Sidebar Sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

Game Developers Scaling Back Android Efforts as iPhone Continues to Dominate

Rot'nApple said:
Give it time...

I'm sure Google will iron out it's kinks.

But I could care less about whether the Droid's screen screams compared to iPhone or anyone else. Or who has the most games in their app store. I'm not a gamer! Never have been. Never looked at my computer as a means to play games, and not looking for it on a smart phone!

It may be the end all, be all for others and that's okay, "He's just not that into you"... er I'm just not that into it! :rolleyes:
Click to expand...

well it's pretty nice if you use the smartphone as an SSH/VNC/RDP terminal, in which case the huge res advantage is quite nice to have. Also nicer for viewing videos too. Come to think of it, pretty much everything benefits from the nicer screen.
 
Rot'nApple said:
Give it time...

I'm sure Google will iron out it's kinks.

But I could care less about whether the Droid's screen screams compared to iPhone or anyone else. Or who has the most games in their app store. I'm not a gamer! Never have been. Never looked at my computer as a means to play games, and not looking for it on a smart phone!

It may be the end all, be all for others and that's okay, "He's just not that into you"... er I'm just not that into it! :rolleyes:
Click to expand...

Google's problem is that they want everything to run "in the cloud" which means you access their system to get to the internet. kind of like the old AOL and mainframes.

i downloaded Chrome OS to play with it and couldn't do anything without internet access. i've been using computers since before there was an internet and in 2009 someone is going to sell a computer with no functionality unless you have internet access. now that's progress

with Android there is a 256MB limit for all app installations. if you have a monster game like Monkey Island which is 350MB than you have to code it for the binaries to sit in the main app area and the data on the flash card. very clunky and almost exactly like the Danger Sidekick.
 
Rot'nApple said:
Give it time...

I'm sure Google will iron out it's kinks.

But I could care less about whether the Droid's screen screams compared to iPhone or anyone else. Or who has the most games in their app store. I'm not a gamer! Never have been. Never looked at my computer as a means to play games, and not looking for it on a smart phone!

It may be the end all, be all for others and that's okay, "He's just not that into you"... er I'm just not that into it! :rolleyes:
Click to expand...

The Problem with Android and the associated APP store, is fragmentation of Hardware. Each new Android Phone has a different interface and a different level of support, for a specific Android OS version and it's capabilities. A developer will have to basically port his program to support each potential Android phone and Android OS release.

Android APP development can really only have mild success until a single android phone takes off. I don't think that will happen until the rumored Google Phone. Which in essence will follow the iPhone road map of controlled hardware and software.

iPhone apps include more than just Games.

I never really gamed much on my PC, but do play the occasion game on my iPhone.
 
macshill said:
Fanboy statement enough? :rolleyes: Motorola Droid/Milestone has higher resolution among other attributes that puts it ahead of the iPhone, but because it's made by Apple.... (your above statement). :confused:
Click to expand...

That's pretty much MR at work. You have extremists at both sides here, and very little middle ground that attempts to be as objective and even as possible.
 
The main reason

It comes down to that, like any wild west / frontier environment, there is more freedom to explore than money and capital.

iPhone users have money, they spend money on apps and there is a very good distribution channel where the developer doesn't get screwed over by a middleman. Android has customers that lack money, a socialist "information must be free" mindset with no channel to directly reward software developers. The game house are seeing this and scaling back on Android due to lack of a reliable distribution channel.

The stories I heard is that Google is in the middle of a civil war on third party developer revenue streams. My guess is that some "Google app store" is already in production with a schedule to go out -- perhaps -- by Christmas season.

To use the Old West analogy, Apple has already set themselves up as the Union Pacific being first to link up and make many wealthy by just taking their fare share for distribution. Is Google going to play the role of the Southern Pacific (which made many western settlers rich with wholesale distribution) or Sears and Roebucks (which screwed over many suppliers with an exclusive channel, high margins and delayed payments) in this game?
 
MorphingDragon said:
Ok, I never got Multitalking on such a tiny screen.

Downloading attachments to what and what for?
Click to expand...

Multitasking doesn't necessarily mean working in two windows at once. But you shouldn't have to shut down apps like Pandora, Tweetie, etc. just to check your email or type a note. Those apps should be able to continue running in the background.

As for your second question - do you never download attachments from your email now for offline viewing and/or editing? Why not be able to do the same with the iPhone? What if apps like Documents To Go were able to also pull saved files from the iPhone's file system so that you can edit them?
 
Goona said:
Droid will change everything!
Click to expand...

Like I said before. The advertising for the Droid is all wrong. And I played with a friends Droid last night. I wasn't blown away. Its nice, but it doesn't have that pick it up and run feeling like the iPhone has...
 
rwilliams said:
Maybe Bluetooth file sharing. Or multitasking. Perhaps email attachment downloading. Features that are useful and are present in nearly all other smartphones.
Click to expand...

I believe the iPhone does all three, save for multitasking between apps specifically, though you can be on a call and surf the web, check IMs at the same time, etc. File sharing? In what way? There are apps that allow one to use the iPhone as a hard drive and then transfer files. Is this what you mean?

It also downloads e-mail attachments.
 
Chupa Chupa said:
Apple hasn't done anything innovative with the iPhone since the App Store -- which wasn't even Apple's original idea; it was forced to open up the phone a bit.
Click to expand...

