ScottM
Taxi to Parking
- Joined
- Jul 19, 2005
- Messages
- 42,530
- Location
- Variable, but somewhere on earth
- Display Name
Display name:
iBazinga!
Why developers prefer Apple to Android
- Thread starter ScottM
- Start date
timwinters
Ejection Handle Pulled
Interesting comment:
Captain
Final Approach
IMO that article misses the point completely. People who read it are less informed...not more. They try to pin the thing on rich vs. poor and that is only partially true at best.
The main reason that developers may shy away from android is that android is open. OEMs can take it, fork it, modify it, not upgrade it, do what they like. It can run on any hardware. So you end up with an android platform with thousands of devices running a plethora or operating systems.
Apple keeps its iOS more or less current and there are like 8 hardware devices that run it.
So, developers develop for apple because it's easier. That has to be 10x the reason as the rich/poor argument.
The main reason that developers may shy away from android is that android is open. OEMs can take it, fork it, modify it, not upgrade it, do what they like. It can run on any hardware. So you end up with an android platform with thousands of devices running a plethora or operating systems.
Apple keeps its iOS more or less current and there are like 8 hardware devices that run it.
So, developers develop for apple because it's easier. That has to be 10x the reason as the rich/poor argument.
timwinters
Ejection Handle Pulled
My iPads are the "crashingest" machines that I've ever owned...especially my one. That thing is horrible, always has been. The four is better but is still quite waggy.
0luke1
Pre-takeoff checklist
- Joined
- Sep 25, 2013
- Messages
- 117
- Display Name
Display name:
Luke
I suffered with windows (since windows 3.0) and android then changed my office entirely to apple laptops, iPads and iPhones and reduced my IT problems to almost zero. All of the email font changes stopped, we use Apple TV to connect laptops to flat screens for presentations and airport extremes for wifi. Of course the IT company we used gave us dire warnings- so I fired them too. I had a box of Cisco networking garbage that I recycled. I didn't want the bad karma from selling it cheap.
poadeleted21
Touchdown! Greaser!
- Joined
- Aug 18, 2011
- Messages
- 12,332
As a developer I would disagree with 100% of this post.
"Open" is what developers like. Everyone hates the iTunes Store, everyone hates Objective C, everyone hates Xcode, everyone hates apples stupid rules. Developing for Apple isn't "easier" it's actually a huge pain in the ass being locked into their proprietary APIs and having no chance of getting a product to market if you step outside those lines. I've signed 3 NDAs for the same software idea, each time I've had to to tell the customer...Apple won't let you do this.
People develop for apple because of economic realities, nothing more.
Captain
Final Approach
iPad I is obsolete with the current iOS. It doesn't have enough horsepower to run it. Your best bet is to mount it on the wall as a testament to breakthrough technology. Whatever you do don't try to operate it. Apple never should have pushed current software onto it. They should have just left it alone and let it sunset naturally without destroying what many found useful. Oh well...
Captain
Final Approach
Well, as a developer you'd know more than I. But I agree with your post too. Open has obvious advantages, especially if you're trying to do something that apple frowns upon (which is a lot of basic stuff).
My only point is with android there are many more considerations to look at when you account for various screen sizes, UI, OS version, ect. With Apple, locked down as it is, there is far less of that. Of course you still have to deal with Apple, but for many app developers it's not an issue because of the app they make is by nature not likely to run afoul of apples rules.
Honestly, I think we can both be right on this one...
timwinters
Ejection Handle Pulled
Last edited:
There is no question that Apple's platform is more secure, stable, and predicable. There are several related advantages that go along with that:
-> Lower risk associated with developing complex applications.
-> Access to nearly the entire installed base of devices.
-> Significantly better development tools and support.
-> More reliable revenue stream, with a higher return on investment.
Developers may "prefer" open platforms, but most open platforms don't do a great job at generating revenue. Neither do consumers who use Android devices. Apple's platform generates an incredible amount of revenue for developers, and that's why even Microsoft is willing to give Apple a cut of the associated Office 365 revenue to offer their products on it.
JKG
-> Lower risk associated with developing complex applications.
-> Access to nearly the entire installed base of devices.
-> Significantly better development tools and support.
-> More reliable revenue stream, with a higher return on investment.
Developers may "prefer" open platforms, but most open platforms don't do a great job at generating revenue. Neither do consumers who use Android devices. Apple's platform generates an incredible amount of revenue for developers, and that's why even Microsoft is willing to give Apple a cut of the associated Office 365 revenue to offer their products on it.
JKG
ChrisK
En-Route
+1000
poadeleted21
Touchdown! Greaser!
