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Update from the CEO

googleblog.blogspot.com

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Re: Update from the CEO

#121

Post by verelo »

This is an interestingly timed article. We're building our Android app right now, and its certainly more annoying than when we built out iOS app.

As an app developer, in Canada (not Canadian however) i'm excited that RIM have attempted to prevent further fragmentation by sticking close to the Android stack, however i really don't want to deal with the distribution and other issues (such as screens, OS bugs etc) that i'm sure will come with releasing on a 3rd platform.

I feel like we're dealing with the issues similar to what were encountered during the 17-1800's with different size railway tracks. Is it just a matter of time until we agree upon a standard?

Re: Update from the CEO

#122

Post by guyzero »

recoiledsnake wrote: post #79
technotony wrote: post #65

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Device fragmentation on Android is nothing like fragmentation used to be. At least on Android you can write one app and then tweak it to work on different devices, previously you had to write apps as different as Android/iOS/Windows for each device - and often individual manufacturers even had multiple platforms to write for. And don't even get me started on distribution. You used to have to negotiate with carriers i…

>At least on Android you can write one app and then tweak it to work on different devices, previously you had to write apps as different as Android/iOS/Windows for each device - and often individual manufacturers even had multiple platforms to write for. >So I think we owe Google some congratulations. Before Android, you could write a Windows Mobile app and have it run pretty much on every Windows Mobile device and t…

"Before Android, you could write a Windows Mobile app and have it run pretty much on every Windows Mobile device" - yeah, all one million of them.

Re: Update from the CEO

#124

Post by kronholm »

jmillikin wrote: post #64
laureny wrote: post #27

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Not to mention that Chrome has figured out how to push updates, while a majority of Androids are still running a version released over two years ago. The reason for the hold out is the carriers, not Google. Google is very good at pushing updates to phones when it's not limited by the carriers (and Android implemented over the air updates years before anyone else did. iPhones still require cables to be updated).

> The reason for the hold out is the carriers, not > Google. Google is very good at pushing updates to > phones when it's not limited by the carriers I didn't imply it had to be a technical solution. If users can't update their phones that run Google's operating system because Google isn't leaning hard enough on the carriers, then Google needs to fix that. Apple has managed to strong-arm the carriers into letting it…

Just to add data to those wondering, iOS 5 released 16 months ago (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IOS_version_history)

Re: Update from the CEO

#125

Post by guyzero »

pinaceae wrote: post #50

Observation by Benedict Evans: almost all key divisional leads at Google were born in India. Android, Engineering, Advertising, Youtube… Polar opposite to Apple, which is a white boys club.

"almost all key divisional leads at Google were born in India. Android, Engineering, Advertising, Youtube"

So factually wrong.

Re: Update from the CEO

#126

Post by resu_nimda »

dpcx wrote: post #119
MatthewPhillips wrote: post #83

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It wouldn't have been adopted if they had taken a hard line on that issue.

So iOS was adopted why...?

Because the iPhone was an obvious money printing machine, so the carriers were willing to accept the inability to put their garbage on it.

Re: Update from the CEO

#127

Post by jonknee »

recoiledsnake wrote: post #79
technotony wrote: post #65

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Device fragmentation on Android is nothing like fragmentation used to be. At least on Android you can write one app and then tweak it to work on different devices, previously you had to write apps as different as Android/iOS/Windows for each device - and often individual manufacturers even had multiple platforms to write for. And don't even get me started on distribution. You used to have to negotiate with carriers i…

>At least on Android you can write one app and then tweak it to work on different devices, previously you had to write apps as different as Android/iOS/Windows for each device - and often individual manufacturers even had multiple platforms to write for. >So I think we owe Google some congratulations. Before Android, you could write a Windows Mobile app and have it run pretty much on every Windows Mobile device and t…

> Before Android, you could write a Windows Mobile app and have it run pretty much on every Windows Mobile device and the same with Blackberry and iPhones.

Considering that Android pre-dates the iPhone (and thus iOS), the statement isn't accurate. This article cites 2004 and the iPhone didn't debut until the middle of 2007. It was indeed a nightmare, not only in the development process but in distribution. Good luck getting your app widely distributed across platforms/countries/carriers.

I remember being at CES around this time and the Google guys did a keynote where they made it a mission to get rid of all the different charging standards in use at the time (every phone was different, remember having to find a charger that worked for your phone?). It was a whole different game back then.

Re: Update from the CEO

#128

Post by brian_cloutier »

recoiledsnake wrote: post #79
technotony wrote: post #65

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Device fragmentation on Android is nothing like fragmentation used to be. At least on Android you can write one app and then tweak it to work on different devices, previously you had to write apps as different as Android/iOS/Windows for each device - and often individual manufacturers even had multiple platforms to write for. And don't even get me started on distribution. You used to have to negotiate with carriers i…

>At least on Android you can write one app and then tweak it to work on different devices, previously you had to write apps as different as Android/iOS/Windows for each device - and often individual manufacturers even had multiple platforms to write for. >So I think we owe Google some congratulations. Before Android, you could write a Windows Mobile app and have it run pretty much on every Windows Mobile device and t…

Your information is outdated.

The Holo theme is required to be present on all devices that wish to carry the play store. If you write an app targeting 4.0 or higher that uses the default theme, it will look the same across all phones.

Re: Update from the CEO

#129

Post by electic »

cooldeal wrote: post #101
MatthewPhillips wrote: post #93

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't know where you get your information from, but Blackberry has broken compatibility in the last 3 OS releases, and Windows Phone 8 doesn't even run the same kernel as the previous version (breaks compatibility). I'm not sure if you ever touched Java ME back in the day... but yeah. You're just wrong on this one.

>Windows Phone 8 doesn't even run the same kernel as the previous version (breaks compatibility) Windows Phone 7 apps run fine on WP8. Anyway breaking compatibility is a tad different from fragmentation. If your app runs on a WP7 phone, you can be reasonably certain it runs on all other WP7 phones. With Android, you can easily run into device specific bugs even though the version is the same and thus you're forced to…

Agreed. I bet most of the people ripping other OSes don't even develop for Android. It's a nightmare.

Re: Update from the CEO

#130

Post by Ologn »

Rubin is someone who, from his days of running a BBS in New York many years ago, to creating and working to expand Android more recently, has always had a strong alignment with the values of free software, hackers and hobbyists. Over two decades ago he praised those who "write their programs for the hobby, for the hack". His commitment and his efforts for open source software and open platforms have borne fruit with an open platform which accounted for over 70% of smartphone sales in the fourth quarter of 2012. I am grateful for his efforts in this regard, especially since I have been focusing on writing Android apps for the past few years.
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