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Android is for startups

blog.audobox.com

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Re: Android is for startups

#81

Post by gonzo »

benologist wrote: post #59
jcromartie wrote: post #21

I know that Android users are starved for slick apps that look good and work well, because I'm one of them (when using my Nexus 7). But as a developer I know that I can't make money from them. There is no way forward for (paid) Android apps that can make a living. You need to sell on iOS in order to make any sort of revenue. So if your startup is built on a free app, then by all means use Android to test your idea. B…

The Amazon app store has millions of paying customers waiting for your app.

... to go on sale for $0.

Re: Android is for startups

#82

Post by KirinDave »

djrogers wrote: post #57
KirinDave wrote: post #42

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Malware apps come and go in both platforms, and both platforms actively try to stop malware when it's reported. Seriously. It's documented iOS has had malware: http://www.forbes.com/sites/adriankingsleyhughes/2012/07/06/...

There's a big difference between a platform with several hundred thousand known pieces of malware in the wild vs a platform with a tiny handful of what are mostly proof-of-concept apps. Open vs closed & other religious wars aside, it's ridiculous to imply that both platforms carry the same risk to end users.

I didn't say that nor imply it. What I said was that both platforms do have documented cases of malware. The post I replied to made the obviously false claim that the iOS store has never had malware.

Re: Android is for startups

#83

Post by umsm »

jamesjguthrie wrote: post #70
umsm wrote: post #68

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I believe you are referring to the app store guidelines. The article mentions the android market place.

Of course I'm referring to the App Store as that's what your comment was about. If you want to publish on the App Store you need to make sure your app can't be thought of as 'limited' as then the reviewer could reject it, citing rule 2.12 - whereas on Android you can release almost whatever you want.

Ah, I understand now. I was referring to minor features that will take a long time to implement. I understand that you can't release just a splash screen.

In every product, there core features, then there are minor / convenience features. Let's say you have a "search" feature. That is a core part of the app / product / service. Some features that you can probably put off are: "advanced search", "refinement search", or even "sorting results". All of these are convenient, but you may want to have the app in store without these features.

Re: Android is for startups

#84

Post by gonzo »

trimbo wrote: post #34

VCs all have iPhones. This is the #1 reason to develop for iPhone first.

VCs all have iPhones because the majority of people who are willing to pay for a phone or apps prefer iOS.

it's really that simple.

Re: Android is for startups

#85

Post by winslow »

calbear81 wrote: post #55
myko wrote: post #48

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Why? Cause people pay for apps there. They don't on the Play Store. Is this based on your opinion, or what?

There's some evidence of that here: http://blog.appannie.com/app-annie-index-market-q2-2013/ People on iOS are more willing to buy apps and do more in-app purchases but the gap doesn't seem that wide to bridge, especially as iOS users move to Android.

I think a lot of that comes from the iTunes gift cards that everybody seems to get for Christmas, Birthdays, etc. I purchased my first app with "real" money a month or two ago for android.

Re: Android is for startups

#86

Post by KirinDave »

x0054 wrote: post #49

I think the difference in development comes in when you need to do some hardware testing. With apple you need to design for 3 different display sizes, with 2 resolutions each. You also have to test your product on (at most) 12 different devices, and that's if you really want to cover the field. On the other hand, with Android, if you want to do it right, you need to design for hundreds of different screen sizes, all…

You can shave away a LOT of form factors if you just agree to cut off development before Android 4.0.

This is tough for people to resolve to do, but in the US that's 60% of the market. I'd rather ship a good product to 60% of the people in a reasonable amount of time, rather than spending a ton of time working on tiny slices of the last 40% and limiting what the product can do overall.

You also end up targeting much newer devices and OS versions, which evades a lot of problems with piracy.

Re: Android is for startups

#87

Post by GVIrish »

jcromartie wrote: post #26
robbfitzsimmons wrote: post #10

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. I…

> making for a nice opportunity You are assuming that there is demand for anything but free apps. I know that I personally would kill to pay for top-quality Android apps like I do on iOS, but I don't think I speak for the majority of Android users. Based on everything that I've seen, they just don't want to pay.

Industry numbers I've seen suggest that this is changing rapidly. I think what we're seeing is that Android is attracting a lot more high end smartphone customers and they are buying more apps. The gap is still big, but it is shrinking rapidly.

Re: Android is for startups

#88

Post by KirinDave »

umsm wrote: post #44

I don't agree with this. Basically the author thinks that you can test the market if a particular idea / app is worth making by releasing on Android first. The problem is that the android users will most likely hate the UI and the bugs as it will probably be thrown together. When releasing an app on iOS, you don't have to include ALL features, you can release an app that is well designed and functions well with limit…

> The problem is that the android users will most likely hate the UI and the bugs as it will probably be thrown together.

This is where your argument breaks down. It assumes that because you are on Android, you app is shoddy. That need not be the case. Android gets a bad rap for being "hard to develop for", but that's only the case if you try and hit the entire 2., 3. and 4.* userbase.

If you limit yourself to 4.*, the dev work is very comparable. It's just a lot of people are utterly convinced they need to put in 2-3x the work to pick up that 40% of the market.

Re: Android is for startups

#89

Post by rimantas »

alayne wrote: post #62

Why don't they build a web app if they want to iterate faster?

The only thing web app can make you achieve faster is to reach end user. Anything else will be so much faster using native SDK it is not even funny (assuming you have equal knowledge of either technology).

Re: Android is for startups

#90

Post by ensmotko »

jbjohns wrote: post #78
ensmotko wrote: post #31

Another thing that bothers me with development for iOS is that you need apple hardware and software. I can't develop an iOS on my Linux machine (I've tried running OSX in virtualbox, but it's slow and not to mention illegal). I really wish Apple would make their platform a little more available. Lowering the $100 yearly fee would be a good start...

If you can't even afford $100 a year you probably can afford anything you would need to develop for the platform (e.g. a mac).

If $100 a year would allow me to develop iOS apps on my Linux laptop I'd be fine with that. But $100 a year + paying for overpriced apple hardware doesn't sound appealing.
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