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Tweetdeck to Jobs: Developing for Android isn't so bad

By | October 19, 2010, 9:25am PDT

Summary: Apple CEO suggested that Android is a nightmare for developers when it comes to building apps - and used TweetDeck as an example to drive home the point. The only problem is that TweetDeck doesn[t feel it’s a problem, according to a tweet from its founder this morning.

On yesterday’s earnings conference call with analysts, Apple CEO Steve Jobs went on a now well-publicized rant about the competition, spending a fair amount of time trying to portray Android as a complex, messy system that has so many different versions that it’s a nightmare for app developers. To drive home his point, he used the example of TweetDeck, the popular Twitter app.

Jobs said:

Twitter client, Twitter Deck, recently launched their app for Android. They reported that they had to contend with more than 100 different versions of Android software on 244 different handsets. The multiple hardware and software iterations present developers with a daunting challenge. Many Android apps work only on selected Android handsets running selected Android versions. And this is for handsets that have been shipped less than 12 months ago. Compare this with iPhone, where there are two versions of the software, the current and the most recent predecessor to test against.

That sounds like a nightmare, huh? But maybe it wasn’t. Early this morning, TweetDeck founder Iain Dodsworth shot off a quick tweet that read:

A post on the Business Insider blog today links back to a TweetDeck blog post from last week that talks about the Android ecosystem and the number of devices. The last line of the entry is the one that drives it home (with my emphasis added):
As we bring our initial Android TweetDeck beta period to a close, we wanted to quickly reflect on the Android ecosystem and what might be considered extreme fragmentation. To date we’ve had 36,427 active beta testers and below you can see the massive variety of phones and Android OS versions everyone is running. We were really shocked to see the number of custom roms, crazy phones and general level of customization/hackalicious nature of Android. From our perspective it’s pretty cool to have our app work on such a wide variety of devices and Android OS variations.

Maybe Jobs should have asked them how they felt about it before he spoke for them. Just sayin’.

Also see: Apple’s Jobs pans Android: Integrated will trump modular models?

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Topics

Job, Android, Analyst, Sam Diaz, Conference Call, Earnings Conference Call, Recruitment & Staffing, Workforce Management

Sam has been a technology and business blogger for more than 18 years.

Disclosure

Sam Diaz

Sam Diaz has nothing to disclose.

Biography

Sam Diaz

Sam has been a technology and business blogger, reporter and editor at ZDNet, the Washington Post, San Jose Mercury News and Fresno Bee for more than 18 years. He's a member of the National Association of Hispanic Journalists and a graduate of California State University, Fresno.

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RE: Tweetdeck to Jobs: Developing for Android isn't so bad
droidin.net Updated - 20th Oct 2010
@Tiggster Bullocks - it's easy to use a bit of reflection to support 1.5 and 2.2 at the same time. I do it in DroidIn to manage contacts. Is it additional pain - yes, can it be done and is it worth it to add another 20% user-base, yes and yes
View in thread
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Yes, sounds like the apis exposed through the Davik VM make it fairly easy
DonnieBoy Updated - 19th Oct 2010
to target all of the different versions of the OS and form factors. Obviously you have to consider the different screen sizes and how it will look on the smallest and the largest. You also have to deal with differences in features like GPS, camara, accelerometer, etc, for some applications.
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RE: Tweetdeck to Jobs: Developing for Android isn't so bad
Tiggster Updated - 19th Oct 2010
@DonnieBoy True, its easy to deal with different versions of Android as long as you develop for the lowest common denominator. The only way you can really simplify things is if you target Android 1.5, which obviously means you can't take advantage of any new APIs introduced in 1.6 or later. You either dumb down your app to make it compatible or utilize cutting edge features and risk 90% of devices being incompatible with it.

BTW: If you really think all the different form factors and versions aren't an issue, obviously you have not only never written any mobile apps, but I seriously doubt you've ever developed anything in your life. That isn't a matter of opinion, its a matter of fact.
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RE: Tweetdeck to Jobs: Developing for Android isn't so bad
cmoya 19th Oct 2010
@Tiggster This post is right on point.
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Are YOU a developer?
NonZealot 19th Oct 2010
@Tiggster
The only way you can really simplify things is if you target Android 1.5, which obviously means you can't take advantage of any new APIs introduced in 1.6 or later. You either dumb down your app to make it compatible or utilize cutting edge features and risk 90% of devices being incompatible with it.

Wow, this is just so wrong. You can write an application that takes advantage of APIs that are there while falling back gracefully if the API isn't there. You think that iOS apps written for the Retina display magically stop working on older iOS devices? You think that Google Maps only works on devices with compasses? How exactly do you think that Universal iOS apps (apps that take advantage of the iPad GUI API if it is there but can also run on iPhone/iPod) were written? You think that Angry Birds suddenly stopped working on iOS devices that don't have Game Center?

