4 ms·

I think the more important point here is that mobile app developers are going to want to get the most bang for their buck. If there are more Android phones out

I think the more important point here is that mobile app developers are going to want to get the most bang for their buck. If there are more Android phones out there than iPhones, then the decision between preferred platforms swings in favor of Android (disregarding questions of target-market, demographics, ease of development, etc.). It doesn't matter if the OS is on 1 phone or 20 (ok, well sort of; it does make it more difficult to program for Android when you have to account for multiple screen sizes and hardware capabilities).

Samuel_Michon 16y ago
I think what matters most to developers is the number of customers who are buying apps, and how much they are willing to spend. Right now, the ratio free/paid apps in the Android Marketplace is a lot higher than in the App Store. There is one way to pay for paid apps in the Marketplace, and that's through the tedious Google Checkout. Quite a contrast with the iTunes Store, which already has 100 million credit cards on file. Even when there are more Android devices than there are iOS devices (which will take a little while, there are 100 million iDevices out there), I doubt Android will be more profitable for developers than iOS (not even counting the inroads Apple is making with iAds). I think Android will have to outnumber iDevices by a factor 2 or 3 before that happens.
- megablast 16y ago
  Someone who gets it. On top of all that, Google are only allowing a few countries to even sell apps on the store, no Australia yet. And despite all the calls for it to get started, we have not heard any word on when this will happen. I think that with the average person getting into Android devices, they are going to start to buy more and more apps, but we have not heard for google once again on how well the marketplace is doing, and how much it has changed. Until those two things change, I will stick with Apple.
- JangoSteve 16y ago
  That's true for independent app developers for sure. I guess I was thinking more along the lines of companies that have supporting apps rather than the people who make money directly off the apps (Amazon, Skype, Gilt, etc).
- gmac 16y ago
  For me, it also matters a lot how difficult it is to write an app that runs well and looks good on every device, irrespective of screen size and resolution, hardware buttons, etc. Having done plenty of web design, and a little Mobile Java, the pain of getting things right for a sensibly large proportion of browsers/devices is something that I love that iPhone development lacks. I haven't tried any Android development, but I can't help but believe the situation must be somewhat worse.

Samuel_Michon 16y ago

I think what matters most to developers is the number of customers who are buying apps, and how much they are willing to spend. Right now, the ratio free/paid apps in the Android Marketplace is a lot higher than in the App Store. There is one way to pay for paid apps in the Marketplace, and that's through the tedious Google Checkout. Quite a contrast with the iTunes Store, which already has 100 million credit cards on file. Even when there are more Android devices than there are iOS devices (which will take a little while, there are 100 million iDevices out there), I doubt Android will be more profitable for developers than iOS (not even counting the inroads Apple is making with iAds). I think Android will have to outnumber iDevices by a factor 2 or 3 before that happens.

megablast 16y ago
Someone who gets it. On top of all that, Google are only allowing a few countries to even sell apps on the store, no Australia yet. And despite all the calls for it to get started, we have not heard any word on when this will happen. I think that with the average person getting into Android devices, they are going to start to buy more and more apps, but we have not heard for google once again on how well the marketplace is doing, and how much it has changed. Until those two things change, I will stick with Apple.
JangoSteve 16y ago
That's true for independent app developers for sure. I guess I was thinking more along the lines of companies that have supporting apps rather than the people who make money directly off the apps (Amazon, Skype, Gilt, etc).
gmac 16y ago
For me, it also matters a lot how difficult it is to write an app that runs well and looks good on every device, irrespective of screen size and resolution, hardware buttons, etc. Having done plenty of web design, and a little Mobile Java, the pain of getting things right for a sensibly large proportion of browsers/devices is something that I love that iPhone development lacks. I haven't tried any Android development, but I can't help but believe the situation must be somewhat worse.