http://blog.flurry.com/bid/85911/App-Developers-Signal-Apple-Allegiance-Ahead-of-WWDC-and-Google-I-O

Pretty interesting stuff there. As I've been howling about for ages, fragmentation is going to kill Android unless Google does something about it. The fact that the majority of phones are still using a two year old OS is pretty damning and Google has to do something about it. Many of those phones could run ICS (like, say, mine) but since Google leaves updates to carriers/manufacturers, these phones won't get those updates. Compare that to Apple, which usually approaches a 90% saturation of its latest OS by the time the new OS arrives a year later.

It also briefly talks about money, with iOS apps performing at $1.00 per user compared to $.24 per user on Android. That's pretty damning evidence. People bitch and moan about Apple's closed ecosystem but from a developer standpoint, why wouldn't you love it? The vast majority of your users are under 2-3 different hardware specs, 75-90% of them run the same OS, and users spend four times as much money on the platform as competitors' users. That's a developer's wet dream.

What the hell are Cupcake and Donut? Never heard of those!

OT:
This is something Apple should get credit for, I agree. Android is not run like it should be. Nit saying it's a bad OS, 'cause it isn't, but they are just really bad at delivering later on. They drop things way too quickly. They really need to work on that.

Is that 'revenue per user' stat including money from advertising? The amount of free apps that have advertising on the Android market place is astronomical.

Android's versions are dessert-based down the Alphabet.

1.0 - A: No Name
1.1 - B: No Name
1.5 - C: Cupcake
1.6 - D: Donut
2.0 - E: Eclair
2.2 - F: Froyo
2.3 - G: Gingerbread
3.0 - H: Honeycomb
4.0 - I: Ice Cream Sandwich

Well, I knew that!

I just didn't know when they were released, thanks! (They are some of the oldest ones... no wonder I didn't really know!)

I believe so... It claims "revenue generated". I'd believe that counts for ads as well.

But as a long-time website operator myself, I will tell you that 99% of the time, it's better to get money upfront for a paid app than to rely on ad-based revenue. It's really difficult (and your apps needs to be centered around repeated, long-term viewing... most aren't) to earn back even half the money from ads that you will get from just $1 per user.

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.

On to the Market part...

Again, Apple should get props. Now, Android has updated their store, which looks really nice now, but not their regulations. I think the Apple Market is much better. It is more clean of multiple Apps and Apps that don't work well or are just stupid.
Google really needs to get on it.

I always said that iOS users make the Choice for the device and os with all the pros and cons.. While a lot of android users just wanted a smartphone not caring about the os and ecosystem.. You can get android phones cheaper and most of the time have better deals with providers.. In the end we developers don't care about the amount of phones there are with android but about the active amount of users actually buying something.. Thats why we love iOS waaaay more then android..I'll bet we have à lot of our parents with an android phone but they don't actually get many apps for it..

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.