Linked- Why is Android Still the Second Platform Developers Work On?

Well researched piece and worth a read.  

I continue to agree that fragmentation is the biggest challenge.  People are capable of making money on Android and all signs point to the App Store being harder than ever to break into or sustain.  Both of those conditions would make Android seem attractive.  But when people talk “Android” they rarely understand how deep the fragmentation problem is; it goes beyond just which “dessert" people are running.  There’s also the fact that many of the “install” numbers that contribute to Android’s superior “market share” also includes Chinese variants with completely different app stores or even Amazon’s fork.  Being in the Play Store doesn’t get you access to everyone on Android and even there, the fragmentation is heavy.

Compounding that problem is that developers want to take advantage of the latest platform and features.  Unfortunately for Android, the latest platform is always one of the smallest by share.  So to target the biggest populations on Android means targeting 2-3 year old software.  Developers, by nature, are technology leaders.  They aren’t inclined to work in the past.

But I’m going ask this question a different way entirely.  Because the more I think about it, the more I believe the premise is flawed.  So here’s my question- 

Why aren’t there more Android developers?

Maybe rather than keep assuming every developer is or should be “platform agnostic” we should asking why aren’t people driven to become Android developer in the first place?

And to me, the answer is in the ownership.  Apple treats developers like a partner and a community.  Sure, there are problems like any community would have, but overall when you hear Apple speak, they speak in a way that says- “we build platforms and we can’t wait to see what you do on them.”  That’s not Google.  To Google, developers are competition.  Because Google isn’t making money on the platform, but on the services and on the web.  So the only thing developers have to offer (services and web alternatives) are competition for Google.  

Just look at the recent developer conferences.  Google’s biggest hits were a way to skim app data (Google Now On-tap), two services that compete with developers (Google Pay and Google Photos), and an inter-app system based on- of all things- web links. 

Sure, many will argue that this year’s “sherlocking” spree at WWDC runs counter to my point.  But I’ve addressed that before.  In the end, it’s about where your heart is.  To me, Apple’s is in a place that says “we love developers and while it’s sometimes a complicated relationship, we want them to succeed because they make our platforms and hardware better.”  Google on the other hand seems to say “Android is our way of not loosing relevancy in a mobile world.  We’re going to keep using to get all the data we can, and here, developers, you can play too."

But that’s just my opinion...