the story of one of his developers who had worked for months on the app for the iPhone, and who, when he went off to develop the app for Android, came back with it in two weeks.
But the problem is, according to Good, fragmentation -- when developing apps for something like Android, you have different versions, different hardware, and even different user interfaces to contend with. "On Apple's platform, however," he said, "once you have [the app], it works on all Apple hardware devices, because you have the same code base for all of them." (Windows Mobile apparently offers the same types of problems as Android.)
The result? Good felt that, at least as far as Android is concerned, developers of more sophisticated apps will choose to develop for those devices that are popular with large markets. But with a constant stream of new devices -- the Droid followed by the Nexus One followed by the BackFlip -- choosing which device could be a problem.
At this point, it's unlikely that Android will ever catch up with Apple as far as the number of apps for their smartphones is concerned. And as far as I'm concerned, it's becoming a difference that makes no difference -- to the individual user, the gap between 20,000 apps and 100,000 apps becomes meaningless.
However, what interests me is whether the type of apps available will start to reflect -- or already reflects -- the two differing philosophies. One offers a tight, disciplined process that takes a long time for developers to negotiate, but guarantees that each app will work on every device. The other makes it a lot easier for developers to create their apps, and doesn't make them wait long periods of time for approval -- but also demands that they try to account for a number of varying UIs and devices.
Which would you prefer?
I talked to Karl Good, director of consumer apps for Truphone, a London-based company that offers VoIP calls on mobile devices. They were touting the launch of their new app for Android 2.0, but when I pulled out my Droid, Good grimaced slightly. He explained that the app worked best on HTC-based handsets, but that others like Motorola's Droid offer less support for the type of audio needed by a relatively complex VoIP app.
"On the plus side, Android is compelling and accessible," he said. He told me the story of one of his developers who had worked for months on the app for the iPhone, and who, when he went off to develop the app for Android, came back with it in two weeks.
But the problem is, according to Good, fragmentation -- when developing apps for something like Android, you have different versions, different hardware, and even different user interfaces to contend with. "On Apple's platform, however," he said, "once you have [the app], it works on all Apple hardware devices, because you have the same code base for all of them." (Windows Mobile apparently offers the same types of problems as Android.)
The result? Good felt that, at least as far as Android is concerned, developers of more sophisticated apps will choose to develop for those devices that are popular with large markets. But with a constant stream of new devices -- the Droid followed by the Nexus One followed by the BackFlip -- choosing which device could be a problem.
At this point, it's unlikely that Android will ever catch up with Apple as far as the number of apps for their smartphones is concerned. And as far as I'm concerned, it's becoming a difference that makes no difference -- to the individual user, the gap between 20,000 apps and 100,000 apps becomes meaningless.
However, what interests me is whether the type of apps available will start to reflect -- or already reflects -- the two differing philosophies. One offers a tight, disciplined process that takes a long time for developers to negotiate, but guarantees that each app will work on every device. The other makes it a lot easier for developers to create their apps, and doesn't make them wait long periods of time for approval -- but also demands that they try to account for a number of varying UIs and devices.
Which would you prefer?
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