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Apps, Apps, Apps....Apps

MrX8503

Android Enthusiast
May 23, 2010
405
53
After throughly going through the App experience on my EVO there's a little bit left to be desired.

So there seems to be huge disconnect from iPhone apps and Android apps. I own an iPod touch and I loaded up iPod touch apps and its exact variant on my EVO. I will say right now that when it comes to games, there is absolutely no comparison, so I'm not even going to go into that. I'll just be covering utilities.

The Apps I loaded up are:

Digg, Engadget, iHeart Radio, and Facebook

So you can load up these apps for yourself if you want to get a better picture of what I'm talking about.

Ranking from best to worst
1. iHeart Radio
2. Engadget
3. Digg
4. Facebook

iHeart seemed to do the best job in porting the app from the Apple App store. These two apps are pretty much exact, except the Apple version has sliding animations. Kudos to iHeart Radio

Both Engadget and Digg on Android was a poorer version of the iPod's. Blurry graphics, ugly graphics, slow scroll, and the Android Digg version has no pinch zoom.

As for Facebook Android, its absolute trash compared to the iPod/iPhone. The Android version is slower, uglier, and has less features.

Don't get me wrong, I love my EVO, but I can't help and be frustrated that apps are being developed on the iPhone first, then has a shitty upsized blurry port to the EVO.

Are developers just plain lazy? When can we expect to get some real quality apps? It seems like every Android version has crappy icons, ugly ui, and less features. I really really hope that Android cleans up real nice and doesn't end up like a piece of slop that WinMo has become.
 
After throughly going through the App experience on my EVO there's a little bit left to be desired.

So there seems to be huge disconnect from iPhone apps and Android apps. I own an iPod touch and I loaded up iPod touch apps and its exact variant on my EVO. I will say right now that when it comes to games, there is absolutely no comparison, so I'm not even going to go into that. I'll just be covering utilities.

The Apps I loaded up are:

Digg, Engadget, iHeart Radio, and Facebook

So you can load up these apps for yourself if you want to get a better picture of what I'm talking about.

Ranking from best to worst
1. iHeart Radio
2. Engadget
3. Digg
4. Facebook

iHeart seemed to do the best job in porting the app from the Apple App store. These two apps are pretty much exact, except the Apple version has sliding animations. Kudos to iHeart Radio

Both Engadget and Digg on Android was a poorer version of the iPod's. Blurry graphics, ugly graphics, slow scroll, and the Android Digg version has no pinch zoom.

As for Facebook Android, its absolute trash compared to the iPod/iPhone. The Android version is slower, uglier, and has less features.

Don't get me wrong, I love my EVO, but I can't help and be frustrated that apps are being developed on the iPhone first, then has a shitty upsized blurry port to the EVO.

Are developers just plain lazy? When can we expect to get some real quality apps? It seems like every Android version has crappy icons, ugly ui, and less features. I really really hope that Android cleans up real nice and doesn't end up like a piece of slop that WinMo has become.

I totally agree... its like the devs dont really care to develop for Android
 
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no offense but your best apps suck lol. i have so many apps on my evo that my itouch could never compare to as far as functionality. and most of my apps look pretty too. paid apps especially look good. but trash those apps they are all junk lol

This isn't about the best apps, this is about comparing apps between the two platforms. The easiest way to do that is to compare the apps that are on both.

If you have a list of apps that you think that are the best then please share them. I've looked at both the Apple app store and the Android market. If I could come up with an analogy, the Android market is a hicktown while the apple app store is the suburbs.

Now I know that the Apple app store has been out longer, but there shouldn't be a reason for these developers to force crappy ports down our throats.

With Android on the come up why are devs not choppin at the bits to get their apps in the market place. If the facebook app was as polished as the iphones I wouldnt even mind paying for it.

I agree, if the facebook app became like the iPhone version, I would pay for it.
 
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I have also noticed this (coming from over a year of an iphone) and to me, it just seems like the functions are cut down and the looks of the app are especially crappy compared to the iphone apps. I think it will come in time though...I hope.

I'd pay a buck for a good facebook app; the android one is completely shit compared to every other smart phone fb app.
 
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I totally agree... its like the devs dont really care to develop for Android

I switched over from AT&T and had a iPhone 3GS... I bought Doodle Jump for the 3GS for .99 and for Android it was $3.99. The Android version is so so $hitty. It almost looks and feels like a jittery flash version of the game... not fluid at all, and not as many features as the iPhone version... and worst part is that it's 4x more expensive. I played Doodle Jup all the time on my iPhone, but now on Android... it makes me sad to play it because I don't understand how they can justify that game in the condition it is in, for the price they are selling it for. Big disappointment...

