

Why Android Will Win the Mobile App Wars - dannyr
http://useragent.metapede.com/2009/08/11/why-android-will-win-the-mobile-app-wars/

======
silencio
I think the author forgets that Apple initially told all us developers to
forget the idea of a native iPhone app and just deal with having only webapps
for the iPhone until iPhone OS 2.0 was released.

I think the author also forgets the 30% cut, while making Apple a small
profit, is also about paying for hosting the app, running the app store,
providing limited support to users, credit card fees, and other such overhead.
If Apple really desperately wanted that 30% cut, Mobile Safari would not be
supporting HTML 5 features like geolocation that make it easier for webapps to
access the same information native apps can. I expect to see further
improvements to Mobile Safari that make it even easier to take advantage of
the iPhone's hardware.

Plus, there _is_ a subscription model for the app store that is not news, but
is not yet commonly found on the app store yet. One example would be some of
the monthly fee-based GPS navigation apps. The same model also allows for
adding more content to applications for an additional fee.

I don't disagree that the app store is broken in some ways and needs fixed
(wait, I don't see most consumers actually caring about it though...), but the
argument is presented without sufficient research on the part of the author,
even taking into consideration the date on which it was posted.

------
jcl
I don't understand the article's logic. It starts by describing App Store
complaints, then it goes on to argue that Android will win over the iPhone
because the future of phone applications is web apps... while ignoring that
iPhone is no more restrictive toward web apps than Android is.

The assumption that Android will eventually expose all of the phone hardware
to web apps is questionable, as is the assumption that Apple will not modify
their platform to stay competitive.

It would have been better to simply argue that the App Store will eventually
become irrelevant, and leave out the whole iPhone vs. Android argument.

------
kasunh
Rather than on open vs closed, native apps vs web based apps app war win will
be decided solely on the number of users a given mobile platform has. For that
some android manufacturer would have to stand up to design an iphone killer.

~~~
stcredzero
An easy way to get an iPhone killer:

    
    
        1) Get a darn good smartphone
        2) Offer phone & network that *doesn't suck*
    

1 - is out there already. 2 - The carriers are basically shooting themselves
in the foot! Apple carries AT&T. All the others flounder because they don't
have Apple to carry them.

