That's not really that accurate. Here's what's killing android app development: fragmentation as well as secured selling point. Let's put it this way.. with Apple, if you design an app and get approved, Apple supports it universally on their platforms, they sell and manage your costs, etc.Originally Posted by Nelson Au /t/319090/official-new-ipad-3rd-generation-announcement-thread/180#post_3908458
I recently saw or read an interesting assessment as to why Androids are not doing as well as the Apple I-devices. Sorry, I don't recall the source.
The main point of the story was that Google or the Android developers are not designing apps in very great numbers. And the ones they have now are not optimized for the larger tablet sized screens. They are mainly focused on the mobile phone user. There seems to be little interest or incentive to make apps that are designed for a tablet. Given the lack of standardization of devices, I can see that being a problem. All the Samsung tablets I hear about are all slightly different sizes. There's that new Samsung tablet that serves as a phone and a tablet and uses the stylus. That one is sized between a phone and tablet.
Apple only makes the iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad, so there two screen sizes the app developers know what to design for. And the major reason for Apple's success is the standardization going here. The developers know what to design for and can optimize for.
As one of you guys already said so well, it just works! I love how I can have the same app for my iPhone and my iPad but each is designed for that device. So the larger screen has an optimized layout and makes the user interface and experience great. Of course, not all apps are designed for iPads too. So those are not always as good. But for the most part, it's a great experience!
With Google, their marketplace is messy, and you aren't assured that an app that is designed for X runs on Y. In fact, it's been fairly frequent that an app designed for say, 2.2 back when doesn't run right on Ice Cream Sandwich. And with Jelly Bean the next Android OS, fragmentation is more not less with more unique twists and tracts.
Android is the neat, cool, super geeky kid. Originally, a lot of people had compared it to Microsoft.. ie, the "good enough" and that it'd dominate the market. And android devices do cell well. But their application cohesiveness is TERRIBLE. For a developer, it's a hard target to hit and the reward structure sucks.
Meanwhile, Apple has the iTunes store locked down and profitable for vendors, and they've figured out how to push it. Even Microsoft's Windows Phone ventures - which lag behind those - makes complete sense for a developer who wants to make money, especially in comparison to Android.
It's not saying there isn't money to be made in Android, their definitely is. But for big development houses, it's hard to commit a ton of resources to android because you're going to spend a ton of time and money on "bug fixes" that boil down to "compatibility patches" as several have discovered. This is a significant added cost which can hinder development and definitely lower profitability.