6 ms·

Android is no longer an ugly-duckling platform trying to catch up with iOS, but a beautiful platform that truly rivals iOS in all important ways -- and now surp

by cs702 14y ago

Android is no longer an ugly-duckling platform trying to catch up with iOS, but a beautiful platform that truly rivals iOS in all important ways -- and now surpasses it in terms of market share. However, mobile app developers have only recently begun to transition from "we need an app for Android too, quick!" to "we need great apps for both Android and iOS," so it will take a little while for all those ugly, hastily-put-together Android apps to become a thing of the past. UPDATE: koko775 raises a good point: the large installed base of pre-ICS Android versions may also be a factor. See http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=4533819 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=4533819

Mythbusters 14y ago
What does this site have to do with android anyway? Isn't the article basically saying, its possible to develop good looking apps on android? The problem with android is that it never had any design language like iPhone and the Windows Phone have. They give a framework for an app developer to work within. It inspires them to make consistent beautiful designs. Android has always been this free-form thing which I think caused many ugly apps to be developed for it. Windows Phone market place for one is full of such beautiful apps, thanks to the detailed guidelines about the metro design.
- bookwormAT 14y ago
  http://developer.android.com/design/index.html http://developer.android.com/design/index.html
  - Mythbusters 14y ago
    This is still a recent development. It never had this originally. Besides going by the ugly apps, it hasn't had much impact so its ineffective at best.
  - corporalagumbo 14y ago
    It's shocking how much clearer and more inspired this guide is than the equivalent for Windows 8. Makes me pessimistic about Microsoft's competency. Also, the Google guide is much nicer to look at itself than MS's.
- corporalagumbo 14y ago
  Have you even used Windows Phone? The market place is so hideous it makes me want to gouge out my eyes.
Adirael 14y ago
Is there a way to see how the fragmentation (most important for me: screen size) is at this moment? I've got a low end android phone (Galaxy Mini) which works well but I can't install a lot of stuff (Path comes to mind) because of screen resolution. I think the mobile OS market is going to end looking somewhat similar to the PC OS market, but changing Windows for Android. The market share race is impossible for Apple to win with their current pricing and model range. It's normal to see a lot of activations if the cheapest phone is $50
- mtgx 14y ago
  I wish Google would force manufacturers to stop using the 320x240 resolution. The browsing experience is very poor on such a resolution, unless you're using Opera Mini perhaps, and I imagine it's hard for developers to refit their apps for such a small resolution, too, as even menu text will take a lot of space on that resolution. I also wish they mandated everyone has at least 512 MB of RAM in their phones, and at least 2 GB for the OS and 2 GB of app space. That way upgrades can be ensured for years, and people, especially regular people, can actually install more than 5 apps without running out of space (and no, App2SD doesn't count, and it's almost useless). And while they are at it, they should also stop supporting the ARMv6 architecture, now that the ARMv7 Cortex A5 and next year Cortex A7 are going to be used. If Google wants to bring down the hammer on manufacturers, it should be for stuff like this, that ensures users of Android devices, even at the very low-end, get a pretty good experience, otherwise they'll always think Android devices are crap, after their first cheap Android smartphone. They don't want that kind of perception to affect the Android brand in the long term.
  - jrockway 14y ago
    I kind of doubt that users of low-end phones know what Android is or know what they're missing. It's not like they're downgrading from an iPhone, they're probably upgrading from a feature phone. And even the worst Android phone is much nicer than that. Eventually they will upgrade to a nice Android phone, and will enjoy the enhanced user experience. But cost does matter to some people, and although browsing at 320x240 is hardly ideal, it's probably better than not being able to buy food for a week. (I personally use very few apps aside from the default Google apps. I mostly want to receive text messages, make phone calls, and browse the web. Apps, to me, don't add much value when the app-maker already has a perfectly fine website.)
eyevariety 14y ago
The apps look great for sure and it seems like the big dogs are prioritizing Android. Many of these examples are in fact on both platforms, and overall they look better on iOS than the android version. On Android they look like a modified, less 'pretty' version of the iOS app- particularly the ones that carry over iOS design patterns.
- rimantas 14y ago
  > like the big dogs are prioritizing Android Who are those big dogs? Google? :) Microsoft? :)) Apple? :)))
  - eyevariety 14y ago
    I meant the big app developers. Its a throwaway comment for sure. I was just trying to encourage the original idea of the post while taking out its legs by pointing out how most of these don't look as good as they do on iOS.
    - rimantas 14y ago
      So why not to name a few big app developers and their apps?
    - nchlswu 14y ago
      your original comment says one thing (prioritization of Android) then another (how a lot of Android apps repurpose iOS designs). Are you saying there's a general appreciation for Android, so it's higher priority nowadays?... or are you saying Android is actually being prioritized over iOS? The latter would be surprising imo.
deleted 14y ago
[deleted]
bonch 14y ago
If only that pesky piracy problem could be addressed, developers might actually make money on Android.

