So here is the issue with Android

"Now imagine you're an app developer."<p>I am actually an android app developer and some of the comments here make me question how many others actually are, versus relying on second-hand bullshit.<p>While it's slightly harder than developing for a single device, it is quite manageable. Some examples:<p>- different screen resolutions: this means that you must rely on UI layouts or make your pixels in your graphics code relative. This is an issue the iPhone will have in the future as well, as they WILL eventually upgrade the resolution on that screen.<p>- different input methods: make sure both gestures/swipes/touches and key presses both map to the correct functions<p>- missing features: accelerometer, cameara, etc: check and Handle gracefully or refuse to work. iPhone developers have to deal with this as well, except they can only refuse to work (by specifying minimum OS version to install).

What a stupid post of someone who obviously doesn't know a bit of android app development. The UI widgets are done through XML (not unlike you do HTML for the browser). And guess what: Browsers can display the same webpage on totally different resolutions and be navigated by keyboard, mouse or whatever you want.<p>It's quite the same for Android. You do the layout in XML, Android scales it and puts it how it fits. This works pretty well.<p>Second: In general every widget, button, whatever can be access by touch or buttons. There is even an android phone without a touchscreen. This list goes on and on.<p>One part of why android is a great platform is that it is designed from scratch to be a _modern_ mobile operating system and the developers took care of a lot of cases. Unlike some other operating systems, it's new and especially designed for modern hardware (now, look at windows, symbian, and i am wondering how mac osx would perform on a variety of devices...)<p>Another example. As a developer you want to have the geographical position of the phone: Easiest way to do is ask for it, regardless of it coming from GPS, WLAN or GSM cell info. But you can also put criteria in the exact same function call if you want exact positioning (say, GPS but von WLAN). Of course, if there is no geo information available the call will tell you this and you have to take care of it. But you'll have to do that anyway, because GPS/WLAN/cell info is not available everytime on a capable device. This goes on and on in the whole framework.<p>Last but not least: Afaik, neither iphone apps nor windows mobile nor symbian apps will run on a different CPU architecture. Android apps use a VM and can be just run on every architecture the VM runs for. Switch from ARM to x86? No problem, take the same app (not two versions compiled for two different architecures) and they will run just fine.<p>It's quite shocking that someone writes such a post. It doesn't look like he has even read 1 page of information about android, yet he spreads bullsh<i></i>. A shame this is posted on YC, too.

How are these complaints really different from developing desktop software? Remember those little "system requirements" blurbs that use to be on the sides of software boxes when people actually went to stores to buy physical media with software on it? Developing for any platform is hard and having to deal with missing or inadequate hardware has always been a stumbling block.<p>Desktop applications have shifted to the web. It's only a matter of time before mobile apps are also obsolete.

It would have been a good argument, until you try to use the capture current photo image on the iphone and then realize it wont work on the ipod touch. Or the compass features (for augmented reality) and find out you are out of luck on older iphones.

Form factor is only one problem. At work I've seen a couple not yet released Android phones, and each OEM feels the need to customize Android itself. One even modified the maps API to be incompatible with the G1/myTouch. Others replace all the built in UI controls.<p>I'd like to think that users and carriers were smart enough to realize this is bad, but I've seen this before: Android, meet J2ME. You share more in common than you know.

Mobile software is hard.<p>At our company (small mobile software shop) we currently have ant scripts that churn out builds for over 100 devices with at least 10 different screen sizes and many different input methods touch/dpad/trackball. On one binary. These things can be done, it just takes work.

A few of us were discussing this today/yesterday -- in regards to whats wrong with android.<p>What I am wondering is -- how does Google, et. al. avoid the "Lowest Common Denominator" problem. Or are they doomed?<p>(My opinion? doomed as far as apps are concerned)