Comments on: Why iPhone developers should defect to Android

Don Reisinger thinks Android can be a refuge for rejected iPhone developers. Even better, he thinks it could make Apple change its ways.

[casademike]

So here goes again Don proving why "journalist" is not a term that fits him. I wanted to try and refute your made up points, but others have already done that. I will just put it this way:

There is a reason Jobs and co. are taking the mobile world by storm and your write for CNET (if you didn't catch it, the CNET part was not a compliment).

[dd13reis]

Ha. "Made up points"? What a joke. Uh, thanks for the "insult" buddy. Not sure if that's the best you've got, but you might want to try again.

As to the rest of your comment -- you show exactly where your "loyalties" lie and why you can't be trusted for an objective point of view. Just another Steve Jobs apologist.

-Don

[nonstopdesign]

Develop for both ! Duhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!

[dd13reis]

Absolutely. No reason not to, but Android should be included in that equation.

-Don

[MaggieRed]

Sour grapes.

I agree with many posters here, it is Apple's game. You want to play and make some money, you play by their rules. Regardless of a third party app, if it is causing problems with my iPhone then I want Apple to reject it and protect my device. Matter of fact I expect this of them. I cannot tell as an enduser what non-sense is out there, it looks cute on the App store but you never know. Two apps I have already after they were installed it required power cycling the phone to get them to behave post installation. Vendor didn't mention that.

And I also expect Apple to not accept useless or duplicate apps.

Could care less what a few disgruntled developers have to say.

[dd13reis]

Oh please. Why should you be forced to play by Apple's rules when it doesn't let you have any leverage whatsoever? Apple is screwing developers over in many cases and we're supposed to forget this and say, "oh well?"

No way.

-Don

[M C]

If the G1 was even a reasonable competitor to the iPhone this might be a good idea.

But the fact is, with 1GB of memory most users won't be putting many apps on their phones to begin with, and with a clumsy required dongle, music functionality will be used by a mere few (and having come from Sony Ericsson/Samsung, I know this.)

The very "open source"-yet-proprietary nature of Android will preclude the kind of experience - and as we're seeing, functionality - you get with an iPhone, or even a typical Windows Mobile device.

Summed up: a developer who defects to Android is not just cutting off their nose to spite their face, they're cutting off pretty much their entire face.

[dd13reis]

I just don't understand why most of you think Android is only the G1. Android is a mobile OS and will run on dozens of devices like Windows Mobile and Symbian. The market will grow, the apps will become more ubiquitous, and Google will be competing against Apple and its SINGLE device. Developers will flock to Android.

-Don

[mbenedict]

@u_ser_name:

The effort to adapt the same application to work on both Android and iPhone is actually very substantial (not to mention the effort to test the application, maintain it etc.)

Android and iPhone take fundamentally different approaches in their respective SDKs, especially when it comes to handling the User Interface. Since UIs tend to dominate mobile code, the application's internal architecture & design has to be substantially different.

Also, there's practically zero code sharing possible between Android and iPhone. Android is Java based with garbage-collection. iPhone's API is based on Objective-C with manual "retain/release" memory model. An application meant for the iPhone would have to be completely rewritten to work in Android, and vice-versa.

[John Elberling]

look folks, developers only real issue is how many apps they can and will sell. and with its rapidly growing base of installed iPhones and Touches, probably a lot more than 10 million by now already, the Apple App store is the place to be. developers will put up with whatever crap or NDA Apple insists on to sell there. it's a business, not a moral calling.

haven't you noticed the handful of apps rejected weren't ever going to be big sellers anyway?

so no one is going to "defect." when Android grows its installed base of phones into the millions, they will just port their apps to it too, so they can make some more money. duh!

[The_happy_switcher]

After all, someone has to accommodate the whiners who want to spend their time developing these great apps like 'Pull my finger.'

[dd13reis]

It goes far beyond that. There are a bunch of great apps that Apple won't let in because it violates some crazy rule it has. It's a joke.

-Don

[littleM]

Developers are not the problem for Google; it is the carriers. Unless the big dogs offer Android, there will be no market. If you think Apple is closed-minded about iPhone, you have never dealt with a phone company. Ever heard of Carterphone? AT&T and Verizon are as receptive to "open systems" as fish to frying pans.

[dd13reis]

Android will be on dozens of devices in the coming year. That will happen and suddenly all these Apple apologists who say Android doesn't have a shot will have a rude awakening as developers see Android as a viable alternative.

