Quote:
Originally Posted by risner
Couple things I think need corrections from your post:
1) That is not quite true. Android apps need to deal with far more screen resolutions, different feature sets of graphics acceleration, presence/lack of presence of other hardware features.
2) iOS has one API and apps tend to be developed with a minimum hardware version supported (so the app may be written with no support for 3G, but will work on 3GS and up)
3) To each his own, I read that as saying it is hard because they have to nest if/then checks to accommodate the variety of different hardware configurations. Plus they are not the only developer that has spoken out against the difficulty of android development.
4) I've used both, and PDF viewing on iPad is better than 2.3 Android. I've yet to use 3.0, is it even out yet? I'm not sure any 3.0 tablets have been released.
5) I tend to use wget to load my pdf files into my iPad, or if I have them on my laptop I use scp.
6) Well, there we differ in opinion. Jailbreak tools are on approximately 25% of all iOS devices. iOS has Cydia for JB apps, Android reminds me of iPhone 2007 where we hand copied command line tools like tcpdump and top into the phone. Plus Apple has never sent cease and desist letters to any iOS hacker ever. Google has sent several to individuals (mostly in xda groups.)
7) Primarily on the backs of not being able to buy one on Verizon (fixed as of Feb 3rd) and Sprint (the Verizon one is not carrier locked.) There is already a 4.2.1 JB released yesterday that should work on 4.2.6 iPhone from Verizon and the Verizon iPhone break Verizon's all time 24 hour sales record in 2 hours from 3am EST to 5am EST. I wouldn't wager on which platform stays in the lead, but with iPhone sold out on Verizon in 17 hours when the number for sale was probably in the millions of phones.
8) Likewise, I put money on iOS considering the Verizon events, the lock up of $4 billion of displays that Android devices won't be able to buy, and because most tech sites say other manufacturers are having trouble shipping a $499 tablet that is competitive to the iPad.
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Well, now that a Honeycomb device is out, we can set a few more things straight
1. Let's take "Phones" off the table (I doubt the usefulness of HL or AB on a phone whereas a tablet makes sense.) So we have Xoom vs Ipad. One iOS vs Honeycomb. Not much fragmentation on either part. And really, Rob only needs to deal with Fragmentation issues if he was going to utilize OpenGL or such, otherwise, Java is java is Java. And coding for multiple screen resolutions (if needed) is not a huge deal, simply create multiple "Layouts" (for Android, these are XML files). Android further handles this with Activities and Fragments. Even if we left phones on the table, you have to deal with the same issues on both sides.
2. One API for what? You could develope for the "minimum" for android as well. Not seeing the point here? (Maybe I'm missing it?)
3. If coded properly, you don't need to nest if/then's everywhere. If your fragment your activities properly, you can accomodate many many features quite easily and screen resolutions are not an issue. I doubt this is nothing new Rob hasn't had to deal with before if not much worse developing for a PC app.
4. This is more "App" specific than device specific, but ezPDF for .99$ is the best buck you'll spend for a PDF reader for Android. I now have ALL my gaming books on my Xoom. It handles the smallest 500k doc all the way to the largest 130mb pdf I have.
5. I typically just click on my file explorer on my Xoom, navigate to my Windows Home Server or my Windows 7 PC and copy them over the network, or just via USB. If I really need it, I remote in and get it. I pull vs push files generally as I find myself less and less at the PC.
6. I find this moot. Sure, I can one-click root my Xoom, but why? The biggest reasons you JailBreak a iProduct is so you can install un-signed apps and unlock tethering to avoid carrier fees. On my Xoom, I just clicked a setting to allow unsigned apps and tethering/hotspot is built in Honeycomb as well. Haven't NEEDED to root it so far.
7. Luckily you didn't wager, as Android now leads the smartphone market. It's projected to have a 45% share by 2016, but I really don't put much stock in those. But with Amazon and Sony jumping on the bandwagon, I think it's safe to say Android is here to stay.
8. The beauty of Android is that it does NOT rely on a single company. Maybe Verizon will fail. Maybe Motorola will Fail. Maybe Samsung will Fail. Maybe Asus will fail... Apple is ONE company, it will be hard pressed to be the ONLY tablet provider out there and be THE ONE.
Now, Apple makes a great product, and I thank them for being brave and treading the Tablet space first and proving it's a viable market. And I hope Rob the best and hope he can make money on BOTH platforms. There are many other considerations beyond "code" he has to consider, like, if he spends x$ developing the app, how many copies at what price does it take to recoup that cost. How does the Apple App Store vs Google Market vs Amazon App Store affect that bottom line.
Even if he sold twice as many copies with Apple, it doesn't exactly mean he'll make more money than from the Android markets.
With all that said, the main advantage iOS has, I believe, is that it's apps are coded in C, which is what Rob already codes in vs Java. So the learning curve is probably worse on Android for him. That is, provided, he doesn't hire a new coder that specializes in Java, in which case, woot!