To say that you MUST either code for the base API or for the latest API is just wrong. Just wrong.

If you really think all the different form factors and versions aren't an issue, obviously you have not only never written any mobile apps

Of course it is an issue. No one is saying it isn't. Where Steve Jobs is lying is that he wants us to believe that it is only an issue with Android. It isn't. He is lying. Different form factors and versions are an issue in iOS as well. In fact, they are arguably even worse with iOS since the iPad has a totally different GUI API.
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RE: Tweetdeck to Jobs: Developing for Android isn't so bad
droidin.net Updated - 20th Oct 2010
@Tiggster Bullocks - it's easy to use a bit of reflection to support 1.5 and 2.2 at the same time. I do it in DroidIn to manage contacts. Is it additional pain - yes, can it be done and is it worth it to add another 20% user-base, yes and yes
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Time for an analogy!!
NonZealot 19th Oct 2010
So according to Jobs, if you want to develop for the Mac, you are going to face a nightmare. After all, you have to test your software on the following models:
- Mac Mini
- iMac
- Mac Pro
- MacBook
- MacBook Pro
- MacBook Air

Every one of those models that has a built in screen (except for the MBA) comes in different screen sizes so you need to test your application for all those screen sizes. The Mac Mini and Mac Pro don't come with screens so for those models, you need to test your app for every single size and resolution of monitor that could be attached to the computer.

Most of these computers came with options for different types of CPUs, some are Intel Core 2 Duos, some are i5s, some are i7s (I'm going to ignore PPC to be kind). So you need to test your app for all those CPUs.

Not everyone has upgraded to Snow Leopard so you need to test your application for every single version of OS X that is out there.

Wow. It is amazing that a single OS X app is ever written!!!!

Unless Steve Jobs is being disingenuous about how hard it is to test things on Android.
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Well, obviously, Jobs wants to discourage as many iOS developers as
DonnieBoy 19th Oct 2010
possible from making an Android version. They do not want to lose the application advantage, but, it is only a matter of time.
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That's the danger of propaganda, use only IF you can silence your opponents
OS Reload Updated - 19th Oct 2010
@NonZealot

Every falsehood you launch against your competitors can easily be used against you. iSteve is very experienced, I find it surprising how he let himself get trapped so easily. Looks like something from an amateur.

I was expecting more of him. You can only do what he did if you can silence your opponents and iSteve has no way to silence opponents who don't work for Apple.

Propaganda is safe only IF yours is the only voice that can be heard. iSteve: Big Mistake!
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RE: Tweetdeck to Jobs: Developing for Android isn't so bad
Yax_to_the_Max 19th Oct 2010
@OS Reload and DonnieBoy

Wow, you are agreeing with NonZealot. I guess "the enemy of my enemy is my friend" is true in this case or maybe it's just reverse day.
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RE: Tweetdeck to Jobs: Developing for Android isn't so bad
Tiggster 19th Oct 2010
@NonZealot Nothing you mention has any effect whatsoever on application development for the Mac. The issues he raised are largely unique, or at least intensified, on a mobile platform. Instead of instinctively looking for a way to discredit someone's argument, why don't you use a little logic first to make sure you aren't the one sounding clueless? happy
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RE: Tweetdeck to Jobs: Developing for Android isn't so bad
NonZealot 19th Oct 2010
@Tiggster
The issues he raised are largely unique, or at least intensified, on a mobile platform.

Saying this doesn't make it true. Back up your statement.
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RE: Tweetdeck to Jobs: Developing for Android isn't so bad
Tiggster 19th Oct 2010
@NonZealot Do I really need to explain this to you? All of the models you listed support the standard screen resolutions you would expect on a PC. Very few applications would need a display area larger than 1024x768 which all of them support. Do Windows developers need to test their PC software on all Windows hardware? Absolutely not.

And did you really say that since they use different CPUs, they must be tested on all as well? OMG! What type of fiction have you mistaken for technical literature?

What you said makes no sense at all and I'm surprised I have to explain it to you.
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Wow. Just. Wow.
NonZealot Updated - 19th Oct 2010
@Tiggster
What you said makes no sense at all and I'm surprised I have to explain it to you.

Yet when Steve Jobs says the exact same thing about Android, it makes perfect sense to you?

You totally missed the point of my post and I was even making it very clear that this was analogous to what Steve Jobs was saying. I started with this, did you miss it?
So according to Jobs, if you want to develop for the Mac, you are going to face a nightmare.

