The media is so obsessed with pushing the “Samsung vs Apple” narrative that they’re missing the real story in the phone world, and that is that Samsung is absolutely crushing the rest of the Android phone makers.
Tag Archives | Android
Where are the Android users?
Interesting analysis by Horace Dediu of the numbers of Android Activations vs the number of US Customers. He notes a very interesting, and massive disparity in the numbers. Well worth a read.
Gizmodo’s Insane Defence of the lack of Android Tablet Apps
In a piece on the best small tablets of the year, Gizmodo unsurprisingly gives the number one spot to the Nexus 7. In trying to justify the laughable lack of tablet specific apps and justify his reasoning the writer Brent Rose gives us this wonderful little ditty:
“iOS may have more tablet-optimized apps, but because Android devices come in so many different sizes, developers are used to scaling. Text and buttons are human-sized, and zooming in and out to view things is simple.”
Really? That’s the best you can do?
Look, I have both the Nexus 7 and the iPad mini. The nexus 7 is a good device, but the app situation is ridiculous. It’s not just a lack of tablet optimised apps that’s an issue, it’s that android versions of a lot of apps are abysmal. I mean, they’re really really bad. There’s no justification for it other than developers either have a low opinion of their Android customers or that developing for Android is so difficult that the lame excuse for apps is the best that they can do.
“Developer’s used to scaling” is not a reason to be excited about the app situation on the Nexus.
If you want to compete with Apple, making your products available is a good start
So here’s the thing that bugs me about Android. Well, it’s one of the things. I am a pretty die hard apple user, but I’m not opposed to trying the competition and I’ve a pretty open mind when it comes to technology.
With that in mind I’ve been trying to get hold of a nexus 7. Except it turns out they’re not available here. Well, not officially any way. They have been turning up on the grey market though, but availability is limited. It strikes me as odd that google should make such a big stink about android being a better choice and then limit one of its core products availability. And I know someone will make the inevitable point that Ireland is just a tiny little country but google has a huge headquarters and presence here.
So here’s the thing google. If you want Android to succeed in the tablet space, you can start by actually selling your own products
The Problem with Android OS Fragmentation
Developer Jon Evans on Tech Crunch describes the problem succinctly:
… Device fragmentation is just an irritation.
OS fragmentation, though, is an utter disaster. Ice Cream Sandwich is by all accounts very nice; but what good does that do app developers, when according to Google’s own stats, 30% of all Android devices are still running an OS that is 20 months old?
Considering that it is becoming more and more apparent that handset manufacturers don’t particularly care about providing updates to the software on their phones, (why give a free upgrade when you can “encourage” people to buy a new phone) this problem is going to get worse and worse for developers. Unless of course Google changes the terms of the licence agreement to force them to provide updates, but I don’t see that happening. And, considering the OS is open source anyway, Google couldn’t really force them, even if it wanted to.
But hey, at least it’s open, right?
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