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Lack of good Android Pinball Games
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<blockquote data-quote="Worf" data-source="post: 189381" data-attributes="member: 1047"><p>There's several factors.</p><p></p><p>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.</p><p></p><p>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).</p><p></p><p>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. </p><p></p><p>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.</p><p></p><p>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.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Worf, post: 189381, member: 1047"] 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. [/QUOTE]
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