Why do apps from the same company look worse on Android than on iPhone? • Hacker News Board

Re: Why do apps from the same company look worse on Android than on iPhone?

#51

Post by nl » Fri, Apr 08, 2011, 4:02 AM UTC

He doesn't make a very convincing case. The iPhone Meebo emoticon screen looks a lot better, but all the others aren't as simple.

I prefer the look of the Android Meebo contact list, but I prefer the iPhone chat interface.

Note that his Android Facebook app needs updating. The missing Chat & Places icons fill it up. I think I prefer the Android version - the white background makes it look more lighter and more spacious than the iPhone version.

I don't like either Speedtest app much at all. I prefer the tabs at the bottom from the iPhone version, but hate (hate!) that purple (!!) ad bar above it. OTOH, I hate the "Test Again" button on the Android version.

Re: Why do apps from the same company look worse on Android than on iPhone?

#52

Post by jarek » Fri, Apr 08, 2011, 4:03 AM UTC

grandalf wrote: post #42

redthrowaway wrote: post #31

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Android has more market share than iOS, which would seem to suggest it's moved far beyond the "technical, geeky" crowd. My hunch is that we're starting to see a Windows/Mac differentiation here, with Android emerging as the clear winner of mobile and iOS being reserved for the trendy/artistic/quality crowd. That carries over into the apps themselves, with Android apps (like their windows counterparts) being clean and…

That's a fairly optimistic view. My take is that most purchasers of Android phones are probably quite disappointed with the experience. Whether it's because of battery life, lousy app selection, annoying add-ons by the carrier, or clunky app design. Sure, slimy salespeople hired by the carriers are pushing Android phones and probably lying about features and quality just as they lie about plan details, etc. Yes they'…

Ah yes. First it was shinier. Then it was more apps. Then it was more users. Now it's more paying users, rapidly eroding, and "lousy app selection." Chances of the huge backlash sure are looking better than ever.

Re: Why do apps from the same company look worse on Android than on iPhone?

#53

Post by CoffeeDregs » Fri, Apr 08, 2011, 4:06 AM UTC

This is largely a comparison between the management styles of the two platforms. (FWIW: I've owned by iPhones and Androids.) On iOS, the UX guidelines are well defined and Apple forces apps to stick to them; Android is the Wild West. On iOS, nearly every app is straightforward but limited; on Android, apps can do whatever the hell they want. These two constraints lead to different outcomes. Two examples: NYTimes is much simpler on iOS but richer and more confusing on Android; Flikie HD isn't possible on iOS but works on Android and has an incredibly confusing interface. Reminds me of Mac vs PC all over again...

Re: Why do apps from the same company look worse on Android than on iPhone?

#54

Post by rexf » Fri, Apr 08, 2011, 4:06 AM UTC

trotsky wrote: post #22

Interesting blog, every entry appears to be a substantial jab at the platform itself... not really just "gripes" as I see them. I am impressed with how dedicated he is to the pursuit, not only does he have a blog solely for his android gripes, but he's also made an androidgripes gmail account as well as a twitter account and a facebook page to promote the blog. It doesn't seem to be possible to find the blogger's nam…

Not commenting on the blog's choice of subject matter:

Making a Gmail / Twitter / Fb / Tumblr / etc. is standard for any website. There's nothing unusual about creating accounts on these other services as it's arguably an essential part of 'doing business' online.

Re: Why do apps from the same company look worse on Android than on iPhone?

#55

Post by angusgr » Fri, Apr 08, 2011, 4:07 AM UTC

trotsky wrote: post #38

angusgr wrote: post #35

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Although the blog makes legitimate individual points (apart from the flamebait closer), I think you're 100% right that the overall motivation is a thinly disguised fanboi polemic. * a 99% chance of being corporate sponsored astroturfing* This is an interesting possibility, but at the same time have you ever read the comments on gizmodo? Apple doesn't need to astroturf when there are fanbois just -dying- to tell every…

While I do agree that many Apple fans are quite eager to score points in favor of their preferred platform (just as many Android fans are as well), I still stand by my theory. Have you read the text of the rest of the articles, gone to the twitter and facebook pages and read the postings? In my opinion both the tone and volume is highly unusual, and to my ears the arguments sound exceedingly carefully framed in a way…

Maybe. There's certainly a lot of FUD there.

A lot of it still seems pretty adolescent though, like the post wholly about the "Gmail" icon or throwaway lines about "14 years old’s feeling".

The Twitter account looks like someone is curating it but the facebook page just looks they enabled Tumblr's "Post to Facebook" feature and walked away.

I guess there's no way to be sure.

Re: Why do apps from the same company look worse on Android than on iPhone?

#56

Post by [deleted] » Fri, Apr 08, 2011, 4:07 AM UTC

antimatter wrote: post #39

Am I the only one who prefers the Android interface for Meebo (first time seeing it)? I often dread using the iOS version as I feel it's extremely cramped.

