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Standing Up For Android

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Re: Standing Up For Android

#51

Post by adambyrtek »

wallflower wrote: post #20

If Marco Arment was serious about Android, he would most likely give up control and outsource development to a talented Android developer. Maybe even one who is employed by Google... I'm sure Google would be more than willing to work closely with Marco, as they did in creating Twitter's app, as Instapaper is a brand. Twitter was supposed to open source the code to their Android app as a condition of the assistance bu…

This is completely over the top. Why should Google spend resources to drive profits for a developer who doesn't even care himself?

Don't get me wrong, I love Instapaper and I would like to keep using it, but Marco's blatant dismissal of a large population of users forces me to consider alternatives.

Re: Standing Up For Android

#52

Post by coob »

dannyr wrote: post #15
phamilton wrote: post #13

As odd as it may seem, I cringe every time I think about developing on Android. It's not the development that gets me. Honestly, I can't stand the emulator. It takes so long to boot up, and is such a resource hog when running. The iPhone emulator is also a resource hog, but I can close it without anticipating a 2 minute bootup when I build my application.

I hate the Android emulator so I test on a device. Device testing on Android is way, way easier than on iOS.

> Device testing on Android is way, way easier than on iOS.

Once you've got over the pain of setting up a provisioning profile and developer certificate, what in particular is easier on Android?

Or is that your only concern? Debugging on iOS is a one click thing once that's set up.

Re: Standing Up For Android

#53

Post by danssig »

derrida wrote: post #30

There are real reasons people buy Android over iOS. I bought an Android because of great applications like https://guardianproject.info/ and http://whispersys.com The ability to manage the security of Android down to the finest detail, and get software based voice encryption made me choose it. I agree some of the hardware models feel crappy. Any of the Nexus models feel as well designed as an iPhone.

I'm personally not convinced that most people do buy Android over iOS. People buy e.g. Samsung over iPhone but that's very different. I suspect that if the Windows gains traction we'll see them start heavilty eating into Android's market share.

Re: Standing Up For Android

#54

Post by daleharvey »

coob wrote: post #52
dannyr wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I hate the Android emulator so I test on a device. Device testing on Android is way, way easier than on iOS.

> Device testing on Android is way, way easier than on iOS. Once you've got over the pain of setting up a provisioning profile and developer certificate, what in particular is easier on Android? Or is that your only concern? Debugging on iOS is a one click thing once that's set up.

The provisioning profiles are a huge pain, I regularly switch between computers / wipe my computers and every time getting started with iOS is enough hassle for me to put it off a few weeks

Part that its a split, android has a shell which can massively aid debugging, Xcodes integration with gdb seems better / easier than the android debugger, for me that still swings it 70/30 towards android

Re: Standing Up For Android

#55

Post by coob »

daleharvey wrote: post #54
coob wrote: post #52

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Device testing on Android is way, way easier than on iOS. Once you've got over the pain of setting up a provisioning profile and developer certificate, what in particular is easier on Android? Or is that your only concern? Debugging on iOS is a one click thing once that's set up.

The provisioning profiles are a huge pain, I regularly switch between computers / wipe my computers and every time getting started with iOS is enough hassle for me to put it off a few weeks Part that its a split, android has a shell which can massively aid debugging, Xcodes integration with gdb seems better / easier than the android debugger, for me that still swings it 70/30 towards android

Switching between computers is easier than it once was, in Xcode just export your developer profile from the organiser.

Re: Standing Up For Android

#56

Post by mrich »

baddox wrote: post #4

I'm still curious about the details of his conversations with his users about why they choose Android. Are any of them choosing an Android phone because of the Android OS or app ecosystem? Aside from some hackers that might like the hackability and extensibility of the Android OS, or people that reject Apple because of their business practices or philosophies, I strongly suspect most users that buy Android phones "be…

The ability to plug in an Android device into any computer with an USB port and be able to access all data and put new things on it instantly without any sync software overhead is a killer feature for me. There are others, like better hardware, better displays especially (Samsung S II here).

