Lack of good Android Pinball Games

[Carl Spiby]

Seems like lately, all the pinball games seem to be getting a release on iOS and not seeing much love for Android, we're currently missing Zaccaria Pinball, the new game from color monkey and just recently, Time shock.

Is it literally a numbers game? More iSheep so release it on there first? How difficult is it to port these games on to android, do they share a similar code base?

 

[The loafer]

You can insult iOS owners all you want but apparently there is something called "sales figures" that is taken into consideration. For example, Google "ios apps sales vs android app sales" for stats on it. I can't remember who, but there was a high profile game designer who's released his game on both iOS and android and I think the iOS sold something like 10 times more than the android version?

For the amount of android devices sold, why don't they sell more? Is it piracy? Are android sheep herders just cheap people by nature? Do they not game at all? Who knows? But the Devs are going to take these stats into consideration, unless their nuts.

Your question is a decent one, but really, would be nice if answered by android owners who don't seem to support their own platform.

 

[Indy99]

I too am really feeling a bit of iOS envy lately due to all these new pinball games being on iOS currently. Glad we have TPA and Zen though. Im hopeful we will see some of the other games start showing up this year.

 

[Tabe]

Android users are used to free software and are reluctant to buy whereas IOS folks have no problem with it.

 

[Sean DonCarlos]

Preemptive mod note: I'm going to let this thread go as long as it stays relevant to pinball, but if it descends into a petty iOS vs Android b*tchfest, I'm shutting 'er down.

 

[DA5ID]

Besides sales numbers - is iOS easier to develop for?

 

[Kolchak357]

You can always add an iOS device. Then you can have the best of both worlds. Pricey solution though.

 

[The loafer]

I personally want every pinball game on every platform possible. Anything to help grow the hobby man

 

[Heretic]

i lost count at 100 tables on my ipad alone

tho its true ios is getting the love right now

i can onky handle so much heh so stm

timeshock apc and the table of the week is me streching it lol

its hard to overlook but it still amazes me we have a few arcades worth of machines on our lap

 

[jaredmorgs]

Preemptive mod note: I'm going to let this thread go as long as it stays relevant to pinball, but if it descends into a petty iOS vs Android b*tchfest, I'm shutting 'er down.

You beat me to posting the very same comment.

 

[jaredmorgs]

I look at it a different way. iOS App Developers release on that platform first and use it to iron out any bugs. Just look at ASK Homework as a case-in-point. They have practically finished Zaccaria on iOS and are now turning to Android now the release is stable.

Likewise with Color Monkey. I have no doubt that we will see APC on Android in 2015. But they need to get the game solid before doing so, so they don't have to patch common bugs across both code bases.

Timeshock: ditto! Barnestorm have said the next push is getting the game out to Android backers.

I agree with Carl that we don't see as many titles initially, but when the do come out, they are solid releases.

Thanks to iOS users for helping these devs iron out the bugs for other platforms.

 

[Gord Lacey]

I think it's a combination of higher sales on iOS and harder to develop for Android. You have way, way more factors to consider when developing an Android game, which makes it a lot harder.

 

[Worf]

There's several factors.

First - sales - on iOS, the business model is to charge for apps. On Android, the business model is to rape the user's information and sell ads. Charging for apps on Android is a losing proposition - Google Wallet doesn't work everywhere, so paid apps disappear in those markets leaving only free apps, and Android users generally hate paying up. But their larger numbers mean you can release your app for free and show ads. Android makes it easier to get at user's data to sell for ad networks (iOS notifies the user who then has a chance to say no, so selling ads on iOS means those ads pay less). Of course, another advantage is that free apps on Android make it far less likely to be pirated (iOS piracy is quite low - probably closer to console-levels (10% or under), while Android's is higher - closer to PC levels.

Second - development API levels. While Google has been fixing a lot of fragmentation problems lately, it's still out there. Even Google's own store statistics show a significant number of devices run older OSes. We're at Android 5.0 (lollipop - 2014), but the majority are running Kit Kat (4.4 - 2013) or Jelly Bean (4.1-4.3 - 2012, 2011), while a large number still run 4.0 (2010) or lower. This is particularly important because 4.3 and below represent about 66% (or around 1B devices). This number was because a serious flaw in the WebView control was discovered recently that Google is not fixing - the bug is fixed in Android 4.4 and above. On iOS, iOS7 and 8 represent roughly 95% or more (2014, 2013).

Third - diversity of devices. On iOS, there are a limited number of devices so most devs can easily acquire a new device - when you're looking at new phones, you buy an iPhone 6 and an iPhone 6+, and an iPad Air 2 and iPad Mini 3. Whereas on Android, you need to test and acquire a LOT of devices and hope the ones you pick are representative. You could buy flagship phones but then you'll get complaints from those who don't pay for flagship devices. This is complicated more by companies like Samsung who have released over 150 new phones in 2014 alone (that's 3 new phones a WEEK), and over 75-odd tablets (over 1 1/2 tablets a week). As a developer, you have to test on a wide variety of devices because there's a lot of crap out there. It's not unusual to query the GPU for supported capabilities only to have the GPU lie to you - if you actually tried to use those features, the drivers can easily lock up and crash.

Heck, even PC users got the shaft on Pro Pinball because it was released on iOS first. Though the beta tests, iOS were enthusiastic in their testing - followed by Windows with half as many posts and then OS X with half of Windows. Android? Ghost town. On the public forums, it's Windows, followed by iOS and then Android.

Nothing wrong with Android, really. It's got its advantages over iOS. I'd rather have what we have now than an all iOS or all Android world. Having both keeps both sides honest.

 

[Bravewall]

Having bought a tablet specifically for the purpose of portable pinball, my original intent was to buy an ipad. I've been a mac user for 15 years. However I went with an tab 4 instead, simply because it was a wider screen, that better fits the dimensions of a pinball table, not to mention the dimensions of movies. Also they are quite frankly less money. I'm sure the ipad will outlast my tab, but it will also outlast its own operating system in 3 years anyway.

I am eagerly anticipating the release of Zaccaria, I'm jealous sometimes of ipad users for already having it, however I still stand by my original decision to go with android. Even if I had known about the Zaccaria at the time, the wider screen makes the best experience for me. I still think its the best device for TPA and Zen.

 

[jaredmorgs]

Zaccaria is on Android now [MENTION=71]Carl Spiby[/MENTION]. Get on it!

 

[Carl Spiby]

Thanks for the tag Jared.

 

[Pinballwiz45b]

Pro Pinball is next up, but who knows when that will come.

 

[SilverBalls]

Pro Pinball is next up, but who knows when that will come.

They said last week they have compiled the Android version and have the front end going. As most code is common and graphics are common, hopefully soon. I am no expert but I would guess 4 to 8 weeks. Once they release an alpha that will give us a clue.

 

[Bravewall]

Thanks for the tag Jared.

Yup thank for the heads up!