-Don

[Goodbye Helicopter]

yep, this is just a click-ad revenue building traffic article.
android is not actually on the market yet.
Nobody has a phone with it yet.
the app store and the iphone are established, people using them are willing to buy apps already.
eventually other mobile platforms will take hold in the US,
trouble is, all US carriers lock developers out.

In Japan, developers are much more free with the various providers and phones.
Brew, java, flash lite. charge a few hundred yen for the download from a WAP site. money made.

[dd13reis]

Oh please. Get real and stop posting this garbage because you don't like to hear that Apple can be wrong.

I love how you think that one phone (ONE!!!) will somehow beat the pants off an operating system that will be on dozens of devices. I just don't understand the logic, other than an unhealthy obsession for Apple, I guess.

-Don

[cmfnyc]

Will someone who can produce some original reporting please show up? Rather than regurgitate the headlines of other blog posts, it would be useful for someone/anyone to actually interview a wide swath of developers, those rejected and those accepted, to talk about their experience with Apple. Instead, we get an endless recycling of blog upon blog opining off a tiny crumb of news. Here are questions worth asking:
Are app developers truly upset en masse?
Do most developers feel like communication with Apple is broken?
Are a lot of apps getting rejected or just a few?
Do rejected apps have a pathway to resolve their issues?
Have any developers who received rejections resubmitted and been accepted?
Do other developers think the rejected app developers should be truly surprised by the rejection?
Are rejected developers using it as a marketing ploy?

Inquiring minds would like to know. Until someone can provide clarity, it's a "he said, she said" situation as far as I can see.

With Podcaster it seems kind of obvious that it was circumventing iTunes.
Could it work like Pandora allowing you do download podcasts on the fly that sync with iTunes? And, even better, give you an interface to access your iTunes podcasts separately from your music? Instead, it looks like it just tries to replace iTunes. That seems obviously problematic on some many levels. And looking at the apps message board, it seems hard to do.

With MailWrangler, I suspect that the name is an issue.
It's a GMail app, right? Could I have my Exchange or MobileMe go through it? It doesn't seem like it. If not, then it would indeed be confusing to an end user. GMailWrangler would not be. This seems like it could be corrected.

So far, four apps have been rejected...explicit content, iTunes circumvention, confusing name, and AT&T contract breach. Oh, I forgot that one fart app we are really missing.

I'm not trying to say Apple is in the right. I'm not saying they are doing a good job of managing dev relations. But it's hard to tell when the fifteen different Mac blogs that I read recycle the same sliver of information.

Unfortunately, most bloggers from CNET cannot seem to surf past their RSS reader, pick up a phone, or make any inquiries. I guess I should start calling them blahggers, instead.

[blooh]

If not the Iphone, then Android?? Huh, the phones haven't even started coming on the market yet. Right now, next to the Iphone, developing for Windows Mobile is probably the most lucrative and painless business out there.

[dd13reis]

Let's face it -- Windows Mobile is practically dead in the water. Android has promise for a few reasons: it's open, it can be placed on many devices, and it's Google behind it. Sorry, but I have a hard time saying Google can't compete with Apple.

-Don

[cconway1]

You said "The way I see it, they need Apple; Apple doesn't need them."

I disagree. Apple needs to keep these people happy because they are the ones spreading the word of mouth to buy the iPhone, and if they aren't happy with Apple, they will be more than happy to move on to the next great technological marvel, which is likely to be Google's open-source Android OS. Apple has generated quite a bit of ill will in its core audience over the past few months and I am considering selling my shares...shares that I have been holding long for 5 years...come on Mr. Jobs, you don't have to make a profit on every IP... once a program outdated you must let it go and embrace the new and improved....

Take Stanford for instance; Apple has repeatedly blocked authors from publishing books about how to program for the iPhone/iTouch, and what do they do next? Sign a contract with Stanford giving them a monopoly on the development education market... Mr. Jobs, you are losing sight of the bigger picture and selling your company's soul for micro-profits...

[dd13reis]

If Apple needs to keep them happy, why isn't it doing exactly that right now? That's the main problem I'm seeing here: Apple thinks it can run roughshod without any worry of retribution. Well, developers need to get some if they want to be taken seriously.

-Don

[tubaloth]

I agree that developers should try to move over to Android. I'm saying give up on iphone, because at the time thats the one you want to put stuff on. What I'm saying is develop for both. If a app gets rejected on iphone you still can sell it on Android.

I think its going to take some time for a good base to get set on Andrioid. But I think its a good place to start. I even downloaded the SDK and played around with it some.

It doesn't bother me that there isn't any screening. in the Open source screen is done by the users. Yes that means that some people might get a crappy application (and it might have some crap code in it) but it won't take long before you realize that program is crap. That the developer is crap and don't download from him again. yes he might infect a small few. But just don't be the first to download the app. Give it a day!

