Is the Android OS Growing Too Quickly?

by Terrence O'Brien on November 20, 2009 at 07:52 AM

Android Explosion Poses a Problem for Developers

After getting off to a slow start, Android phones have gone gangbusters. As of last July, there was only one Android-powered device available in the U.S., but that number has since exploded. Now, there are eight Android phones available stateside, with more expected to debut in the coming months. So things must be looking pretty great for the mobile OS from Google, right?

Not necessarily. A few issues have both Google and the developers of Android-friendly applications worried. For the most part, the issue can be reduced to the term "splintering." Right now, those eight phones share three different versions of the Android core: 1.5, 1.6, and 2.0. The phones also have vast hardware differences between them; for instance, some models have keyboards while others don't, and some cameras have flashes while others do not. Then, there are the customized interfaces (or skins), like HTC's Sense on the Hero and Motorola's Blur on the Cliq. These differences make it difficult to build apps, since even basic updates need to be tested against every possible combination of hardware, skin, and Android version. And a smartphone OS lives and dies by its developers.

CNN points to a specific example as told by app developer Froogloid. The company's 'a2b' app is able to turn on the GPS receiver in an Android phone. But during testing on the HTC Hero on Sprint, developers discovered the commands that normally turned on the GPS were instead enabling the option to change the screen unlock pattern. That meant that Froogloid had to go back and write special code, just for the Hero, to allow the app to function as intended.

Even though Apple is notorious for its seemingly arbitrary approval process, the consistency of the iPhone's OS and hardware makes building applications for it easy. This is one of the primary reasons the iPhone has over 100,000 apps in its store, while Android lags far behind with little more than 15,000. And in today's smartphone wars, whoever has the most apps wins. [From: CNN]

Tags: android, google, os, smartphone

Comments

eleven11Dec 29th 2009 3:15PM

Highly Ranked

Yeah, because having "the most apps wins." 1000 iFart apps clearly equates to being better.

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AzralagNov 25th 2009 9:32PM

Neutral

Yes, developers for Android may have to tweak there apps more for the various phones that run on Android; but that means more users = more app sales

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kid englishNov 21st 2009 8:08PM

Neutral

How is this different to Symbian? My point being, if you're designing apps for an OS that only works on a single technology set then of course it's "easier" than developing for an operating system that runs across more than one.

iPhone is a phone, that's it, Android is a platform.

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WillNov 22nd 2009 1:15AM

Neutral

I still don't think 100,000 apps is necessarily better than 15,000. The average person will probably go through no more than 100 - 300 anyway. Most of what's on the iphone store is junk; I hate the "gold-rush prospector" aspect of the internet. One thing catches on, then a million people follow. I guess the fact that these people aspire to be like trailblazers without actually trailblazing is lost on them.

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BrianNov 22nd 2009 1:17AM

Low Ranked

I think the Android apologists, rather than this article, are the only thing that are retarded. While the iPhone has been out a year longer than the Android platform, the App Store only preceded the Android Market by 3 months (7/2008 vs. 10/2008).

This is one of the same problems that befell Windows Mobile. Android's overlords would do well to not head down the same path.

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wedginNov 22nd 2009 11:13AM

Neutral

I have a friend who has done Blackberry development and he complains about the same thing. You have to code everything for multiple different screen sizes to accommodate a large variety of different hardware. As much as people begrudge Apple for the lack of choice, it enables them to offer more choice by offering the developers a stable platform. Developing for Android or Blackberry seems to be a moving target all the time.

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AnthonyNov 22nd 2009 5:36PM

Neutral

Android apologists? What about iPhone fan boys? The problem with Apple is that everything is proprietary. They lock down outside development of their operating systems and charge about 10x the amount they should for crappy products. I'll give them this, their designs are very feng shui, and their ideas are cool, just not executed as well as Google will execute upgrades and development. The G1 I have has been able to keep up with the new android phones on the market today (minus hardware updates of course).

Google has made most of their products opensource, which allows for a much larger community to develop and create/fix programs at a much quicker rate than either Microsoft or Apple could even dream of. Google will eventually take over the market with the Android OS and their new Google OS. They have a lot of amazing products free to the public as it stands and more is on the horizon.

The argument that Apple has more apps is incontestable. However, it does not make them a "winner" by any means. What percentage of apps are actually worth anything? That would be a better measurement of which platform will come out on top. You can't judge a smartphone by the number of fart apps, steamy window apps, or pick-up line apps. That just doesn't make sense.

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AnthonyNov 22nd 2009 5:39PM

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OH... Not to mention with Android you're not limited to the AT&T network. That to me is worth more than any amount of apps or to be a part of the iPhone fan boy clique.

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FlarnNov 22nd 2009 6:18PM

Neutral

Too quickly... too many platforms... right. Just like Windows runs on too many platforms and died a decade ago. Oh wait...

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