- Joined
- Aug 18, 2011
- Messages
- 12,332
I think you're confusing what end users like with what developers like.
You get to sell your product in one store and were taking 30%, questions? Oh and here's a POS development tool that you'll be buying a Mac to use and paying us $100 per year to take our 30% cut. Oh and you'll also be using a weird ass old development language that is cumbersome to use.(Yes I know titanium can help, but it still sucks) And please don't get any ideas that we haven't already thought of, that won't fly. If you want to build a competitor to one of our store brand products, just don't.
I can't think of a single reason I'd use iOS over android for a project EXCEPT for the size of the existing customer base and exposure. I only code iOS stuff for a check, and it better be a big enough check.
tmyers
En-Route
I have an ipad II that has worked pretty much flawless. I won it at a company retreat. I was scheduled to get a new phone about a month after wining it and was planning to replace my Droid with another Droid. Since I had the ipad I decided to get an i-phone. The i-phone worked ok but did not work with the ipad as well as the droid did. I was wanting to get an ipad mini but just couldn't justify the expense when I could get a nexus 7 for $200, so I gave my ipad to my wife and bought the nexus 7 2013. This one has the touch issues. Sometimes it works great and other times it is a PITA to use. Other than the touch issues I like the android platform better and I am now due for a phone upgrade. I don't have a clue what to get.
Many of your insinuations don't match with reality. Apple's development tools appear to be very highly regarded, at least by those who are willing to move beyond an established area of expertise. Although Apple did initially reject applications that competed with their own, that does not appear to be a practice which they generally still employ.
There's no question that Apple's platform is not a hacker or hobbyist paradise, but I think you may be confusing "developer" the individual with "developer" the business. Businesses operate to make money, no matter how painful it may be for those who write the code. If you don't write stuff that consumers want to buy, you don't make money.
JKG
DesertNomad
Pattern Altitude
I am a developer and have been writing commercial software since 1988. I really like Objective C… it's the best language I have ever written in. I like Xcode too. I will agree that Apple's rules for both the Desktop and iOS stores are a pain to deal with. We have one desktop app that simply can't be put into the App Store.
FastEddieB
Touchdown! Greaser!
- Joined
- Oct 14, 2013
- Messages
- 11,537
- Location
- Lenoir City, TN/Mineral Bluff, GA
- Display Name
Display name:
Fast Eddie B
My 64g iPad Mini Retina with ios7 rarely crashes.
Rarely being maybe every couple of weeks getting an isolated "springboard" crash - kind of like a quick Finder reset.
As an aside, I shut it down completely every night before bed - iphone as well. Don't know if that's a factor or not.
Rarely being maybe every couple of weeks getting an isolated "springboard" crash - kind of like a quick Finder reset.
As an aside, I shut it down completely every night before bed - iphone as well. Don't know if that's a factor or not.
poadeleted21
Touchdown! Greaser!
- Joined
- Aug 18, 2011
- Messages
- 12,332
Xcode sucks, we booted it as much as we could from our environment, went with titanium. No one would use if they weren't forced to. I've never heard a kind word about it. and, you may be right about angry birds, but I write highly specialized software for corporate/business/engineering use and I'm constantly telling people "sorry, can't do that" but everybody loves their iPad so that's the reality/trade off they have to live with. I'm not confusing developer with the individual developer. I'm responsible for designing long term software projects from a blank sheet of paper. The only time iOS comes up in conversation is when the requirement hits my desk with with the requirement "must run on iOS natively". I would never use their infrastructure/environment because it's the best suite of tools for the job. Hell, I'd take MSFT/Visual Studio every time if I had to pick between the two.
What are some of the restrictions on apps?
timwinters
Ejection Handle Pulled
To be clear. My iPads don't completely crash but the aps will repeatedly crash. Just last week I had to unistall and reinstall two aps:
Intellicast because it quit updating the radar...was stuck on a three day old screen.
And the AP News ap because it would crash/close immediately upon opening.
Both on my four and uninstalling/reinstalling fixed both issues.
I probably average two uninstall/reinstalls a month on my four and three or four on my one.
Microsoft's "blue screen of death" doesn't hold a candle.
About once or twice a week an app will crash my whole iPad....white Apple reboot screen appears.
ggroves
Pattern Altitude
- Joined
- Mar 6, 2005
- Messages
- 2,003
- Display Name
Display name:
Titanium
As a developer and CIO, I would disagree with 90% of this post.
Open has its drawbacks, particularly in an Enterprise environment. I want it locked down.
Not everyone hates XCode. I've used successfully to write Titanium modules to interface with Bluetooth scanners, RFID readers, and laser measuring devices. The Apple 'chip' makes it solid state. Titanium is a great tool and we develop everything native in it, but in the end, it still cross compiles to XCode.
