An interesting study into Android and iOS

[rocketpig]

superchunk said:
Sure, but I am a consumer and as a consumer I want variety, choice, and above all better pricing. Android destroys Apple on all of those fronts while providing the same experience (of course both have their highs and lows).

As long as consumers keep choosing Android, devs will keep making those apps regardless of the fear of anything else.

ICS goes a long way into battling fragmentation and its already showing in the latest phones from each OEM. Their menus are the same and both (HTC and Samsung) companies UI Skins are less about massive changes and more about minor refinements.

Finally, for a dev its not a big issue if a users is on say 2.3 vs 4.0. Its more of a difference on the variations of hardware styles and sizes. But that is nothing new as its been a PC issue for ever.

First, no one here is talking about consumers, nor am I advocating anyone to buy an Android or iOS device. I don't care. That's not what this discussion is about.

Android apps earn far less per user. As in "one fourth as much". Developer do care about that. They care very much about that. In fact, they care more about that than anything else. That's a huge black mark on Google.

Fragmentation matters. When an operating system is changed, things break. Shit, things break when anything is changed. Sometimes the "breaks" are unnoticeable. Sometimes, they're massive. I guarantee you that every developer takes time to go through a Google/Apple SDK every time a new one is released. The more SDKs you have to concern yourself with, the more employee time you're dedicating to fragmentation. It's a simple concept. Add that into the multiple hardware configurations, screen resolutions, and all the options in Android phones and you're looking at significant increases in development time. For users that earn back 1/4 the money you'd get from Apple users.

Developers will certainly continue to develop for Android. No one is making that absurd claim. But that means when a development budget is limited, the dev will probably develop for Apple first. They may not develop for Android at all. Just ask the Playstation 3 how well their 2006-2008 "Xbox 360 second tier port machine" went over with consumers. Look at games like Contre Jour. I bought it for iPad. It's a wildly successful game. It's fantastic in almost every way and has been featured on many Top iOS Games lists across the web. Is it available for my Android phone over 18 months after it released for iOS? Not so much. Still nothing.