Android gaining on iPhone among developers

The iPhone 4 may be on sale now, but the Android community is doing a good job of keeping quite a lot of the spotlight on itself - mainly thanks to Verizon Wireless' aggressive promotion of its flagship phones, Droid Incredible from HTC and the new Droid X from Motorola. Such efforts are beginning to show results in terms of …

[Vision Aforethought]

Reason is, Android is compelling & versatile

As a developer (software designer) and having had much time to play with or own iPhone and Android devices (not to mention the excellent Samsung Wave Bada handset), I find the iPhone 4 to be what WOW geeks would refer to as 'Meh'. Yes, it's sexy, but the screen is too small and the lack of certain features available on Android and other devices limit it's usefulness. Pickup a Dell Streak, play around with it (including surfing the web, viewing photos & video and using maps) and then go back to an iPhone 4. I am excited by the possibilities provided by Android, even if any apps we develop are limited to specific handsets, that is no different than being limited to a specific platform. Users will purchase the handset or platform that delivers the solution(s) they desire. And solutions is what this is all about. (To be frank, the masses buying iPhone 4 at launch are in it to be first with the blingiest phone, not because it offers much new. It is a very advanced fashion statement.)

[Adam T]

Android Marketplace *isn't* compelling, sadly

I'm interested in the possibilities too, but not until they sort out their marketplace. It's a shambles compared to App Store, even taking the oft heavy-handed approval system into place.

[lucmars]

Ready for enterprise ?

But, are the iPlodes ready too ? And after all, these gizmos are just a space for the advertisers, so, why bother with the enterprises ?

[Anonymous Coward]

...and that doesn't even take into account...

all of the iPhone apps which are basically just replicating flash websites.

[BogBeast]

Poxy..

Hmm.

Whilst android "still suffers a lack of real enterprise class policy enforcement ..." the biggest issue that I can see is androids inability to implement web proxy support on a wirelless connection.

My Hero is next to useless when I take to work.... (mind you that might not be such a bad thing..)

[Martijn Bakker]

Security features lacking in Android

The proxy support is a real issue. But I'd say the failing VPN connections, lack of IPSec/OpenVPN support and the absence of any OS support for encrypted file systems are at least as serious.

Also, some people might object to contact details for colleagues, customers and suppliers (most of whom will not have authorised sharing of their contact details and other information with third parties) being synched with Gmail contacts.

I do like my Android phone, but I'll not be using it for work anytime soon.

[tempemeaty]

Android or IPhone4 Hmmm...

Neither.

I'd be daft to develop anything for a OS who's maker can just reach in at anytime and remove any application they want so Android's out as a choice. And the iPhone...weeellll...Apple's sharing user GPS locations rules out that as an option as well now that Apples practice of doing that has caught gov. attention for it's violations. I wouldn't want that liability issue coming back on me for supporting it. As they say...poop splatters...

[Chris 211]

Android cant rest!

Android need to sort out its SYNC options before it can make any headway into the business area. Basic things such as Full outlook SYNC without 3rd party (google) sat in the middle.

[Lou Gosselin]

Paint me, unsurprised.

"90% were 'very interested' in creating apps for the the iPhone, and 81% for Android"

Alas, apple has the market size advantage today for smartphones, which turns out in and of itself is very attractive for developers and users.

"Android beat iPhone on its OS capabilities though, with 55% saying it was the leader in this respect, compared to 39% for Apple. More predictably, Android scored on openness, with 86% rating it the most open platform, compared to 8% who, oddly, chose iPhone."

Well nobody actually likes a closed garden, except for a few contrarians. It's obvious that the iphone is not an open platform for developers nor users, every app management function must be approved by apple in DRM style. That 8% of developers lied about the iphone as an open device shows either ignorance (unlikely), or are willing to say just about anything to promote their brand.

Prediction: Ultimately, since the closed garden is a worse deal, it will loose market share to open rivals. The big question is whether apple will open up to stop erosion, or remain in iron fist mode for controlling it's customer base, which is still sizable either way.

[Gil Grissum]

Jack Gold?

Could it be that Jack Gold is in Apple's pocket? What Smartphone does he use? An iPhone perhaps? And he thinks that an iPhone is secure? That's a joke. Where I work, the IT Department does not and has not supported any version of the iPhone including 4. Do you know anyone who's IT Department thinks the iPhone is more secure than Android?

[Gene Cash]

Best dev environment?

I'm learning Java through writing crappy apps for my Droid. I don't know what getting up to speed with the Apple dev environment is like, but for me it was "apt-get install eclipse" followed by entering the URL of the Android SDK and hitting an "install" button.

Plus the Google docs are absolutely killer and very easy to learn from, and so is the ability to Google tons of code examples (good and bad) on the net.

Android really does need a port of vpnc that doesn't need the phone to be rooted. That would make it useful for work emergencies. As for "enterprise-ready", Google calendar reminds me of my meetings **days** before Oracle Beehive or Collab Suite gets around to it.

Somebody needs to tell Crazy Uncle Larry that "Hey, you had a meeting at 11am last Tuesday" doesn't cut it.

[Anonymous Coward]

The Wrath of Jobs...

will be visited on the sinners at Appcelarator who dare besmirch the holy iName with their damn lies... Aren't these the dudes that make dev tools for the iPodPadPhone? Self goal indeed...

[Anonymous Coward]

@Chris 211

My HTC Hero syncs just fine with Exchange server. It does not need to go through Google. Infact setting up and syncing with Google is totally optional.