A little offtopic but this is an extremely unlikely interpretation of events. The SDK was much too advanced (and well-documented, including introductory videos, etc) at the time of release for this to be believable, given the very short timeframe.

I think it's pretty clear that Apple intended for the App Store to exist from day one, but it wasn't ready at release. Steve sang the praises of Safari-style apps up on the stage to hook developers into playing with JavaScript-type stuff in the interim while some major iPhone OS issues were dealt with.
 
It's quite simple, this is how business works. Companies aren't charities -- they want to make money. They write to the platforms where they can sell because they have to pay their employees and overhead.

And unless someone is a developer, like me, who really cares what the app submission process is like at Apple?

Competition can be good but it doesn't always result in the best products contrary to urban myth.

Do the little comparison charts of features matter? Only if the features sell. Otherwise it doesn't matter at all.
 
*LTD* said:
I believe the iPhone does all three, save for multitasking between apps specifically, though you can be on a call and surf the web, check IMs at the same time, etc. File sharing? In what way? There are apps that allow one to use the iPhone as a hard drive and then transfer files. Is this what you mean?

It also downloads e-mail attachments.
Click to expand...

When I say Bluetooth file sharing, I mean the ability to send a file (photo, document, song, etc.) from one Bluetooth-enabled device to another, without any tethering. Right now, I can't send a file from my phone to my iPod Touch or anyone else's iPhone because the iPhone doesn't support it without jailbreaking. Nor can I quickly send a file from my MacBook to my Touch for the same reason. But I do it with my MacBook and Sprint phone all the time. It's just a nice, convenient feature that for some reason, Apple hasn't unlocked.

And I very well may be mistaken, but I don't think you can save email attachments like Word or Excel documents to the phone like you can photos. I had to jailbreak to get that functionality, but if I'm wrong, no big deal.
 
macshill said:
Fanboy statement enough? :rolleyes: Motorola Droid/Milestone has higher resolution among other attributes that puts it ahead of the iPhone, but because it's made by Apple.... (your above statement). :confused:
Click to expand...

Right now, it's a nice piece of kit without the software to back up. Gimme 1000's of games to choose from, and I'll buy one!
 
rwilliams said:
And I very well may be mistaken, but I don't think you can save email attachments like Word or Excel documents to the phone like you can photos. I had to jailbreak to get that functionality, but if I'm wrong, no big deal.
Click to expand...

OS X's Bluetooth sync? Bluetooth file exchange? iSync? I haven't tried this yet, but would OS X not recgonize the iPhone?
 
I guess it also depends on Sony/Ericsson and Motorola, to name a couple.. it's not Google's problem. If they get people involved in the market more games will be available and more phones will be made and sold.
 
alent1234 said:
Google's problem is that they want everything to run "in the cloud" which means you access their system to get to the internet. kind of like the old AOL and mainframes.
Click to expand...

Yep, Google Chrome OS has all things i can already access online without teh need for their platform.
 
rwilliams said:
Multitasking doesn't necessarily mean working in two windows at once. But you shouldn't have to shut down apps like Pandora, Tweetie, etc. just to check your email or type a note. Those apps should be able to continue running in the background.

As for your second question - do you never download attachments from your email now for offline viewing and/or editing? Why not be able to do the same with the iPhone? What if apps like Documents To Go were able to also pull saved files from the iPhone's file system so that you can edit them?
Click to expand...

Now that's what I'd like to see on the iPhone, The first iPod could be used as a Thumb drive, but I have to resort to a lame third party app to use my iPhone as a thumbdrive? Now that sucks.

I've never really been hampered by non-multitasking third party apps on the iPhone. It's only very specific instances where it's a problem. The Pandora example is one. Social Networking or IM'ing is the other area but with Push notifications I think you'd hardly notice.

But since I use neither , I've never noticed.
 
rwilliams said:
Multitasking doesn't necessarily mean working in two windows at once. But you shouldn't have to shut down apps like Pandora, Tweetie, etc. just to check your email or type a note. Those apps should be able to continue running in the background.

As for your second question - do you never download attachments from your email now for offline viewing and/or editing? Why not be able to do the same with the iPhone? What if apps like Documents To Go were able to also pull saved files from the iPhone's file system so that you can edit them?
Click to expand...

Exactly. Example: last night I was listening to Pandora while the GPS guided me home due to construction messes I was trying to avoid but had no clue how to get home. My wife calls, so I pause Pandora to go to that, and then go back.

I also regularly have Twidroid running for Twitter, Meebo for AIM, and of course separate GMail and corporate e-mail accounts running at the same time.

nwcs said:
It's quite simple, this is how business works. Companies aren't charities -- they want to make money. They write to the platforms where they can sell because they have to pay their employees and overhead.

And unless someone is a developer, like me, who really cares what the app submission process is like at Apple?

Competition can be good but it doesn't always result in the best products contrary to urban myth.

Do the little comparison charts of features matter? Only if the features sell. Otherwise it doesn't matter at all.
Click to expand...

Well, for one thing, people will care when an app they want isn't available because it's being denied by Apple. Google Voice, for example. Having Google Voice is absolutely fantastic. It's really changed the way I use phones. Being able to re-direct a number to both my Droid, Cisco VoIP desk phone, or my Skype # is fantastic, and being able to do it easily from a web interface is great. If I'm spending significant time in our lab, I can change GV to re-direct to that phone down there, then change it back when I'm done.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom
Back