I miss Angry Birds. I think I might have to buy a iPod Touch just so I can redownload all those apps. Luckily I won't have to repurchase them.
 
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With Android on the come up why are devs not choppin at the bits to get their apps in the market place. If the facebook app was as polished as the iphones I wouldnt even mind paying for it.

That's an instance where the open nature of android works a little against them. The key for dev's is to get a big captured audience to show your app. Since the open nature creates several places to get app's the marketplace is fractured. It's way to spread out so there is no way to get exposure to all android users at the same time.
 
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I agree, however, the Android OS allows us all to do things that you can't do on the iPhone. I too, just came from the 3GS and I love the EVO so far. I am not a big game player, so productivity and utilities are what I use the most and the benefits of the EVO are so much greater than the iPhone. I no longer have Apple telling me what I can and can't install on my phone. Even with a jailbroken iPhone, it is no comparison in my opinion.

I feel that the apps will get better as more people switch to the Android platform. We just need to keep making our voices heard.
 
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Games will improve as more android devices hit the market (EVO & Incredible), the main thing hurting the android market too is there are allot of android devices with different processors..The EVO and Incredible are the top 2 in processor power..The Iphone OS only comes in one device so it’s easier for developers to write for it and then port a lower quality version to work on all android phones...
 
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Don't remind me, first thing I deleted. I hate Apple fanboy news sites.

That's a bit of a stretch. Didn't they give the Evo glowing reviews?

As for apps, I've noticed the same thing. I liken it to going from OSX to Linux. Sure, things aren't as pretty and user-friendly, but they're generally faster which is what I care about for the most part.
 
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As for apps, I've noticed the same thing. I liken it to going from OSX to Linux. Sure, things aren't as pretty and user-friendly, but they're generally faster which is what I care about for the most part.

From my testing, the apps on the EVO are generally faster. I think the main problem is that the Android variant has less features. Why this is, I don't know.

The problems with Android apps are that the UI isn't very good, animations are choppy, less features, blurry graphics, or the app itself simply does not exist in the Android market.

I think the reasons why the Android market has some quality issues are:

-Various Android handsets (different resolutions, different hardware)
-Open source (no quality check)
-Immature SDK compared to iPhone SDK
-Direct ports from iPhone (iPhones have a lower res screen)
-Marketshare (Devs make more money on iPhones)
-iPhone OS more mature (Handles scrolling fluidity much better)
-OpenGL and 2d games capped at 30fps (Problem with the EVO)

In due time I'm hoping all of these barriers will be fixed on the Android platform. The next contender (Windows Phone 7) has some really strict standards on hardware involved, which may promote higher quality apps. I have made my decision to stick with Android, I hope the Devs and Google polishes up the platform.
 
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I agree, however, the Android OS allows us all to do things that you can't do on the iPhone. I too, just came from the 3GS and I love the EVO so far. I am not a big game player, so productivity and utilities are what I use the most and the benefits of the EVO are so much greater than the iPhone. I no longer have Apple telling me what I can and can't install on my phone. Even with a jailbroken iPhone, it is no comparison in my opinion.

I feel that the apps will get better as more people switch to the Android platform. We just need to keep making our voices heard.

I totally agree. I do think the better app's will always rise to the top. I would like to see something like a "Android Seal of Approval" where those app's that are submitted through googles "approved" marketplace have been tested and approved by google as bug free and battery optimized. I think people wouldn't mind paying a little more for this extra bit of quality control while allowing others to also be able to choose those app's that aren't part of the approved process. It would add alot of credibility and peace of mind to old farts like me that don't want to spend their day debugging their new toy.:D
 
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Not sure how making your source code open means you don't do quality control during development. Open source is a licensing matter. It has nothing to do with how a developer or team of developers does or doesn't test their product.

Well what I meant by open is that the Market is open. Google doesn't do a quality check itself. There are some advantages to this, but the drawback is that developers won't be pressured into making a quality app.

Like I mentioned in my post about WP7's potential for having quality apps, there seems to be an article just released by Engadget talking about WP7 and its apps.

It looks like MS is reaching out and helping OEM development houses create quality apps. This is the sort of support that Devs need.

Microsoft helping OEMs develop unique Windows Phone 7 apps -- Engadget
 
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Well what I meant by open is that the Market is open. Google doesn't do a quality check itself. There are some advantages to this, but the drawback is that developers won't be pressured into making a quality app.

....

I'd have to disagree with you there. The pressure comes from the consumers. Write a crap app, get no sales or downloads.

The biggest problem I see write now in the market, for developers, is that there are so many free apps, outside of a few games and a handful of very complex, unique apps, people just go with the free versions. It's good for users, to an extent, but since hardly anybody pays for apps, commercial devs aren't really motivated to jump in there. So, quality commercial development suffers...at the moment.
 
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