Developing for iPhone and Android does count as cross platform, I guess, but even if you get both of those you are targeting a small sector. Both are rapidly growing, and relatively easy to develop and deploy applications for, so they are good first choices. They also have similar screen sizes, input methods, processing power, and capability.
But for me, cross platform would mean targetting yet more devices. That does quickly become prohibitively expensive, for most applications. I agree completely that you need real hardware to develop and test on, and it is a significant expense. "String" made a good point that you can buy used phones, and that you do not have to pay a monthly fee for every development phone. That's pretty obvious for GSM phones, you just swap sim cards in and out, but it is also generally true of CDMA phones. For Verizon you can always call them up, and turn off service on a phone and turn it on on another. They sometimes charge a fee, but you can usually get it waived. On the Motorola Droid, a handset I recommend you target since it's awesome and selling well, you can skip the Verizon activation and you basically get a laptop replacement. Trying to do everything yourself is tough. Thats why, long before Android and iPhone, most of the time spent in mobile application development was spent in "porting" getting the code working on another handset. I used to give a presentation on the mobile market. I had a great pie chart talking about US and Global market share for the various platforms. The numbers have changed a little, the wedge that was occupied by non J2ME and non BREW devices is a little larger. But it aint that much larger, J2ME is still dominant. Blackberry runs J2ME, with it's own extensions. Windows Mobile phones tend to ship with a JVM, it used to be you had to download a random JVM to run the Google Mobile apps, or whatever gmail app you wanted. Nokia always has a strong J2ME JVM, and virtually all non smart phones run J2ME or BREW. If you target Android with your first release, you can re use much of the code in a J2ME application. You can do it yourself, or hire or partner with a J2ME developer to do it. (Said developer may already have the handsets he needs or have access to them ). There are also lots of testing houses, ranging from cheap to good, and you can use services like DeviceAnywhere to deploy your code to a physical phone, over the internet, and test it. After J2ME, the dominant platform is still BREW. That's most CDMA phones, significantly it's most Verizon phones. If you target iPhone, and make a real effort to isolate your C code from your objective C code, then you can probably re use a lot of your code in a BREW app. BREW development is even harder to get into than iPhone development, so you'd probably have to find a partner for that. The top applications on any strong mobile platform will get pestered with requests from porting houses, and lone wolf porting developers, asking whether they'd like help bringing their product to a new platform. So a real goal should be to eventually get your application ported to other platforms, once it has proved itself on the Android market. That's when the real money starts coming in. Anyway sorry for the rant. My advice is target Android first. It's the easiest platform to develop for, and you can likely re use a lot of your code or assets when you try porting to the other major platforms. Get help. Find other lone wolf developers and partner with them, work with them, borrow their handsets and lend them your G1. You can offer to do QA for them on your G1 too :-) It sounds like you could handle white box testing. Once you've come to the glaringly obvious conclusion that Android is the way to go, ^_-, then you'll have to decide which Android handsets, and which platforms to target. IIRC the HTC Hero is still 1.5, but that's not a good enough reason for me to target anything less then 1.6. One of these days someone will release another report about the numbers and types of Android handsets being used. Lots of HTC G1s and MyTouch's were sold initially, and lots of Motorola Droids have been sold since late last year. It's harder to calculate the Nexus 1 numbers, since Google has given so many away, and they are only sold straight from Google. Those numbers will get out eventually, but I'm betting without a giant marketing push the Nexus 1 won't sell in great numbers. So anyway I'd target Android 1.6, and Android 2.1, with a single APK. I recommend you get ahold of a Droid, or it's GSM equivalent, cuz I think it's the best :) It's also good for development because it has a physical keyboard, which helps greatly for testing. I myself can't wait for Sprints 4G HTC Android super phone. I'm hoping it also acts as a portable wifi hot spot. If you already have a G1, then your pretty much set, it's basically the worst handset you'd want to support. It has the lowest capabilities, but has a relatively high market share none the less. Alright so all the above being said, if you are serious about cross platform development, target the mobile browser. Most apps don't need to do as much work client side as they are doing. You can write a small app that installs a shortcut, and maybe it takes care of what you need to do client side, like open the camera, use the GPS, creates a live folder, starts a service, receives push notifications, starts a content provider etc. All the UI can be done in webkit. You can launch the native browser, or have a bundled webkit instance that could even load html that is stored client side. If you do this, it's much, much easier to get your app running on different