According to a recent survey of 250 working Android app developers, the Google OS may be more of a bag of hurt than Google wants developers to believe. The survey, conducted by Baird’s William Powers, found that 71% of respondents write apps for Android, while 62% wrote for iOS. The survey also found that device fragmentation on the Android platform is the must frustrating element of writing Apps for Android and represents a HUGE problem. But is that the only issue facing Android developers? Not by a long shot …
Store fragmentation was also an issue, with developers across the board generally preferring to write for one, unified App store like iOS enjoys. The restrictions of getting an app approved may be a roadblock for some, but being able to just deal with one set of rules is preferable. And another serious issue facing Android developers is app visibility as iOS continues to lead, with fewer “junk apps” than that of the Android market. And users who have developed for both sides of the coin consider iOS to be easier to develop for.
Finally, Android developers seem to be very concerned with getting paid for the apps that are sold, as iOS and Blackberry both lead, with Android lagging in third place. That can be a drag on app development for Android if developers don’t get paid in a timely fashion for apps sales. And it could be one of the reason why there’s store fragmentation as developers seek other options with which to sell their products. But in the end, fragmentation is the real problem, and one which Google should address sooner, rather than later.
[via CNN]
Android is Freedom. Freedom is a mess…
Yes, even Microsoft Windows is less fragmented with a lot more hardware support since OEM bloatware can only be installed as apps. custom support chaos ensures if OEMs get their hands into changing the OS source code.
You hit it spot on. It isn’t so much the different versions out there, though they are bad especially considering security. It’s more about how OEMs are adding software to the OS and breaking comparability, thus I’m all for Google’s anti-fragmentation program.
So what? Android has done remarkably well, incredibly well, especially considering the fragmentation. Hey, no one expected Android to become what it has, least of all Google. It looks like Google is correcting this problem now. Apple probably funded this report. 🙂
Ask developers who work with both Android and iOS. You will see how much funding is needed. Research was done by Baird.
So what? Android has done remarkably well, incredibly well, especially considering the fragmentation. Hey, no one expected Android to become what it has, least of all Google. It looks like Google is correcting this problem now. Apple probably funded this report. 🙂
where’s the data source?
every one can make a pie chart in excel