

Why Smule won't be developing mobile apps for Android - anderzole
http://www.edibleapple.com/why-smule-wont-be-developing-mobile-apps-for-android/

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davidw
Because they're very clearly an Apple-only bunch, being interviewed for an
Apple news site?

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stanleydrew
I don't really get it. Are they claiming that "I am T-Pain" would be expensive
to build on Android because they would have to test it against a bunch of
different devices and UIs? As far as I can tell the app shouldn't require any
fancy UI elements. You just need a microphone and a speaker right?

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bmalicoat
It doesn't 'require' fancy UI elements but that's what makes a decent app good
or a good app great. Having lots of fragmented hardware to support (eg
multiple resolutions) is a pain.

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vetinari
Multiple resolutions is not a problem, it is just pathetic excuse of Apple
fanbois. Just wait, until Apple comes with iPhone using higher res, then of
course it will be best thing since sliced bread and Apple will be first with
such a novel concept.

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bmalicoat
Multiple resolutions is a problem compared to one resolution, you don't have
to be an Apple 'fanboi' to realize that. Most artwork isn't vector and has to
be recreated appropriately. Apple of course will upgrade the resolution
(probably this summer) and it will create problems for iPhone developers as
well. Another concern is no clear baseline of the Android hardware,
considering it can run on anything from microwaves to tablets.

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freetard
Here's why:

1) they don't have the money to develop for both the iPhone and Android.

2) announcing they won't develop for Android will bring them some needed
publicity as it did for that gaming company who did last time.

3) if they don't have the funds to develop for android and make money out of
it, they may as well try to cash on the fact that they won't be developing for
Android.

All and all, pretty pathetic PR.

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gte910h
I think you're trying to minimize the difficulty of the android platform:

1> Pure Compute Power between handsets varies widely. You can't do something
that requires significant compute power without functioning poorly on the less
powerful handsets.

2> Screen resolutions are all over the place (You have to test on 5-8
different resolutions). This is KILLER for someone doing a game or other fixed
width layout. It's not like you see 15 different sizes of flash windows. MOST
people can't afford to do multiple sizes.

3> Installed OS version is all over the place. While there is a supposed
"upgrade to 2.1" happening later this spring for all handsets, I predict many
handset owners won't do it, as it will require a data wipe.

4> The Tools Batman. Interface builder is _leagues upon lightyears_ better
than hand edited XML based java container layouts. You have easily 10x the
layout and positioning work for Android, and you have to test this layout and
positioning on all the different phones.

5> The installer: If your app has any amount of data in it, you have to write
an installer and sell the installer, which then downloads your app. This is
expensive.

So yes, you're technically right, they don't have the money _or don't see it a
worthwhile investment_ to try to target the crappy android development
landscape.

Perhaps someone will make a unifying toolkit that does screen layouts well and
is in Python or another one of the ASL toolkit, but with the current old
school java development kit that is android, it's not going to be a winning
target for many developers.

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Rabidgremlin
Re point 2. The iPad has a much larger screen then the iPhone so now you will
be building apps with custom screens and layouts...

I think the biggest problem with the Android marketplace is that unless you
are in Austria, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Netherlands, Spain, United
Kingdom or United States you cannot actually sell your apps since you cannot
set up a Google Checkout account! No such problem with the Apple App store...

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zaphar
Not to mention that the hardware available to the iPad is probably going to be
considerably better than the hardware on an iPhone.

All those iPhone developers who previously only had to worry about the iPhone
and iPod touch now have a third to add to the mix. And as more versions of
each get released the landscape gets worse and worse. Android may have come
out of the gate with a more difficult landscape but the App Store will not
always be immune either.

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gte910h
While CPU power differences could make a big issues, especially for games, I
still say apple's fixed layout system is stronger.

You load up a new screen with a call that specifies the layout file (called a
XIB) on iPhone. You can then feasibly have different layouts for iPad and for
320x480 phones.

I could easily support 5 of those. With a layout manager, you have to LOOK to
see if it turned out well on the platforms (of which there are already 5-8 you
care about, many times more than iphone).

What android needs, is a gui builder.

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starkfist
There's also a technical reason. They use their own audio toolkit which
evolved out of Chuck, which Ge developed as his PhD thesis.

This would be a bear to port to Android. It would either require a complete
rewrite or they'd have to use one of the weird NDK/Dalvik VM layer hacks that
may or may not be officially supported.

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RyanMcGreal
> lynch-pin

The word they're looking for is "linchpin".