phones. Lastly, no matter what you do, you're not going to be able handle all the random device specific, or user specific issues that pop up for any popular mobile application. I suggest you make it very easy for your users to provide feedback, and that you respond immediately. Go ahead and encourage users to leave positive comments on your android market page, but for bugs you probably want them to submit them straight from your application, that way you can get all the device and user info you need. You also don't want those ugly bugs cluttering your Android Market listing ;-) The next trick is to rapidly respond to the bugs, and to rapidly ship a new version of your application to the Android market. There is no approval process, so you can basically fix the bugs in real time as they come in, and users absolutely love it when they see a developer rapidly respond to the bugs they have submitted! My 2 cents, Matt Kanninen On Apr 20, 2:58 pm, Sam Contapay <[email protected]> wrote: > Interesting points you mention. I do have my old G1 but it really did > leave a sour taste in my mouth. They keyboard was great but I really > wanted to use the onscreen input. Plus I don't remember being able to > upgrade the OS to 2.0 last I used it. I got done with T-Mobile and > just cancelled. > > I see your point about cheaper to get into, however, I'm thinking > about additional costs now on top of the costs paid. As I said I'm > happy to get $300/year I would be estatic it would justify my hobby to > the wife, and recoup some expenses. So I'm not looking at the next > major application, just development. > > Your ideal sounds good about eBay I forgot about that. Is there that > much divergence in hardware that getting one over the other you > mentioned would prove unbeneficial I begin developing and realize that > another phone really had what I wanted or worst yet needed. Which is a > dumb question because I can Google and research. I've been researching > new developments between Droid that I knew and today and was wondering > if there was any sort of WYSIWIG builder yes I know I can build it by > hand but with Eclipse at work I'm used to visual editor and > Instantiations. I remember DroidDraw but was hoping there would be a > more 'polished' in house tool released by now. > > I'm trying to think as a developer but I'm a developer on a budget. I > don't have the capital to spend on new stuff I make a decent income, > but I have to justify development to the wife as my other hobbies > (mountain biking, computers, game systems) are just as expensive, but > I don't know why she doesn't realize this one at least brings some > money back in. > > I'm interested in the developer lab. Like I said I would like to play > with the device just to see its capabilities now. I heard a little > about Google 'seeding' but I thought it was mostly to their high end > developers the ones with clout. That was why I was posing this > question as an indie. Asking what about indie one man shops? I really > do wish I can push 'cost' out of the equation for me but it really is > a factor. > > Last I read Iphone OS4 was only taking away multitasking from anything > 3GS and before but I could be wrong. I'm wrapped up in getting 2 more > apps to 'waiting for approval' phase. > > I really hope they do run more of these developer labs soon. I'm on > the fence about investing in another platform. > > The reason I mention the appstore is you're right it does take a lot > to get noticed but they do have the numbers. Its like music, I read > this analogy somewhere, you goto the music store and you see bands on > CDs you never would've imagined got record deals, but the reason they > are on there is because music is liked by a lot of people a bigger > market so even if you only capture .01% of the market out of 1000000 > people that's a lot especially for the amount of money I would > consider successful. > > Sam > > > > On Tue, Apr 20, 2010 at 2:37 PM, String <[email protected]> wrote: > > As a standalone developer, I see Android as being far more favorable > > to indies than iPhone is. I develop for both, but I don't work for > > anyone but myself. And I know which one I like better. > > > First, Android's upfront cost is far lower. You can use any computer > > you like, there's no annual fee (as in $99 to Apple), and you have far > > more flexibility on phone hardware. This may be less obvious to > > someone like you who's already invested in the Apple side, but viewed > > objectively, Android is a LOT cheaper to get into. > > > As for handset costs, stop thinking like a phone user and start > > thinking like a developer. Don't buy into carrier contracts for your > > dev handsets, and if you can't justify the cost of a new & unlocked > > phone, then don't go that route. Ebay is your friend; pick up a used > > Hero or MyTouch 3G and use it on WiFi. Except for work which > > SPECIFICALLY requires cell coverage, that will be more than > > sufficient. Or, what happened to your old G1? > > > And when your iPhone's contract is up, don't lock into a new one. In > > the long run, contract-free is cheaper. > > > Moving on from cost, I would say that Android offers far more > > opportunities for indie devs. Because the marketplace is an order of > > magnitude smaller, there are a LOT of niches which are either > > underserved or downright empty. In the iPhone App Store, OTOH, it's a > > much harder battle to find and hold a customer base, because so many > > more devs are fighting for a piece of every pie. > > > Platform fragmentation? Don't believe the hype. Most apps run just > > fine across most Android versions, and