Who said Android apps can’t look good?

Unfortunately I agree with Mike (on site) on his comments.<p>Consumer apps used to compete on functionality - now everyone can mostly do that part.<p>Design (both graphic and interaction) is where companies will compete for consumers.<p>Bump has needed a TON of help in the past and even does tdoay (even with their iphone app, <a href="http://www.iwebsnacks.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/02/Bump-2.4-App2.jpg" rel="nofollow">http://www.iwebsnacks.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/02/Bump-2....</a>).<p>Please - start with a new logo.

Um, no one. Mr Strawman sir.

A lot of Android Apps look nasty because they were created by individuals with the intent to solve a problem, and that problem is rarely - that Android Apps look bad.<p>Then, when they have solved the problem, why not put it in the Market.<p>Any Android App can look great. It's just a matter of taking the time to make it so.

Android being open-source, there's probably an expectation from Google for the community to provide a range of solutions to a 'boring/inconsistent/shit UI' problem, be it through providing boilerplate code or UI component libraries or whatever.<p>I'm going to say though that if anything is at fault, it's not necessarily the learning curve but the base assumption of expert knowledge applied to every bit of documentation Google produces.<p>For a purely technical piece of writing they'd win many awards, because they can get down to the nitty gritty for sure. To the guy who's new to it all who wants somewhere to start, he's fucked. It's documentation for people who already understand it (personal experience: the C2DM doc, maps API, their PHP library that makes it harder to use their APIs than rolling your own code, etc.).<p>So thanks to that those fabled UI solutions turn up in the form of PhoneGap, jQuery Mobile, Sencha Touch, etc. All of which abstract the concept of app development to merely be a case of designing a website for a small screen. With HTML and JS and CSS. (Of course the other reason is platform agnosticism but application homogeneity is another thread entirely.)<p>And, thanks to the point raised in the article ('Android UI design is easier coz it's XML so you can do it programmatically!'), the people who do know how to create an app are the developers who may or may not be very good at working the UX side of things and may settle for the utilitarian solution.

Hah! My strongest memory impression of using Bump is that it's hideous. Good work.

If you use a non-standard UI, your app does not look good. Nobody wants to learn a new interaction paradigm for every application they touch; that simply doesn't scale.

I have this vague, disquieting feeling that Three20 became self aware and ported itself to Android

I think the belief that Android apps have been less than well designed grew from earlier generations of Android. That current versions have built better UI tool sets, that more UI/UX level testing packages are becoming available, and builds using web technologies have made some apps equal to the iOS levels of design is clear.<p>However, a purely native approach (without titanium or phonegap for example) still has many issues in developing well structured UI.<p>It is clear however, that BUMP's application, while better than their previous design, does lack something. Android design is not particularly easy and I personally think that the various screens, disparate versions of the OS, and capabilities of the phones make development that much more complex. In a very real sense we need UI testing that automates this as much as possible. It really is too much work.<p>Still I think that there are UI frameworks coming out for Android that will alleviate all this complexity and allow us to build consistently well designed apps. Just not right now.

Hehe. If the app didn't still look half as good as the iOS version, this post might be onto something.<p>Clearly, this post was posted by the resident Android dev. :)

I would say the app looks fine from these screenshots. However they put it up as great design, and I disagree. It's nothing special.

Who said Android apps look bad?

The margins are off.

&#62; Who said Android apps can’t look good?<p>Apple. They spent the time to "get it right" with iOS, and when Android came along they had to settle for second best in most areas to avoid looking like an iOS clone.

There are three painfully obvious reasons Android apps do not look as good as iOS apps. iOS has UIKit and Android has fragmentation along with a myriad of devices with different resolutions.<p>1. UIKit - Apple made it easy for developers to implement consistent navigation, views, and transitions. Android Ice Cream Sandwich is providing a new UI library which will bring this much needed iOS advantage to Android. Is it possible to mimic UIKit on the current Android devices? Yes, but it's a pain in the ass and not practical for most developers on a deadline.<p>2. Fragmentation - Device Android version lock has caused problems with development. You are only as strong as your weakest link which unfortunately rings true with some developers who choose to develop on an older version of Android to remain compatible with as many devices as possible. Google has addressed this issue by obtaining agreements from many manufacturers to update their devices on a consistent basis.<p>3. Screen Resolution - Any web developer will tell you it's much easier to create a beautiful and consistent website if the site is fixed width. This is especially true for mobile development because you dont have to concern yourself with repeating tiles, resolution detection, and adjustable spacing when you know the exact dimensions of the device. There are only 2 iOS resolutions (not counting retina) making it easy to utilize space and perfect the UI in the most efficient way possible. Can it be done on Android? Sure, but without a UIKit to handle many of the little nuances it will yet again be a big pain in the ass and will take up time that the developer does not have.