4 ms·

- On Android's fragmentation: From my experience, any developer or publisher who makes a big deal out of Android's fragmentation are just lazy people making exc

- On Android's fragmentation: From my experience, any developer or publisher who makes a big deal out of Android's fragmentation are just lazy people making excuses. There's ALWAYS a way to make the same iOS app on Android, and if any devices can't run your Android app, then that device just sucks too much. If it doesn't, either you do, or in this case, your publishing software. - "You make a beautiful magazine for the iPad, and then you dumb it down for Android." Probably because your developer who told you this has no experience developing any real apps for Android and is forcing iOS's UI elements into it? Or maybe you're bombarding your magazine with too much content in the first place (you mentioned embedded music--seriously, isn't that information pollution?). I've seen beautiful apps on iOS that offer the same, consistent experience in Android, e.g., Evernote. What is your excuse for not pulling this off? - "For every Android user that downloads an Android magazine we have 80 iOS downloads." But what about the Android users who read your content via your mobile website? Or, for many Android tablets from Samsung, via Pulse? Exactly what is your value proposition to these users why they should download your app when they can get most of your content for free? The way I see it, Android users are just being smart because they find ways to bypass having to pay for free content. - "...with the current state of technology and the way the market is divided we can’t afford to invest in it anymore." Your target market is fragmented, DEAL WITH IT. If you want to make money, see it as an untapped opportunity and seize it. It's really TNW's call, but to me, their reasons for not developing for Android are just like fat people's excuses for not going to the gym.

MaysonL 14y ago
There actually is significant fragmentation in the Android user base, and it's harder to deliver significant apps with equality of performance and features for Android than iOS. See, for example, the BBC's experience: http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/bbcinternet/2012/12/android_update.html http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/bbcinternet/2012/12/android_updat...
- mattquiros 14y ago
  Yes, but the reality of the market is that not everybody is getting an iPhone, and not all Android users get high-end Android devices. It is still THE market, nonetheless. I don't think any blame should go to either iOS or Android because it's the people who patronized these products. However, it would be just as absurd to blame the market you're trying to target. If you want to reach as many people as possible, you're going to end up grouping them into categories anyway.
- slurry 14y ago
  Note that BBC is talking about the widely-varying hardware of Android devices, not the OS itself. Also note that developing for widely-varying hardware + Android is vastly preferable to developing for widely-varying hardware + widely-varying proprietary OSes.
apike 14y ago
> maybe you're bombarding your magazine with too much content in the first place As a mobile developer, I see this attitude as very dangerous. When an aspect of user experience is prohibitively difficult to achieve with somebody's pet platform (Android, iOS, HTML5, ePub, whatever), they tend to attack the need for that feature or experience. Sometimes the lack of a feature really is beneficial - say, for security or privacy. Most of the time though, this is just frustration turning in to defensiveness. (Example: the now-dead argument that Android doesn't need smooth scrolling and animations.)
- mattquiros 14y ago
  Yeah, but embedded music? Why would a magazine have embedded music though?

MaysonL 14y ago

There actually is significant fragmentation in the Android user base, and it's harder to deliver significant apps with equality of performance and features for Android than iOS. See, for example, the BBC's experience: http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/bbcinternet/2012/12/android_update.html http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/bbcinternet/2012/12/android_updat...

mattquiros 14y ago
Yes, but the reality of the market is that not everybody is getting an iPhone, and not all Android users get high-end Android devices. It is still THE market, nonetheless. I don't think any blame should go to either iOS or Android because it's the people who patronized these products. However, it would be just as absurd to blame the market you're trying to target. If you want to reach as many people as possible, you're going to end up grouping them into categories anyway.
slurry 14y ago
Note that BBC is talking about the widely-varying hardware of Android devices, not the OS itself. Also note that developing for widely-varying hardware + Android is vastly preferable to developing for widely-varying hardware + widely-varying proprietary OSes.

apike 14y ago

> maybe you're bombarding your magazine with too much content in the first place As a mobile developer, I see this attitude as very dangerous. When an aspect of user experience is prohibitively difficult to achieve with somebody's pet platform (Android, iOS, HTML5, ePub, whatever), they tend to attack the need for that feature or experience. Sometimes the lack of a feature really is beneficial - say, for security or privacy. Most of the time though, this is just frustration turning in to defensiveness. (Example: the now-dead argument that Android doesn't need smooth scrolling and animations.)

mattquiros 14y ago
Yeah, but embedded music? Why would a magazine have embedded music though?