Android SDK v. iPhone SDK

Well, despite what appears to be a horribly marketed launch from Google and T-Mobile in their release of the G1 phone – I have to say that I will be a customer and am working towards developing an app for the Android platform.

Why? Check out this article from Neil McAllister of InfoWorld.

The iPhone environment has to be a pleasure for developers. With a fixed screen-width, dlelicious interface, and unambiguous operating environment, the iPhone is certainly exciting for programmers.

The problem – cost, operating language, and restrictions. It costs $99 to register for the Apple SDK, programming is done in Objective-C (A LOT fewer programmers than traditional Java), and you don’t know if your app will ever see the market because guess who has final say?

Contrast this to Google’s Android platform.

It’s open-source (Apache License), free, programming is done in the ever-so ubiquitous Java language, and there are no restrictions to get into the Android Market store.

Plus, the G1 from HTC has auto-focus features on a 3.0 megapixel camera. Contrast this to the iPhone with it’s 2.0 megapixel camera with no auto-focus.

Why is auto-focus so important? Barcodes. Look how many winning apps were in Androids developer challenge this year.

1. Android Scan by Jeffrey Sharkey.

2. ShopSavvy by Big in Japan.

3. Amazon mp3

I’m watching the barcode arena closely. This will be interesting to see as we should have much richer apps in the next year once the commonplace developer learns how to work with zxing and geo-location based apps.

Enjoy. All of this is really soothing news which provides some optimism despite the last few weeks and the markets (if you’re lucky, you get a picture of two Asian kids covering each others eyes on the WaMu homepage – how appropriate…hahaha…muahahahaha…okay thats enough).

Cheers,

Ahmed