by cs702 14y ago

Mythbusters 14y ago

What does this site have to do with android anyway? Isn't the article basically saying, its possible to develop good looking apps on android? The problem with android is that it never had any design language like iPhone and the Windows Phone have. They give a framework for an app developer to work within. It inspires them to make consistent beautiful designs. Android has always been this free-form thing which I think caused many ugly apps to be developed for it. Windows Phone market place for one is full of such beautiful apps, thanks to the detailed guidelines about the metro design.

bookwormAT 14y ago
http://developer.android.com/design/index.html http://developer.android.com/design/index.html
- Mythbusters 14y ago
  This is still a recent development. It never had this originally. Besides going by the ugly apps, it hasn't had much impact so its ineffective at best.
- corporalagumbo 14y ago
  It's shocking how much clearer and more inspired this guide is than the equivalent for Windows 8. Makes me pessimistic about Microsoft's competency. Also, the Google guide is much nicer to look at itself than MS's.
corporalagumbo 14y ago
Have you even used Windows Phone? The market place is so hideous it makes me want to gouge out my eyes.

Adirael 14y ago

Is there a way to see how the fragmentation (most important for me: screen size) is at this moment? I've got a low end android phone (Galaxy Mini) which works well but I can't install a lot of stuff (Path comes to mind) because of screen resolution. I think the mobile OS market is going to end looking somewhat similar to the PC OS market, but changing Windows for Android. The market share race is impossible for Apple to win with their current pricing and model range. It's normal to see a lot of activations if the cheapest phone is $50

mtgx 14y ago
I wish Google would force manufacturers to stop using the 320x240 resolution. The browsing experience is very poor on such a resolution, unless you're using Opera Mini perhaps, and I imagine it's hard for developers to refit their apps for such a small resolution, too, as even menu text will take a lot of space on that resolution. I also wish they mandated everyone has at least 512 MB of RAM in their phones, and at least 2 GB for the OS and 2 GB of app space. That way upgrades can be ensured for years, and people, especially regular people, can actually install more than 5 apps without running out of space (and no, App2SD doesn't count, and it's almost useless). And while they are at it, they should also stop supporting the ARMv6 architecture, now that the ARMv7 Cortex A5 and next year Cortex A7 are going to be used. If Google wants to bring down the hammer on manufacturers, it should be for stuff like this, that ensures users of Android devices, even at the very low-end, get a pretty good experience, otherwise they'll always think Android devices are crap, after their first cheap Android smartphone. They don't want that kind of perception to affect the Android brand in the long term.
- jrockway 14y ago
  I kind of doubt that users of low-end phones know what Android is or know what they're missing. It's not like they're downgrading from an iPhone, they're probably upgrading from a feature phone. And even the worst Android phone is much nicer than that. Eventually they will upgrade to a nice Android phone, and will enjoy the enhanced user experience. But cost does matter to some people, and although browsing at 320x240 is hardly ideal, it's probably better than not being able to buy food for a week. (I personally use very few apps aside from the default Google apps. I mostly want to receive text messages, make phone calls, and browse the web. Apps, to me, don't add much value when the app-maker already has a perfectly fine website.)

eyevariety 14y ago

The apps look great for sure and it seems like the big dogs are prioritizing Android. Many of these examples are in fact on both platforms, and overall they look better on iOS than the android version. On Android they look like a modified, less 'pretty' version of the iOS app- particularly the ones that carry over iOS design patterns.

rimantas 14y ago
> like the big dogs are prioritizing Android Who are those big dogs? Google? :) Microsoft? :)) Apple? :)))
- eyevariety 14y ago
  I meant the big app developers. Its a throwaway comment for sure. I was just trying to encourage the original idea of the post while taking out its legs by pointing out how most of these don't look as good as they do on iOS.
  - rimantas 14y ago
    So why not to name a few big app developers and their apps?
  - nchlswu 14y ago
    your original comment says one thing (prioritization of Android) then another (how a lot of Android apps repurpose iOS designs). Are you saying there's a general appreciation for Android, so it's higher priority nowadays?... or are you saying Android is actually being prioritized over iOS? The latter would be surprising imo.

deleted 14y ago

[deleted]

bonch 14y ago

If only that pesky piracy problem could be addressed, developers might actually make money on Android.