Google came out with Android OS in response to the iOS and iPhone made by Apple. A lot of people thought that Google was too late in making their move, however, in a very short time, Android has become the most popular smartphone platform in US, UK and most other countries in the world.
In fact, the growing demand of Android training classes and numerous apps available on the Android market place are a clear indication of its popularity.
The challenge for developers today is creating Android apps that will be compatible with all the phones.
Effect of Fragmentation
A lot of companies prefer rolling out apps for the iPhone rather than the Android models. Instagram is a popular example. The reason for this is that there are a lot of Android based phones that run an older version of the OS. This affects their capability of supporting a particular app.
To add to this, Android phones come in various specifications. A simple example of the changes that an app developer has to face can be seen in the user interface. Sony has its own interface called Timescape, Motorola has Blur, and HTC has Sense.
Changing Landscape
However, recent research has shown that this fragmentation might be fading away. If these findings are correct, it would mean that a lot of popular apps can be made available on the Android marketplace. In fact, it can also mean that some apps might come first to the marketplace.
The real problem in this scenario for Android apps is a lot more varied than it is for the iPhone apps. As a result of this, developers face a long term risk in introducing apps for the Android market.
A survey was conducted by Localytics to see how people used various apps. They found that many phones have very similar specifications, which simplifies the job of a developer. With the help of the right Python training course (the base programming language of Android OS), developers should be able to create common apps for different phones.
Localytics also revealed that about 75% of the app usage was from devices that were running on Android 2.3. Even though Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich is the latest version, it runs on very few devices. It was also noted that almost all the other devices were running Android 2.2. So for now, developers may have to focus on making apps for only two different systems.
Overly Optimistic?
ReadWriteWeb is of the opinion that this research by Localytics might not be painting the real picture. They believe that as the year moves on, more Ice Cream Sandwich phones will hit the market, and that will only help in increasing the fragmentation.
Developers will then have to deal with supporting Froyo, Gingerbread, and Ice Cream Sandwich.
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