Growing Boom in Android Apps

Created by umair.shah under Android

The release of the new Android SDK (Version 1.6) has triggered the boom in Android application development after being overshadowed by the growth in iPhone development in the early stages of the platform launch. The primary reason of this new trend in the growth of Android development is attributed to three factors:

1. Improved functionality and features in new SDKs,

2. Maturity cycle in iPhone development and hardware,

3. Organization of Android Marketplace similar to iPhone.

The contribution of these three factors have allowed the development of Android to gain a significant impetus and structured growth in comparison to the wild unbridled growth of iPhone applications.

The release features in new SDK involve improved used input and machine output, which is important considering the cost and functionality of Android phones. Motorola, Samsung and HTC all utilize touch screens with gesture support to accept user inputs. As a result, the new recent updates in the SDK mean that the phones are capable of dealing with multiple gestures giving developers a new tool to work with in their apps. Gesture support is important for the entertainment and media developers where pictures and other graphics are more easily manipulated via gestures than traditional inputs. In addition, it provides one more feature that lets Android phones compete with the iPhone. With features now starting to mimic those of the iPhone on Android phones, customers will start looking for similar apps as well. Games, social media applications, business productivity, organizer/scheduling apps, etc all will soon be mimicked on the Android platform fueling growth for the platform.

In terms of hardware, the iPhone 3GS has an improved processor, that too after much complaints by consumers of sluggish performance in certain areas, increased RAM, video recording and improved HSDPA, nothing has changed drastically. Although the processor speed has increased along with the memory requirements, the processing power on Android phones overpowers the iPhone hardware significantly. With ARM processors running at 1GHz with 256 MB RAM standard on most of HTC’s offerings or improved architecture on the phones, Android apps have more power at their disposal. Simply put, developers can use the phone hardware to run higher-end apps. Gaming apps with Open3GL coupled with significant processing power and RAM, mean that games are more fluid and graphics intensive without overstretching the capacities of the hardware. Business applications can run more complex simulations rather than simplified models. Media apps can handle processor intensive codecs with greater ease rather than dealing with compatibility issues. The improved hardware basically allows developers to envision more rather than being hardware constrained. With the open architecture of Android as well, the phone hardware can also be efficiently harnessed which is key to developers who want to develop the next big thing.

Consumers love familiarity, especially when it comes to technology. As much as they may love the next gadget or item, they prefer the item to have a history or a similar format that helps them accept the new product. In the case of the Android Marketplace, consumers sampled the AppStore that Apple maintains very well. As a result, consumers felt at ease with a setup similar to the AppStore. Unfortunately, the Android Marketplace still needed to be more organized and refined. The new SDK release also emphasizes the changes made in the Marketplace to resemble of the structure of the AppStore. As a result, consumers feel that they are in a familiar situation, and are conducive to them exploring the Android Marketplace. This is a very clever move by Google to lure more customers in since Apple has first-mover advantage in the showcasing of apps. The ability to preview apps along with free downloads for test and trial purposes helps Android developers build a relationship with customers similar to that in the AppStore. The overall layout, placement of buttons, preview abilities of apps, the size of app preview windows and other such minor tweaks place customers in a comfortable and familiar place helping customers accept the Android Marketplace.

All these factors are contributing to the new found growth potential for Android app development. With the new impetus fueling the development for Android apps, it seems like this is the best time to start designing and pushing new apps before a cycle of maturity hits the Android Marketplace. Do you think that this new growth is just a quick bubble or a long term growth? Leave your comments below.