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I've had more fragmentation problems with iOS/iPhone than with Android

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Re: I've had more fragmentation problems with iOS/iPhone than with Android

#21

Post by blinkingled »

spaznode wrote: post #13
blueben wrote: post #4

Earlier quoted context omitted.

His point is that Android made it easy to test multiple platforms, and Apple did not.

When you say "multiple" and "easy" what exactly is the implication there? Worrying about 5-6 revisions of an API or 30-70 variances of the same problem on multiple pieces of hardware with multiple variances of platform debauchery forced upon you by a given mobile carrier? It just isn't possible to make the case that this aspect of android doesn't make things harder and still retain any semblance of honesty or credibi…

Read the Android developer docs. API Levels document especially. Also play around with the emulator and that will clear up your misconceptions. It isn't hard at all unless you want to convince yourself that it is ;)

Re: I've had more fragmentation problems with iOS/iPhone than with Android

#22

Post by kjksf »

MichaelApproved wrote: post #15

How is this a major fragmentation problem? This is a story trying to point out fragmentation issues but only points to one problem (testing on iOS 3.1.3). There are many more fragmentation issues with Android than this one story.

The reason people bring Android fragmentation as a negative is because they claim it's hard for developers to support all different Android devices.

This post shows that iPhone has the same problem: every iOS version is a fragmentation point. If you want to support version X1, X2, X3, X4 etc. of iOS you have to make sure it works on all those versions, just like if you want to support version X1, X2, X3, X4 etc. of Android, you have to make sure it works on all those versions.

The post shows another thing: that while Google makes it easy for developers to support all OS versions by providing decent development tools (i.e. emulator that supports older OS versions) and providing developer-friendly phones (so that you can install different versions on the device).

In contrast Apple makes it difficult by forbidding developers to downgrade their phones for testing or providing emulators for older devices so developers have to jump through major hoops to make sure that their software runs on devices that are still being used by a nontrivial amount of users.

To summarize: in practice supporting multiple version of Apple's iOS is harder than supporting multiple versions of Android due to Apple's shitty developer tools and their general shitty attitude to developers, at least according to that one developer.

Re: I've had more fragmentation problems with iOS/iPhone than with Android

#23

Post by podperson »

kjksf wrote: post #22
MichaelApproved wrote: post #15

How is this a major fragmentation problem? This is a story trying to point out fragmentation issues but only points to one problem (testing on iOS 3.1.3). There are many more fragmentation issues with Android than this one story.

The reason people bring Android fragmentation as a negative is because they claim it's hard for developers to support all different Android devices. This post shows that iPhone has the same problem: every iOS version is a fragmentation point. If you want to support version X1, X2, X3, X4 etc. of iOS you have to make sure it works on all those versions, just like if you want to support version X1, X2, X3, X4 etc. of A…

No, the problem here isn't supporting _devices_ but OSes. If you flag your app as v4 (correctly) anyone who wants to use it can upgrade to v4 and use it. No fragmentation. Under Android it's a dog's breakfast just on that point, forget screen resolutions etc.

Re: I've had more fragmentation problems with iOS/iPhone than with Android

#24

Post by xenophanes »

dazzla wrote: post #17
xuki wrote: post #14

Instead of testing on 5+ devices for Android, you just have to buy an old iPod touch with 3.1.3 on it. Is it too costly for you?

I had an iPod Touch with 3.1.3 on it but by then I'd upgraded to to 4.x with no way to downgrade it. Sure I could have bought another sooner but this is not something I was expecting as up till that point I could always test in the simulator for any version.

you can download old versions of iOS and downgrade your ipod.

Re: I've had more fragmentation problems with iOS/iPhone than with Android

#25

Post by dillon »

So it's not fragmentation, Apple just doesn't let you test in previous versions. This was an easy fix for all you needed was only one phone. Unlike Android who has over 100 different versions of Android, yes you have the emulator for each base version but you can't guarantee for every phone.

Re: I've had more fragmentation problems with iOS/iPhone than with Android

#26

Post by sp4rki »

How is this a tale about fragmentation on either operating system's ecosystems? It reads more like a story about how the developer has a faulty approach to releasing software. He made the mistake of making an assumption that turned out to be erroneous, and then had an issue with his version control. He fixed the issues and everything was good with the world. Once again, how is this fragmentation? If he where complaining that the review process takes too long, then point taken and I agree, but this has more to do with user error than with the ecosystem itself.

Re: I've had more fragmentation problems with iOS/iPhone than with Android

#27

Post by blinkingled »

podperson wrote: post #23
kjksf wrote: post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The reason people bring Android fragmentation as a negative is because they claim it's hard for developers to support all different Android devices. This post shows that iPhone has the same problem: every iOS version is a fragmentation point. If you want to support version X1, X2, X3, X4 etc. of iOS you have to make sure it works on all those versions, just like if you want to support version X1, X2, X3, X4 etc. of A…

No, the problem here isn't supporting _devices_ but OSes. If you flag your app as v4 (correctly) anyone who wants to use it can upgrade to v4 and use it. No fragmentation. Under Android it's a dog's breakfast just on that point, forget screen resolutions etc.

Have you developed for Android and released a useful app? What are you basing your dog breakfast story on? That doesn't ring true at all for anyone who has developed for Android.

Re: I've had more fragmentation problems with iOS/iPhone than with Android

#28

Post by dazzla »

xenophanes wrote: post #24
dazzla wrote: post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I had an iPod Touch with 3.1.3 on it but by then I'd upgraded to to 4.x with no way to downgrade it. Sure I could have bought another sooner but this is not something I was expecting as up till that point I could always test in the simulator for any version.

you can download old versions of iOS and downgrade your ipod.

It has been a few months since I tried to downgrade but I certainly did try and killed too much time in the process. Could you point me in the direction of some instructions?

Re: I've had more fragmentation problems with iOS/iPhone than with Android

#29

Post by dannyr »

dillon wrote: post #25

So it's not fragmentation, Apple just doesn't let you test in previous versions. This was an easy fix for all you needed was only one phone. Unlike Android who has over 100 different versions of Android, yes you have the emulator for each base version but you can't guarantee for every phone.

I'm a 100% certain that you have not developed on Android. You just read about fragmentation on a blog or heard it from Steve Jobs.

There are best practices on Android development to minimize fragmentation issues.

And no, you don't have to handle 100 versions of Android when developing.

If you restrict your app to run only from 2.1 and above, you got 80%+ of phones covered.

http://developer.android.com/resources/dashboard/platform-ve...

Re: I've had more fragmentation problems with iOS/iPhone than with Android

#30

Post by jarin »

Developer error/ignorance is cross-platform and runs on both Android and iOS. You can't blame the fact that you didn't test on the version you released for, know how to install older OS versions to test with, or check documentation on Apple OR Google.
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