Why do apps from the same company look worse on Android than on iPhone?
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Why do apps from the same company look worse on Android than on iPhone?
1–10 of 137 posts
Re: Why do apps from the same company look worse on Android than on iPhone?
#2In my experience, the main reason is that you only need to design for one screen resolution on the iPhone (retina artwork doesn't really affect the screen layout). This makes it a lot easier to statically position elements and create pixel perfect effects.
On the other hand, when you're dealing with dynamic layouts, you have to jump through a lot more hoops to make sure the app still looks good as the resolution is scaled up and down (e.g. creating a stretchable images and such and so forth).
I also think that Helvetica is a much nicer looking default font.
Re: Why do apps from the same company look worse on Android than on iPhone?
#3Same reason John Carmac began focusing dev efforts on consoles - when hardware specs are consistent it's much easier to build highly optimized software / UI rather than trying to support endless configurations.
Re: Why do apps from the same company look worse on Android than on iPhone?
#4In my experience, the main reason is that you only need to design for one screen resolution on the iPhone (retina artwork doesn't really affect the screen layout). This makes it a lot easier to statically position elements and create pixel perfect effects. On the other hand, when you're dealing with dynamic layouts, you have to jump through a lot more hoops to make sure the app still looks good as the resolution is s…
I'll agree that helvetica looks nicer, but I don't think all the iPhone style gloss and huge spacing looks /better/. Looking at those side-by-sides and knowing that the iPhone versions came first just makes me think that the android versions could be much more information-dense and interactive than they are if they hadn't been limited by the preconceptions of what the existing iPhone version does.
Re: Why do apps from the same company look worse on Android than on iPhone?
#5In my experience, the main reason is that you only need to design for one screen resolution on the iPhone (retina artwork doesn't really affect the screen layout). This makes it a lot easier to statically position elements and create pixel perfect effects. On the other hand, when you're dealing with dynamic layouts, you have to jump through a lot more hoops to make sure the app still looks good as the resolution is s…
Yep, I assume the FB app home page is half height to accommodate HVGA devices.
Re: Why do apps from the same company look worse on Android than on iPhone?
#6From the apps I've worked on, iOS is a much more profitable platform and thus gets the majority of the focus and the initial app releases. Then apps get ported to Android (where they get heavily pirated and generate a fraction of the sales - regardless if time is spent making the app as good or better than its iOS counterpart.)
Re: Why do apps from the same company look worse on Android than on iPhone?
#7In my experience, the main reason is that you only need to design for one screen resolution on the iPhone (retina artwork doesn't really affect the screen layout). This makes it a lot easier to statically position elements and create pixel perfect effects. On the other hand, when you're dealing with dynamic layouts, you have to jump through a lot more hoops to make sure the app still looks good as the resolution is s…
I don't buy it. As an Android dev you normally just worry about one resolution, Android provides you with the tools (device independent pixels) to make other screens look the same. Just like the iphone, designers are encouraged to provide 2 sets of art assets, for medium and high resolution screens.
The real reasons that apps looks worse on Android is that companies don't want to spend the time and money to get the apps polished. As an Android consultant I've come across the attitude from companies over and over again that the Android app should cost less money than the iPhone counterpart. The Android app is always an afterthought and treated as "let's just do a quick port of the iPhone app".
Re: Why do apps from the same company look worse on Android than on iPhone?
#8From the apps I've worked on, iOS is a much more profitable platform and thus gets the majority of the focus and the initial app releases. Then apps get ported to Android (where they get heavily pirated and generate a fraction of the sales - regardless if time is spent making the app as good or better than its iOS counterpart.)
That outlook seems like a self fulfilling prophecy.
Re: Why do apps from the same company look worse on Android than on iPhone?
#9For another great example, have a look at the CNBC free app. iPhone app is sharp and almost all self contained. Want to see details on a symbol? Click the quote and it'll show you within the app. Want to see a graph? Just turn the phone sideways and it'll show you a nice chart. It's got many other nice features that make it an excellent app.
The Android app is just garbage. It's basically just a watch list with links out to their mobile site. The end.
Re: Why do apps from the same company look worse on Android than on iPhone?
#10I agree with the sentiment... somewhat. For example, I prefer the Android Facebook to the iPhone.
But the entire blog is about pointing out anecdotal instances where the author doesn't like Android? I would much rather hear from a developer than the author of this blog.