Re: Standing Up For Android

#57

Post by lut4rp »

phamilton wrote: post #13

As odd as it may seem, I cringe every time I think about developing on Android. It's not the development that gets me. Honestly, I can't stand the emulator. It takes so long to boot up, and is such a resource hog when running. The iPhone emulator is also a resource hog, but I can close it without anticipating a 2 minute bootup when I build my application.

Yes, because the Android emulator is actually an emulator. The iOS "emulator" is a simulator. It doesn't emulate the ARM instructions or run an actual OS instance. The Android emulator does.

Of course, the best option is to connect your Android device and test/debug on the device itself.

Re: Standing Up For Android

#58

Post by Supermighty »

adambyrtek wrote: post #51
wallflower wrote: post #20

If Marco Arment was serious about Android, he would most likely give up control and outsource development to a talented Android developer. Maybe even one who is employed by Google... I'm sure Google would be more than willing to work closely with Marco, as they did in creating Twitter's app, as Instapaper is a brand. Twitter was supposed to open source the code to their Android app as a condition of the assistance bu…

This is completely over the top. Why should Google spend resources to drive profits for a developer who doesn't even care himself? Don't get me wrong, I love Instapaper and I would like to keep using it, but Marco's blatant dismissal of a large population of users forces me to consider alternatives.

If Instapaper on Android sells handsets then why wouldn't Google want to help.

Re: Standing Up For Android

#59

Post by bad_user »

baddox wrote: post #4

I'm still curious about the details of his conversations with his users about why they choose Android. Are any of them choosing an Android phone because of the Android OS or app ecosystem? Aside from some hackers that might like the hackability and extensibility of the Android OS, or people that reject Apple because of their business practices or philosophies, I strongly suspect most users that buy Android phones "be…

I have both an iPhone 3GS and a Galaxy S - I prefer my Android's OS and app ecosystem.

For the OS, I prefer Android because it is more flexible and smarter. Apps that are doing stuff in the background behave like expected, actually doing stuff in the background. The back button is standardized, apps on Android collaborate more because of the well designed intents system, I like my interactive backgrounds or screen widgets, I like my task manager, I like my Wifi tethering without paying a freaking tax for it, I love that you can install apps from outside the marketplace without a jailbreak, I love the way my contacts are fully synchronized with Google's Contacts, I love how Facebook adds new phone numbers and updates the pictures of my contacts list, I love how upload buttons in the browser are NOT disabled, I like the turn-by-turn directions of GMaps, I like the awesome/native integration with GMail, I like that I am allowed to have Flash on it (I rarely use it, keep it disabled, but it is useful when I need it) and I could go on and on.

As for the marketplace, I like how unrestricted it is. I have an app that blocks calls, SMS messages and deletes all logs of blacklisted phone numbers. This was the first app I installed on my Galaxy S since it is so useful to me. And when I tried it on the iPhone, apparently apps like iBlacklist need a jailbreak - I mean, WTF? That's not a smartphone.

The iPhone 3GS I bought because people like you claim it is so much better. I bought it without a contract so it was a lot more expensive than my legally unlocked Galaxy S purchased with a plan. I regret buying it.

Unfortunately there's a really loud minority of iPhone users that are recommending iPhones, getting really heated over Android. So here's what I suspect - I suspect that this is a side effect of buyer's remorse, trying to justify an investment that you know in your heart is a losing bet (pretty sure this syndrome has a name, but I don't know it).

Re: Standing Up For Android

#60

Post by juliano_q »

Tichy wrote: post #50
georgemcbay wrote: post #31

I certainly don't speak for anyone other than myself, but I buy Android devices purposefully and pretty much for 2 reasons: #1 The Google ecosystem. I'm already committed to gmail, google voice and google calendar via multiple google apps accounts (my own personal gmail, plus a google apps work account). Being able to log into my google apps accounts once on the phone and have everything (contacts, events, voicemail…

Maybe Nokia might be interesting for you. I suppose they still ship free offline navigation with their newer phones. (Google Maps requires an online connection, although by now you can apparently cache some small parts of the map in advance).

Actually you can easily cache big parts of the map in advance now. I live in a really big city (São Paulo) and I pre-cached it entirely.
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