
Journey in Android Development, Android Market - the good, the bad - snowstorm
http://www.kai-mai.com/node/179
======
jsz0
This fragmentation problem is starting to get pretty ugly. I have an HTC Hero
which, IIRC, went on sale via Sprint in October 2009 and I cannot run Google
Nav or Google Goggles, or use Bluetooth tethering via PDANet because I'm stuck
with 1.5 My 3 year old iPhone 2G runs almost everything in the App Store while
my <3 month old Android handset cannot even run Google's newest official
applications anymore? This feels like a rerun of the Windows Mobile situation
to me.

~~~
jrockway
_because I'm stuck with 1.5_

Well, yeah. The problem is not Android, the problem is that HTC is not keeping
their Sense devices up to date. They apparently think that their proprietary
theme is worth more than being able to use up-to-date apps. As a result, HTC
should not call the Hero "Android", but they do. Caveat emptor.

I am sure that if you find an original iPhone and don't update the software
that you won't be able to use modern App Store apps. This is the same
scenario.

~~~
snowstorm
HTC doesn't even release a SENSE UI emulator. Neither does Motorola Motoblur.

It's just not reasonable to expect developers to have access to all real
devices.

All the device manufactures need to stop customizing Android UI unless they
are willing to release a emulator.

~~~
jrockway
Is this really important? From an apps developer standpoint, Sense and
Motoblur don't really affect anything. It goes into the background while your
app is displayed. If your app works in the emulator, it will work on a Sense /
Motoblur device.

The problem here is that Sense is an ugly hack that deeply depends on Android
1.5 internals, and Android 1.6 and 2.0 are much better than 1.5. The result is
that apps target 1.6, and Sense's dependencies prevent HTC from deploying 1.6
to Sense devics.

That's my guess anyway, it could just be that HTC is lazy about updates. I
still don't have Android 2.0 on my Sapphire, after all...

(The deeper trend I notice is that hardware companies are not into
incrementally improving devices. The release date comes, the product is
shipped, and it's forgotten in favor of the next device. A simple firmware
update that may take on developer one week to prepare is completely ignored,
leaving thousands of users with a device that's not as good as it could be.
Depressing.)

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nicpottier
They also forgot the part where no-one is making any money on it. I know two
of the top developers personally, and we ourselves have a pretty successful
app in there. But there is nowhere near enough sales to make a living, even
for the top selling apps.

It's unclear why the Android market is so much worse in this respect, I
suppose having 50x less users is part of it, but I suspect there is something
about the Android user which makes them less likely to buy. Downloading and
installing cracked versions of the apps (and they are all cracked) is also
dead simple.

In summary, great platform for users, terrible, terrible platform to make
money on.

~~~
waterlesscloud
Order of magnitude, what's a top app make in a month?

~~~
nicpottier
Thousands.

~~~
flamoot
<http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1053831>

vote for this

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netcan
It's a pity Windows Mobile isn't better.