Steve Jobs is saying that an Android application must be tested for every model of Android on every carrier for every resolution. It is an idiotic statement. My post was showing that, were someone to say the exact same thing about developing for OS X, people like you would start freaking out about how stupid a statement it was. I agree. Steve Jobs' statement about Android is stupid. And you just helped me prove it. Thanks.
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NZ on ZD Payroll?
Gr8Music 19th Oct 2010
@NonZealot - After reading NZ's nonsensical postings for a few weeks now I've concluded that this "village idiot" is paid by ZD to infuriate the readers into responding. He's probably a in his early 30's, jobless and living at home with his mother with nothing better to do than conspire about Steve Jobs/Apple. I wonder if ZD advertising rates are tied to hullabaloo or controversy?
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RE: Tweetdeck to Jobs: Developing for Android isn't so bad
DannyO_0x98 19th Oct 2010
@Gr8Music
If he's paid, then he has a job. If he's paid and at home, then he's telecommuting.

Let's talk about the issue du jour. Jobs points out that developing for Android means developing for a variety of hardware and os configurations. TweetDeck put a specific number on that. TweetDeck follows up by saying that it wasn't a problem.

All right. Android's diversity is not an unduly complicating factor in making a Twitter client. Good news for Twitter client developers.

But..... not everything is like a Twitter client. Other classes of applications? Well, maybe no problem, or maybe a qa nightmare. Maybe something in between.

Remember how Apple detractors are fond of arguing that its stability is a consequence of a smaller set of hardware configurations? It made sense then, it makes sense now.

Jobs quoted a statistic, and it was out of context. Fair point. But TweetDeck's statistic is analyzed by them in their context. YMMV. Make your choices as you see fit.
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@Danny: Huge difference
NonZealot 19th Oct 2010
Remember how Apple detractors are fond of arguing that its stability is a consequence of a smaller set of hardware configurations?

First off, this is a myth that is perpetrated by Apple zealots but we'll ignore that you got the source wrong.

The argument is that the OS doesn't have to deal with quite so many hardware combinations and that this, theoretically, makes the OS more stable. No one, not even Apple zealots, have ever made the argument that the Mac ecosystem is easier on application developers because the Mac ecosystem only has 1,000+ unique combinations while the PC ecosystem has 1,000,000+ unique combinations.

So, if you want to start making the case that Android (and Android apps) crash more often, please provide evidence for that case. Keep in mind though that this is not what Steve Jobs is talking about. He is trying to make the case that Android developers have to do something "extra" for every single combination of Android hardware and software out there. This is a lie. Pure and simple. A lie.
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Does that include the others
Mister Spock 19th Oct 2010
like cybersalmmer, DonnieBoy, ect?

they are quite the Anti-Microsoft act.
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RE: Tweetdeck to Jobs: Developing for Android isn't so bad
cmoya 19th Oct 2010
@NonZealot Every CPU? LOL.
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Yet Steve Jobs would have you believe this is true of Android
NonZealot 19th Oct 2010
@cmoya
Steve Jobs wants you to believe that you must test an Android app for every single hardware configuration out there. LOL!
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Propaganda doesn't have to be accurate
OS Reload Updated - 19th Oct 2010
iSteve has a right to do it (I'm glad he did it, I love having a good laugh.) Besides, Microsoft does it too anyway. Remember the recent WP7 Angry Birds announcement by Microsoft?

You're bound to make mistakes such as these once you engage too deeply into propaganda, there's no escape. Except when yours is the only voice to be heard, of course, which is not the case here.
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Android is a nightmare for developers
Tiggster 19th Oct 2010
Android, relatively speaking, is a fragmented nightmare for developers. First of all, since Google has no native development environment, you are stuck with Eclipse as your IDE. Then you have Google's SDK on top of it and a Java SDK. Then you have to deal with the Android API, which is nothing like anything else you've ever used. The version of the platform you target will dictate what APIs are available to you.

Counter that with a single file download for the WP7 developer tools including the best IDE on the planet, Visual Studio, a state-of-the-art UI creator, the phone emulator, and documentation all in one. Just download, install, and you're ready to go. Besides all this, WP7 uses C#, the .NET framework, Silverlight, and XNA, all technologies already familiar to millions of developers, instead of the Android API disaster.

