Android is for startups

#1

Post by willwhitney » Wed, Sep 04, 2013, 6:34 PM UTC

Android is for startups
blog.audobox.com

Re: Android is for startups

#2

Post by samspenc » Wed, Sep 04, 2013, 6:49 PM UTC

Excellent write-up. As a mobile developer, this was my experience publishing Android apps to Play store as well.

Also, my theory is that once there are enough quality apps on Android, we will start to see the center of popularity shift to Android from iOS.

Re: Android is for startups

#3

Post by grosen » Wed, Sep 04, 2013, 6:50 PM UTC

Free apps do well on Android. Paid apps (Outright & Free + In App Purchases) generate more revenue on iOS. Being able to show traction is important for startups but, being able to show increased revenue is equally if not more important.

Until Android on a whole proves to be more lucrative to monetize apps, many developers will continue building iOS first (imho).

Re: Android is for startups

#4

Post by discostrings » Wed, Sep 04, 2013, 6:53 PM UTC

Being in the process of registering my LLC for an iOS Apple Developer account, I couldn't agree more. It's been over two months now of back-and-forth with Apple and Dun & Bradstreet, and the end is still not in sight. All I'd like them to do is take my $100 and give me the ability to test the free app I'm making on a device and then publish it, but apparently Apple feels a longer-than-two-month turnaround time is acceptable. (And yes, I know I could just register a personal account and then slowly convert it to an LLC account. I shouldn't have to do that. As someone who's somewhat interested in their platform but not dying to develop for it, I'm not going to do that.)

Re: Android is for startups

#5

Post by avolcano » Wed, Sep 04, 2013, 6:57 PM UTC

> But if you build an app on Android that’s on par with the design quality you’re used to on iOS, your users will love you. The press will love you. Gizmodo will feature your app just so they’ll have a nice header image for their “Android Apps of the Week” post.

That's nice, but will it translate into sales? Probably not, given the horror stories of Android piracy that seem to come out every few weeks (particularly in the gaming market).

Of course, many startups profit in hype instead of dollars, so maybe that's irrelevant.

Re: Android is for startups

#6

Post by mattmanser » Wed, Sep 04, 2013, 6:57 PM UTC

discostrings wrote: post #4

Being in the process of registering my LLC for an iOS Apple Developer account, I couldn't agree more. It's been over two months now of back-and-forth with Apple and Dun & Bradstreet, and the end is still not in sight. All I'd like them to do is take my $100 and give me the ability to test the free app I'm making on a device and then publish it, but apparently Apple feels a longer-than-two-month turnaround time is acc…

Bit of a strange thing to say. Yes, I could solve it easily, but I'm not going to do that.

Re: Android is for startups

#7

Post by mynd » Wed, Sep 04, 2013, 6:57 PM UTC

I think a little barrier to entry is a good thing. App Store is saturated as it is.

Re: Android is for startups

#8

Post by eurleif » Wed, Sep 04, 2013, 6:57 PM UTC

discostrings wrote: post #4

Being in the process of registering my LLC for an iOS Apple Developer account, I couldn't agree more. It's been over two months now of back-and-forth with Apple and Dun & Bradstreet, and the end is still not in sight. All I'd like them to do is take my $100 and give me the ability to test the free app I'm making on a device and then publish it, but apparently Apple feels a longer-than-two-month turnaround time is acc…

I started off with a sole proprietor account, and then converted it to an LLC. It was "pending" for months. During that time, my Apple developer registration expired, and I renewed it... but because I renewed it for the LLC, not the sole proprietorship, and the LLC was "pending", my account expired anyway, and my app was removed from the store. Thanks, Apple.

Re: Android is for startups

#9

Post by killahpriest » Wed, Sep 04, 2013, 6:58 PM UTC

discostrings wrote: post #4

Being in the process of registering my LLC for an iOS Apple Developer account, I couldn't agree more. It's been over two months now of back-and-forth with Apple and Dun & Bradstreet, and the end is still not in sight. All I'd like them to do is take my $100 and give me the ability to test the free app I'm making on a device and then publish it, but apparently Apple feels a longer-than-two-month turnaround time is acc…

Registering my LLC for an iOS Dev account with D&B was a breeze. I filled out a form, waited a few days and picked up the phone. I registered right when Apple started requiring DUNS and this was posted to HN http://blog.metamorphium.com/2012/12/03/apple-duns.

Did you happen to use Apple's DUNS lookup form? https://developer.apple.com/ios/enroll/dunsLookupForm.action

Re: Android is for startups

#10

Post by robbfitzsimmons » Wed, Sep 04, 2013, 6:59 PM UTC

As a primarily-iOS user / developer who also has an Android tablet (last year's Nexus 7), completely agree with both points made here. [The first being that Android development is better, and the second being that the vast majority Android apps currently suck compared to the iOS equivalent, making for a nice opportunity.]

It's hard enough to peg a real user need and deliver on that need in a satisfying, sticky way. It's at the core of what a startup needs to do to cultivate that product development discipline as a team, and tools that make that harder are insult to injury.

As others have mentioned, though, none of these app startups are launching just for a smooth development experience. And Android just hasn't shown that users will reliably upgrade their OS, much less pay for apps like iOS users do. Until that changes, even if the better dev experience will accelerate a shift, it's sort of a chicken-and-egg problem on app quality.