[deleted]

Re: Why do apps from the same company look worse on Android than on iPhone?

#57

Post by ryannielsen » Fri, Apr 08, 2011, 4:08 AM UTC

redthrowaway wrote: post #48

ryannielsen wrote: post #46

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If you're not charging, you still need customers installing and using your app. Note, I said: "Or perhaps these companies are seeing more purchases/ revenue ..." Revenue is revenue, whether you get it via a purchase or via eyeballs. If companies are getting less revenue from Android users vs iOS users then there's little reason for them to invest more in making their Android ports look as nice or function as well as…

The key here is to look at total revenue, rather than revenue/customer. The incremental costs of serving an additional customer are negligible, while development costs are (relatively) fixed. Thus the relative adoption rates of Android vs iOS customers becomes decreasingly important as the Android user base continues to grow. Despite the apparent swing in popularity of my original statement, I stand by it. Android is…

I agree, total revenue is key. In fact, that's my entire thesis: the disparity between current iOS and Android apps may be explained by the possible disparity in revenue between the two platforms.

The reason I replied to your post is that I disagree with the "Android will be utilitarian/iOS will be artsy" assertion as being caused only by market share or user expectations (though I think user expectations are also a huge factor). My belief is that one major, current reason why iOS apps are of higher quality is not just because iOS users expect higher quality apps, but also because iOS users generate more total revenue for companies, providing a better ROI. If/when that shifts in favor of Android, those apps may become the higher quality versions.

As for what happens in the future, it's anyone's guess. Heck, it's entirely possible for Android to crush iOS in terms of market share but to still generate less total revenue for companies if no Android users actually install 3rd party apps. I don't expect that to happen, but it's certainly possible.

Re: Why do apps from the same company look worse on Android than on iPhone?

#58

Post by blinkingled » Fri, Apr 08, 2011, 4:09 AM UTC

The thing is Android apps or UI controls in general don't look bad on their own - they are quite ok - elegant, minimalistic and understated by choice. Focusing on getting the work done becomes more easy when you have less UI jazz to get distracted with.

This really shows in the Android App Market review comments - people who rate low mostly do so because of force closes, missing functions etc. (https://market.android.com/details?id=com.facebook.katana is a good case study.)

The other part is that iPhone has one resolution UI - Androids come in lots of different resolutions. So I think the amount of blank/white space and font sizes vary between different handsets and that makes some apps designed for low res UIs look a bit off on high res screens.

And frankly, I can't find anything worse looking in the examples the fanboi^W author presented and he doesn't seem to be making any real points as to why he thinks one was worse than other - apart from him just not liking anything other than iPhone UI.

Re: Why do apps from the same company look worse on Android than on iPhone?

#59

Post by sparkymat » Fri, Apr 08, 2011, 4:12 AM UTC

jrockway wrote: post #49

Because Android users don't care. To make the app look nice, you would need to pay for 100 hours of a designer and 400 hours of programming. If it looks like crap, you only have to pay for 400 hours of programming. Android users don't care, so you make more return on your investment by neglecting design. Apple users all have blogs about the virtues of serif fonts versus sans-serif fonts, so you are not going to sell…

As a long term Windows (and Mac) user, I disagree with the part about Windows. Windows 7 is quite polished and I haven't had to deal with spyware in years (of using Windows XP / Windows Vista). Yes, Mac OS X is quite polished and has good workflow elements (expose, stacks, etc.) but so does Windows (tiling, maximizing, jump-list, etc.) .

As an Android (and iOS) developer, I would like to point out that one of the contributing factors to the lack of well-designed applications for Android is due to the lack of polish in the Android tools. XCode on Mac OS X is a delightful experience, with the right tools and the right amount of control to make good applications, supported by excellent tools to optimize the look/performance. However, with ADT, I spend most of my time struggling with XML layout files, and heap dumps attempting to improve the application.

Re: Why do apps from the same company look worse on Android than on iPhone?

#60

Post by sparkymat » Fri, Apr 08, 2011, 4:21 AM UTC

As an Android and iOS developer, I would like to point out that one of the contributing factors to the lack of well-designed applications for Android is due to the lack of polish in the Android tools and the available IDE (ADT for Android, and XCode for iOS).

XCode on Mac OS X is a delightful experience, with the right tools and the right amount of control to make good applications, supported by excellent tools to optimize the look/performance. The interface builder and the simulator are quite polished and greatly reduce the effort in tweaking the UI.

However, with ADT, I spend most of my time struggling with XML layout files, and heap dumps attempting to improve the application. The interface builder became usable only with the latest version of ADT, and even-so, I often find myself dropping down into the XML often. The simulator takes a long time to load and is quite sluggish. I find it far more convenient to have the application run on the device each time. However, this implies that code-compile-run cycle takes more time on ADT than on XCode.

In conclusion, the iOS development tools help me in finishing the application quicker, leaving me enough time (and providing me better tools) to polish the interface further.