when problems arise, they tend > > to be minimal and the tools to solve them are there for you. The only > > exception is if you want to use features released in the latest > > version; these will unavoidably lock out earlier versions, but that's > > always the way. Besides, looks like iPhone OS 4.0 is going to leave a > > lot of older phones behind too. > > > Finally, I really think Google is more interested in small devs than > > Apple is. Look at these forums - Googlers regularly contribute. Check > > out the Android Developer Competitions - run by Google, mostly won by > > indies. Look up "device seeding program" - that's Google giving out > > top-shelf phones to thousands of developers. When's the last time > > Apple did that? Google has also run a series of Android Developer Labs > > where any Joe Dev can get their hands on a range of devices. These > > seem to be in hiatus right at the moment, but they will likely start > > up again. > > > Bottom line, do you want to stay locked into Apple's dictatorial > > regime? Or would you like to join a community where developers are > > treated like adults? > > > String > > > On Apr 20, 8:35 pm, Totalgeek <[email protected]> wrote: > >> Getting in on a shoestring budget with Android development and wooing > >> hobbyist developers seems hard. > > >> I come from an Iphone development background. I develop mostly free to > >> small applications. I'm interested in developing for the Google > >> Android, but I'm interested in poising this question to the group. For > >> someone like me, I'm going to say small->hobby developer, is cross- > >> platform mobile development out of the question? Please read on as I'm > >> thoroughly interested in exploring this subject matter. Bit of a > >> background I have a job, java programmer so I already see that I maybe > >> able to re-use my existing skill set, and develop mobile applications > >> on the side. I'm relatively new to the field but I was impressed with > >> how the Iphone's on screen keyboard worked. I was one of the first > >> TMobile G1 adapters and liked it for quite some time until I got my > >> hands on an Iphone, I believed you always needed a keyboard of sorts > >> but the Iphone put that to rest for me. I would like to move back to > >> Android, I just didn't feel it with the G1 and it left a bad taste in > >> my mouth. But some of the new spec'd devices look great and would like > >> to love the Android like I do with other Google products. > > >> I'm interested in doing cross platform development. I'm not rich nor a > >> big company, is there room for someone like me to get onto the Android > >> development wagon? Or, is all this hoopla targeted towards the big > >> development houses? one thing I thought with mobile computing is that > >> it leveled the playing field, but as more and more big development > >> houses come on board our chances of success as an indie developer > >> pretty much goes to nil. There is no way I can compete with the big > >> houses on development or marketing budgets. But my biggest cost to > >> entry and I see this for other developers is Apple has time and a > >> large amount of "invested" Iphone developers. > > >> What I mean by invested is in order to get started, let's take the > >> minimum legitimate route you require a Mac thats $599 minimum only if > >> you have a compatible monitor,mouse, and keyboard for the Mac Mini. > >> The $99 yearly membership fee for the Iphone development program. Then > >> books and/or classes, I got by with 2 books. On top of that the cost > >> of an Iphone and its monthly associated cell bill. You can see the > >> typical person already is invested $1000+. This is nothing to big > >> house development companies but for us small time to hobby developers > >> (I would be happy to make $1 to $2 a day) developing on 2 platforms is > >> not cost prohibitive. > > >> This question is how willing is the Android platform willing to bring > >> over Iphone developers or does the platform care about us small time > >> developers? I'm thinking the answer is No, from my years in working in > >> the industry its always been the cliche of 'if you can't afford to > >> play, don't play'. But isn't it viable to think that the more > >> developers Android can garner the better it will be in terms of apps > >> and user satisifaction? > > >> Below are some comparison and I'm asking for a fair, well thought out > >> rebuttal: > > >> -Hardware with Iphone you do deal with its 'generations' but for most > >> of the matter they're pretty close together and the OS releases > >> matches the hardware. How is the Android? I had a gripe with G1 when > >> they released the next model soon afterwards and it had Droid 2 and > >> some other hardware improvements I felt punished for being an early > >> adopter. This also brings up another topic of forked, or different > >> variations, of hardware. What hardware do you target? Phones don't > >> give you an easy way to upgrade. If I were in contract and I wanted to > >> move my development efforts to Android I would be forced to pay the > >> ETF if I wanted to get an Android phone or pay 2 bills at once. As I > >> said, I'm small time and can not justify that cost to my wife. > > >> -Itunes this gives great visiblity. I don't know if anything has > >> changed with the G1 days. But visiblity was poor for me because I > >> would scroll a couple screens, > > ... > > read more » -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Android Discuss" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected]. For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/android-discuss?hl=en.
