Discrimination against Android
 

Why is this that many Airlines/Hotels & other travel website only make apps for iOS and not for Android? I feel like a second class citizen....

For example jetBlue, SPG, SeatGuru, MTA (NYC), Lufthansa (Magazin), Lufthansa Systems, Jeppesen, etc.

- Higher average revenue per user for iOS than Android.

- A few years ago, there were more iOS users than Android users, though this is no longer true.

- Managers at these companies are more likely to have iOS devices than Android, so think about iOS more.

- Fundamentally, this all boils down to Apple's brand power among non-technical professionals. This is of course a result of Steve Jobs's genius for marketing.

Also, it's cheaper to develop application for iOS. Variety of Android devices makes especially the test phase quite complicated. To create polished product that will work on any Android handset is not an easy thing.

It is not going to change for a while - only if the application is a success on iOS, it would then be slowly ported to Android.

A lot of app developers 'cut their teeth' on iOS aswell. And I know a couple of friends in the app development field who won't consider developing for android, since essentially all android users (me included!) want apps for free, whereas apple users are so used to paying for everything extra (my take on the situation :D) that they feel happy to pay for an app. I think a friend quoted that you need to have 10-100k downloads of an app before it even approaches profitability.

Having said that, the examples you cite aren't wanting to make money from selling an app, so the other reasons above are probably just as valid.

tb

As an Android developer with a couple of apps in the Android market, I don't really agree with this, at least for the type of apps that travel companies would produce. For simple user interfaces, developing an app using the simulator, then testing on one or two devices, is quite sufficient. It's what I've always done, and have had zero complaints from users on this.

Games are of course different due to their heavy user interface and GPU requirements, and yes the fragmentation of the Android platform may well be a problem for game developers.

Of course, we then need to differentiate between reality and perception among management of those companies commissioning apps. If they've heard that Android is fragmented they may well be less willing to comission an Android app, regardless of what the reality is. Such is business.

Would you care to share some example apps you've developed? I would really love to see if they are supported by all Android devices that I own...

Try "Currency Exchange Rates" or "Enswitch Client" by Integrics. The Enswitch Client is probably not interesting unless you happen to have an account with a suitable telephony provider. I think you'll find they work well on all phones running Android 2.1 or later; I make no promises about tablets.

Ok, they work without problems. They offer very basic functionality.

It gets much trickier with more complex applications. Not only with games. But various screen resolution is only one of the problems. Offering a high quality, usable and friendly app is challenging. More for Android then iOS. And this is not so much a weakness of the OS itself, as the number of different versions out there. A lot of folks can not even update beyond 2.1. It will take some time to make use of new features of e.g. 4.0. It is much easier with Apple and iOS with couple devices and clear update process. You can easily QA your app on every Apple devices, it's virtually impossible to do so on Android.

I am sure you will get to realize it, when you obtain higher user base. Which I truly wish you will.

A friend runs a company that specializes in creating apps for businesses in Sweden. 95% of the time, these businesses request to only have the app made for iOS.

They don't want your (android phone owners) business. It is not a priority to them. I remember this when I spend my money. I love Android and the principles it supports.

The funny thing about this is that often I prefer the webpage of a company's site to the application.

I think you have this backwards. You don't want to support their business, or you (the collective "you" of Android users) would be willing to pay for it. Apple users are willing to pay for a quality product (as evidenced by their hardware choices) and pay for a quality software product (as evidenced by where the money is in mobile app development). Why would developers want to support your desire for free apps when they can sell apps to a larger, more consistent group, of people using a common platform?

Iphones come in a standard size, android developers need to plan on all the different screen sizes, processors, etc.

There's like one iphone a year, new android devices come out all the time, that can drive a developer crazy.

Android users have way more free apps to choose from, which makes it harder for them to actually cough up money to buy something.

Pretty much most of the iphone users are on the same OS, android keeps updating, but not all their users update

Yup. They all tend to have MACs rather than Windows laptops, too! :cool:

Just returned from a trip to Italy. ATAF, the transport agency for Florence, has signs advertising their Android app.

Was surprised to find they didn't have an iPhone version (though their web site lets you calculate routes, as well as view routes).

But I think Android is huge in Italy, because they have a real competitive prepaid market where cheaper unlocked devices are very popular.

Starwood makes a blackberry app but not an android app. That says more about SPG than about android.