[aaronbrethorst]

I still maintain that fragmentation is less of an issue than is commonly believed...I think the biggest problem is that unless your app is relatively new, you probably have to continue supporting Android 2.3. Making sure your app works on that ugly, buggy OS is a massive pain.

I gripe about having to support an OS that Apple shipped in Q3 2012. Semi-mandatory Android 2.3 support is a fragmentation problem, especially when you mix in all the crazy shit some handset makers and carriers have done to 'improve' Android.

See, for instance, http://techcrunch.com/2012/06/02/android-qa-testing-quality-...

[SomeCallMeTim]

>Semi-mandatory Android 2.3 support is a fragmentation problem

Only for spoiled iOS developers.

I used to develop for Windows, starting in pre-1995. Want to talk about fragmentation? With dozens of video cards, each with their own custom APIs for doing anything that standard VGA couldn't handle, dozens of sound cards with varying levels of support for the de facto standard(s), memory configurations from 128k through multiple megabytes, BIOS variations, and even CPU bugs in AMD or other non-Intel chips...and then tons of software that might be running on top of your app (drivers and such)? THAT was fragmentation.

Windows 95 and later (specifically after DirectX was introduced) reduced THOSE problems significantly, but new ones surfaced, anti-virus and firewall packages being the worst, though some video cards still have bugs that break things randomly.

You think having to support 2.3 qualifies as a problem? JUST having to support 2.3 is a dream compared to what we used to have to deal with. The compatibility libraries -- especially the latest versions -- do a great job of making apps work everywhere. And if you're using OpenGL, you have even fewer compatibility issues to worry about.

Get off my lawn. ;)

[rjd]

From my point of view its management handling thats my issue. When I say week to update iOS, 3 days on the html version, 3 weeks for android, I get a massive push back... "android in one week".. "OK an extra few days for testing, but we need these out now"

Then I start to get really annoyed at the level of shit of I have to support for Android and the backwards and forwards on testing and just seriously wish the company didn't support it all.

Actually TBH, I only took up looking after the mobile suite as a learning thing. And what I learnt is I'd rather be doing other forms of software (almost exclusively due to time pressures and android). The experience has been less rewarding that other forms of development I've done.

I'd never work on Android products again without a proper team (project manager, QA etc...) so someone else could fight the battle of more development time every iteration instead of me.

[aaronbrethorst]

With a TAM measuring in the hundreds of millions of devices for each platform, I'd much rather work with the one that requires less self-flagellation. But, to each their own :)

[gress]

Spoiled by having lower costs and so being able to devote more resources to the product for their customers?

[gress]

Isn't that simply a logical consequence of the GP comment? Presumably the downvotes indicate a dislike of the state of affairs.