I'm sure Google well have a good reporting system in place. So those bad files don't last long!

[dd13reis]

Right. I don't see why anyone would count Google out and say that Apple can do whatever it wants. It's ridiculous to think that and it's the same mentality that got Apple in trouble in the first place.

-Don

[artistjoh]

Now, lets see. Getting close to 10 million iPhones out there now plus iPod Touch. As a very happy iPhone user I have around 140 apps on my iPhone. I hear that lots of people have lots of apps. Seems like there is lots of money in the walled garden.

On the other hand Android is just starting to sell, it may or may not be a hit - only time will tell. As a developer I would have to make certain my app works on a variety of Android phones - some will have touch screens, some will not. Some will have big screens, and some will not.

If I were a developer I would be crazy to run away from the potential income from the App Store for an uncertain and difficult to code for alternative.

CNet reporters and others are going to have to accept that most of us in the iPhone environment are quite happy with things as they stand and anybody so childishly petulant as to swear never to code for Apple again looks to most of us as if he has "Loser" written all over his forehead.

[dd13reis]

140 apps? Yikes.

The iPhone is one device. One. Android can be put on countless devices, which means there's a significant possibility for a huge market. We can't forget that.

-Don

[jazzmandan]

Don

I'm a developer of enterprise software and haven't developed on either. But here's an interesting experiment

- Goto Apple and your presented with a full development IDE, nice documentation, testing, performance tuning and a consistent UI interface approach

- Goto Android and you see Java code, talk of Eclipse plugins (I've used that daily for years) but it's difficult to find where they are, no clear UI direction and it's all a bit hit and miss.

I've taken a peak at the Android app screen shots and the UI is vastly different for all of them.

I've got a ton of apps from my iPhone and they are remarkably consistent. I got fed up of the inconsistency's that were rampant on the Palm OS development model (the closest to Android Market place).

I agree with your suggestion because it will give Apple a kick to be clearer. I doubt we'll get them to clearly say "we won't let Podcaster in because we're building that into future versions of the firmware" or "it opens the door for Hulu and ATT will kill us for using that much bandwidth".

Apple is being consistent on a number of fronts where the music, tv and movie industry is not. Once music, tv and movie industry decides how it's going to let it's content be available then Apple we'll be more than prepared with the technology to deliver it effectively with the best experience.

[dd13reis]

I mentioned that in the column and totally understand that Android is not a uniform environment. But I just don't think that can, nor should it stop developers from going there. It's too much of an opportunity.

-Don

[jaksw]

Look at all those apple fanboys squirm!!

[dd13reis]

It's absolutely amazing isn't it? They come out of nowhere!

-Don

[hiphopopotimus]

apple iphone is wonderful and has changed my life, i am sure from googles track record that they will impress too, i love the openness of android...

[gtyron]

Yes Apple is abusing its power on the iPhone and its entire development system is crap, so yes, please defect from the iPhone, but don't defect to Android. For those who herald Android as a free or open source champion its a bad choice because it only gives freedom to the phone makers, not you. You only get freedom if the phone makers pass it on to you, and with the Apache license they don't have to and probably won't. As for everybody else Android is still a bad platform because it was just poorly designed. I'm sure Dalvik and the Android API are great, but not offering the choice to write and run native applications is stupid, especially on a platform with such limited resources as a phone. Not only was it a bad decision from a performance perspective, but a portability perspective as well. Valuable native applications dating back 10 will never be able to be ported to Android because they can't run in any JVM. Even older programs written in Java, even ones written for Java Mobile Edition, will require significant changes because Android has a significantly different API. Android is a piece of crap.

[dd13reis]

Interesting take. I think it's short-sighted and I think Android will get better, but interesting nonetheless.

-Don

[benjaminstraight]

Hmm.

[hardmanb]

Now that T-Mobile has release the HTC "Googlephone G1", many of the professional critics have jumped in, with lists of deficiencies, lacks, and limitations. Before I would buy one, I want to know something.

Will T-Mobile and HTC now promptly begin releasing a steady stream of software, firmware, and hardware fixes, improvements and enhancements? The iPhone has EVOLVED and improved over time, showing Apple's commitment to the platform and product, thus protecting the value of Apple customer's investment in the product.

Will the Android community, and specifically HTC and T-Mobile do the same? Or will those who buy the G1 be left in the lurch due to a lack of product commitment?

[dd13reis]

Good question. I think G1 is just the first of many Android-based phones that will get into the mix and create a real value proposition for developers. I guess we'll have to wait and see though.

-Don