There's a reason 80% of Android apps are almost worthless. This is also the reason why WP7 will pass up Android in quality apps within its first 12 months on the market.
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RE: Tweetdeck to Jobs: Developing for Android isn't so bad
Oxmouse 19th Oct 2010
@Tiggster
"There's a reason 80% of Android apps are almost worthless."
ROFL must have taken first rate research and spectacular analysis to arrive at that.
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RE: Tweetdeck to Jobs: Developing for Android isn't so bad
Tiggster 19th Oct 2010
@Oxmouse That may be a slightly exaggerated figure, but it certainly illustrates my point. happy Even if its 50% that's still a remarkably high number.
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50% of iOS apps are useless
NonZealot 19th Oct 2010
Even if its 50% that's still a remarkably high number

So?
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Wat...
Zc456 Updated - 19th Oct 2010
@Tiggster
So, does Tweetdeck count as worthless since it's on Android? We also don't know how well the quality of WP7 apps will be. Visual Studio has nothing to do with it.
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RE: Tweetdeck to Jobs: Developing for Android isn't so bad
rcnut 19th Oct 2010
@Tiggster

"This is also the reason why WP7 will pass up Android in quality apps within its first 12 months on the market."

You think the 80/20 rule won't apply to WP7? There are mediocre developers on all platforms, and those same Windows developers who wrote 80% of the worthless desktop Windows applications will simply be writing for WP7. Or do you think that just because they have Visual Studio that it's going to magically cause them to write better applications than the people who have Eclipse or XCode?
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And in other notes from the school playground...
wizard57m@... 19th Oct 2010
noted bully Steve Jobs threw mud at the Android students, calling them names, saying "Your mother wears Army boots, four eyes!"

Yeah, I'm being facetious...but that's what Mr. Jobs comments read like. Perhaps he protests too much? I mean, maybe Apple IS actually feeling the impact of the Android phones and soon to be shipped tablets?
Hmmmmm
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RE: Tweetdeck to Jobs: Developing for Android isn't so bad
Tiggster 19th Oct 2010
@wizard57m@... One problem with that theory, everything Jobs said was true.
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Having trouble with your reading comprehension?
wizard57m@... 19th Oct 2010
@Tiggster
Or, did you not bother with reading the post...here, I'll quote it for you...read it slowly...
"As we bring our initial Android TweetDeck beta period to a close, we wanted to quickly reflect on the Android ecosystem and what might be considered extreme fragmentation. To date we?ve had 36,427 active beta testers and below you can see the massive variety of phones and Android OS versions everyone is running. We were really shocked to see the number of custom roms, crazy phones and general level of customization/hackalicious nature of Android. From our perspective it?s pretty cool to have our app work on such a wide variety of devices and Android OS variations."

Do you still contend that everything Steve Jobs said was true? Or is it more likely a "pep talk" given by the head cheerleader at a conference call pep rally?
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RE: Tweetdeck to Jobs: Developing for Android isn't so bad
Tiggster 19th Oct 2010
@wizard57m... I'm not talking about the specific example he gave, but what he said about the deficiencies in the Android developer experience is correct. I'm speaking from experience here.
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Or, in other news...
NonZealot 19th Oct 2010
@wizard57m@...
Honda CEO stated today that Toyota cars suck and that Honda cars are much better.

Honda fanboys cheer!
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RE: Tweetdeck to Jobs: Developing for Android isn't so bad
DeusXMachina Updated - 19th Oct 2010
@NonZealot

Considering the amount of time you spend following blog posts about a company you hate, you are in NO position to throw around words like fanboy. Let alone, non zealot.
Your very name is a lie.
If you were a true non zealot, not only would you not have posted here, you wouldn't have even read the article, as it has NOTHING to do with ANY of the hardware you claim to own.

You are a liar and a troll. Pure and Simple.
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RE: Tweetdeck to Jobs: Developing for Android isn't so bad
dantheman777 19th Oct 2010
@Tiggster

Jobs chose to use Tweetdeck as his example. He has to live with the fact that his example falls on it's face in the light of the response from the Tweetdeck developers.
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RE: Tweetdeck to Jobs: Developing for Android isn't so bad
Tiggster 19th Oct 2010
@dantheman777 I'm not a huge Apple fan myself and I'm not going to defend his example, I'm just saying that the facts he gave were correct in terms of describing the general state of affairs concerning Android development. I really don't care about his example.
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Developer
tommcd64 Updated - 20th Oct 2010
Why is that people like Steve Jobs and others who are only interested in their phone always talk about how difficult it is to develop for Android when they have never developed and Android app? People seem to think that development is this god awful monster that has to be customized for every config of every size. It just doesn't work that way. Android development just like Windows, Mac, and Linux develop takes advantage of scalability. This is something that was introduced to programming quite some time ago. But in the end, all of that is a moot point. Consumers want something that looks good, is easy to use, and doesn't cost an arm and a leg. Right Android, iOS, and WP7 all have products that fit the bill.

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