While a recent gathering of Android developers in Manhattan may not have been a showcase for big money stories, it did illustrate a real level of excitement about what the future may hold.
Until now, mobile app developers have really only had one platform to sell their software – the thriving Apple App Store.
While many developers have branched out to other platforms including BlackBerry, the Apple App Store has been the only really happening place in town – until now. While the Android Market is still tiny compared to the App Store, the various types and sizes of mobile devices that use Android has the potential to attract a lot of developers to the party.
Michael Novak, who takes care of Android development at Medialets, a mobile advertising software company says “I used to tell people I wrote software for Android, and they’d look at me like I had three heads,” adding “That wasn’t even a year ago. Now everyone knows what it is. The popularity has exploded.” There are already about 270,000 developers writing for Android, with 100,000 programs already on the market.
However, it’s not all good news on the Android development front, with flexibility also leading to fragmentation. Peter Vesterbacka, a developer at the company Rovio who developed the popular Angry Birds game has said about Android: “It’s a lot more challenging than developing for one device, like the iPhone.”
Sites like GetAppQuotes.com are already an anchor providing the necessary connection to app developers. Check their freelance Android Development category to see what’s new.
In light of even newer competition from Windows phone 7, and the existing force of the Apple iOS, Google will have to be very careful that developers don’t lose patience with Android, and that the application development process is able to live up to the huge promise of this emerging Android market.