iOS is far easier to develop for (less
device fragmentation and forking of OS) and far more profitable (Android users are cheapos and geeks who want free stuff, neither of which buy many apps).
You focused mostly on version fragmentation, not nearly as problematic as
device fragmentation and the various Android forks that are coming out.
Device fragmentation (different screen sizes, capabilities) is another issue here.
Developers of Google or any other OEMs still face
the device fragmentation dilemma while using the Android platform, which is where the iPad runs with the trophy.
I know what I am talking about — I've been programming for 30 years and I've been working in the mobile field for many years, where
device fragmentation has gone rampant and costs publishers and cell phone carriers hundreds of millions of dollars every month just to support the insanity.
Device fragmentation — where the variety of screen sizes and capabilities makes for an inconsistent experience — is even worse for Android tablets than phones, which often results in tablet apps looking like they're just stretched - out phone apps.
Not exact matches
Major barriers to mass market adoption that still must overcome include technological
fragmentation and persistently high
device prices.
With Google looking to crack down a bit on
fragmentation, Motorola will likely focus on stock Android
devices in the future, and likely downplay its use of Motoblur, analysts said.
If Google were to do the same with Nexus program or Google Edition
devices, the
fragmentation across both platforms will be the same.
With the three - year grant, Vanapalli and his collaborators Boyd Butler in the Department of Biological Sciences and Everardo Cobos at the Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center, will build microfluidic
devices that mimic blood flow to study how tumor cells move inside capillaries, how they squeeze through tight spaces, whether they are subject to
fragmentation and how they become stuck.
Google's Android OS currently faces
fragmentation issues mainly because of its multiple versions installed on a multitude of
devices from phone manufacturers.
Fragmentation is still a major issue for Android and Google's latest numbers show that no matter how hard it has pushed for carriers and manufacturers to update their
devices, most smartphones and tablets continue to run an old and less secure version of Android.
Longer term, we may be consolidating on a few platforms, but Canalys believes that price competition will cause further
fragmentation when it comes to vendors and
device makers.
In fact, with all the
fragmentation in Android designs, youâ $ ™ re far more likely to get stuck with a
device that can not be upgraded.
The current
fragmentation of ereading
devices and the closed cloud - based systems offered by the mainstream providers are clearly a hurdle towards true interoperability.
Google is finally trying to put an end to all the
fragmentation issue with all the Android
devices.
You might legitimately criticize Google's Android for breeding a lot of
fragmentation in the mobile market, but what the open - source OS has also done is help make wireless
devices like tablets and smartphones truly mainstream, and, by way of being a «free» OS, pave the way for some interesting
devices that cater specifically to particular market segments.
Android's
fragmentation becomes an issue again, as the operating system is used on
devices with literally hundreds of different screens and displays, so developers have a hard time making their apps compatible with all of them.
«The market is all over the place on OS versions of Android and
device hardware, so an online store with a Google - branded tablet could give Google a chance to establish a reference [design] that other vendors would have to move toward to reduce
fragmentation,» Gold said.
They definitely won't be able to get ICS on every
device + older models will be slow to upgrade (
fragmentation).
You can't get everything on every
device giving a bit of a
fragmentation problem but, at the end of the day, there's still over 100,00 o to choose from and that's plenty.
Android 4.0 marks a major shift in the way the operating system works as the goal is to minimize
fragmentation across
devices while also providing a universal approach to app development, with apps and hardware developed around 4.0 expected to seamlessly scale from the current mobile phone and tablet hardware templates into the goal of a universal platform that can allow for apps to work across
devices without the need to code for specific
devices.
While Android users have often talked about the
fragmentation issue, the Google chairman Eric Schmidt, has said variation in
devices give more choices to the end users.
Now when the Tegra 2 chipsets hit a vast array of
devices, a lot of people weren't too happy as it was thought it would add to the
fragmentation that already exists in Android.
If there ever was a major complaint from developers concerning
device support, fingers would firmly point to
fragmentation.
«The
fragmentation among Android
devices has two sides to it,» CIRP co-founder Michael Levin explained.
With high hopes of limiting
fragmentation and increasing the number of
devices compatible with Android 4.4 KitKat, Google slimmed down the OS to a 512 MB memory profile.
Until that day comes, though, I'll be sticking to Nexus
devices (which not even carriers, the other side to this
fragmentation coin, can touch).
The reality is that
fragmentation is still very much a thing on Android, and that 35.2 % of
devices are still running software from 2013 or earlier.
Treble, which will come in every Android O
device out of the box, aims to reduce Android
fragmentation by making it easier, faster and less expensive for its
device maker partners to implement software updates by separating the vendor interface so that chip makers don't have to rewrite code with every new version of Android.
Fragmentation of Android software has led to huge disadvantages in the app sector because most of the
devices present in circulation actually do not run the latest android version making it impossible for apps to work properly.
Google's biggest Android issue is
fragmentation — the fact that not everyone can install the latest version of its OS at the same time — so it made Android Pay backward compatible to
devices running KitKat and up (two OS versions ago).
Just like with the
fragmentation situation, Google is partly to blame for all these diverging user experiences on Android
devices.
While Google has already tried to lower
device prices and reducing
fragmentation by providing specifications for hardware through its Android One program, there is still much work to be done on the software end.
Tegra Zone is a place to try and buy games specially made for its
devices, and while many would argue this furthers
fragmentation of the Android hardware and software market, no one is complaining about the games themselves.
Currently, there's a lot of
fragmentation among the various non-Android custom ROMs, which ultimately limits what ROMs work with any given
device.
This
fragmentation of ecosystems is likely to persist, and
device makers will be challenged to bet on one ecosystem with a sizable shared audience, develop
device models for various ecosystems, and embed multiple compatibilities within a single
device.
With
fragmentation, it would be difficult for even a company like Google to keep updating the
devices since for every
device a separate team has to be created as the
devices use completely different components.
Google has been working to reduce
fragmentation and ensure that more
devices receive the latest Android version in a timely fashion.
... 4.0 and especially 4.1 are decreasing
fragmentation among Android
devices, and enabling the halo effect to gear up more and more.
If not the OEMs messing around with the software, it is the same OEMs that partner with Google in making Nexus
devices that end up introducing the
fragmentation issues.
It concludes that Google is working on several remedies for Android
fragmentation, such as pushing more functionality via Google Play services, as well as partnering with
device manufacturers to build its Nexus line of
devices.
Second was the
fragmentation of Android, finding an Android 5.0
device on Verizon is not the easiest thing and Verizon is not known for being speedy on software updates.
In previous years, I'd have said the Nexus
devices were necessary, vital even, in steering Android in a better direction and fighting the
fragmentation of ugly, dysfunctional, and inchoate manufacturer software slapped on top.
Part of Google's problem is that Project Tango requires specialized hardware, and given the
fragmentation problem that still plagues Android, the vast majority of Android users aren't even running Project Tango compatible
devices.
But this has also caused
fragmentation within iOS, as certain features don't work on non-3D-Touch
devices.
Mossberg commented that this process has led to the
fragmentation of Android versions across
devices, which has resulted in uneven access to updates for consumers.
It also helps decrease
fragmentation in the Assistant, bringing its capabilities to similar levels regardless of the
device it's used on.
Google is aware of the
fragmentation problem and is trying hard to work with manufacturers, push more functionality with Google Play Services, and getting out two Nexus
devices a year that will hopefully satisfy the mid-range buyer and the high - end customer.
That problem, of course, is the slow pace at which Android updates are rolled out by
device manufacturers to smartphones, leading to
fragmentation with smartphones on different Android versions and exposing users to security risks.