Android, PITA to interface with devices. I've more window sizing, font, and hardware issues with Android by a factor of 10 to 1.
Normally, we distribute on both for BYOD unless it's a shop floor or service tech app. Then the hardware is dictated and it's Apple. I agree with Captain, a narrow range of devices is very controllable.
It's whatever works for ya....
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
bullwinkle
Pattern Altitude
Certainly it's not fair to blame an OS because an app crashes. Would you curse Windows because Adobe Illustrator crashes?
MadseasoN
Line Up and Wait
Apple has gone too far with it's proprietary crap (SDK, music file format, cables, etc). They are going to lose as mobile devices become more of a necessity and less of a novelty. 'Cheap' will win over 'cool'. MS will always be the enterprise software leader.
ggroves
Pattern Altitude
- Joined
- Mar 6, 2005
- Messages
- 2,003
- Display Name
Display name:
Titanium
Back office, infrastructure, desktop..agree 100%.
Mobile, not so much...you only need to look at the Surface, and WM to draw this conclusion.
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
poadeleted21
Touchdown! Greaser!
- Joined
- Aug 18, 2011
- Messages
- 12,332
Right, XCode/Objective-C sucks so bad you go get another environment to put in front of it so you don't have to deal with it as much.
Things like Apple's Keyboard choices are "good enough" but There's not a week that goes by where we couldn't utilize it in a more efficient way (and are asked to do just that), especially for non-cookie cutter apps. But Apple has made the decision that consistency trumps functionality. That alone makes me snub my nose at them…. That should be my decision. Even though it's quite simple to rearrange the keyboard using "undocumented" APIs, if you try it "NO SOUP FOR YOU!"
I remember MSFT showing up at college and handing out copies of Visual Studio, giving us "ambassador" titles and what not. They wanted to culture a lot of devoted developers and in turn get a good software selection out there for the OSes. Apple took the stance of "Screw the Developers, impress the end users and the dev teams won't have a choice".
There's a reason Apple only sold like 3 or 4 of their final iteration of Xserver (The first went to Woz IIRC), then rightfully killed it. Because there's no end users who care what your server hardware/software is and Dev shops want no part of it.
timwinters
Ejection Handle Pulled
Certainly it's not fair to blame an OS because an app crashes. Would you curse Windows because Adobe Illustrator crashes?
So, why the approval process then? My droid and it's aps don't crash nearly as often and I'm on it just as much...probably more.
Besides, I thought the great sata...errrr...apple pre-qualified aps to help ensure they don't crash the system.
Regardless, if it's the aps, the ipad, whatever, it crashes far more than anything I've experienced on any other machine.
Foreflight being the notable exception. I don't recall Foreflight ever crashing.
I forgot about that, Loren, I get that also. Not as often as you but maybe I'm not on my iPad as much.
Without being too specific, can you give an idea of why?
If you run a fair number of apps, you must shut down and restart fairly often, or the iPad becomes slow, then apps start to crash, then the iPad crashes. Fact-o-life, but I still like my iPad. It is a good and useful device, but certainly well shy of the nirvana perfection Apple Acolytes claim.
ChrisK
En-Route
Some people like smalltalk and NeXTSTEP. Some people also like skinny jeans and newsy caps. That's cool. And if your framework can't be tested with ruby and cucumber you need a new framework.
mtuomi
En-Route
Which is a shame. Developing for Windows Phone seems to be 100 times better/easier than iOS/Android.
DesertNomad
Pattern Altitude
Apps talking to other apps is tightly controlled for one (this is the primary one affecting us). Apps have to be "sandboxed" so it is hard or impossible to do some things that for years have been easy and normal on the Mac platform.
flyingcheesehead
Touchdown! Greaser!
iPad 1 has not been able to be upgraded past iOS 5. We're on iOS 7 now.
Even 5 was pretty bad on the 1, though... And things were more crashy on it.
Those of you who are crashing with newer hardware... Keep track of what apps are crashing. Then, let the developer know (and extract and send in the crash logs to them if you really want to be helpful), or just stop using poorly-written apps. There are generally many apps that have similar functionality, so you can choose one that doesn't suck.
FWIW, I use an iPad Mini these days, and I'm not sure it's ever crashed. Same with my iPhone 5s. My old iPad 1 was stable until I tried running iOS 5 and some higher-horsepower apps on it, then it just couldn't stand up to the demands.
Captain
Final Approach
timwinters
Ejection Handle Pulled
I download and install nothing but the highest quality porn aps, thank you very much!