Tech Forum

copper1, a couple things to note, and what the church will obviously tell you. In Genera, the Apple stuff has had a longer head start, in terms of when development started, and experienced app developers are more numerous. Many of these tools are community driven and only a lead developer and project manager assigned are church employees, which means they rely on that community for development cycles.

I was recently sent a survey about the development of LDS Tools, what is good, what can be improved, what would you like to see developed... Frankly, I didn't know how to respond... basically I said, get all the stuff that is already in apple to the android... we have more flexibility in the lds tools app on iphone/pad than in even the leader.lds.org tools online. Maybe we should find something to do for those app developers and get the android/apple apps more in synch. I feel like the church (whether it is an actual direction or not) is 'supporting' or 'encourageing' members to purchase one product over another. I know personally MANY people who have made their decision based on the fact that the lds tools on apple are much more advanced, or developed.

android activations are irrelevant. Global iOS installed user base across all network connected media capable devices dwarfs android users using the same metric.

android fragmentation is a developer nightmare. Google knows it and is just now enforcing OHA charter covenants.

applications developed for iOS are wider adopted by users because apple codesigns firmware, and the OS migration strategy is such that people want to use the most current firmware.

android OEMS dont support updates on handsets that dont sell. since there are so many kinds that dont sell, their users are no longer supported.

developers dont support application development updates for handsets that dont get operating system updates.

exspyguy wrote:android activations are irrelevant....

Interesting opinions, but I could make arguments against just about every single point you made. Do you have actual data to back up your assertions?

In any case, I think it is very clear that both Android and iOS are very important markets to support. They are so large that it's very clear that the Church will support both of them. Some of the smaller applications may appear on only platform, but the important apps will certainly be on both platforms.

To update the arguments:
Yes, counting active installed users is more accurate than activations, because the people USING the phone are more likely to want to install an app. That being said, Symbian has dominated this metric for years, until earlier this year when Android passed them. They passed iOS early last year. Not only that, but Android's MARKET SHARE has gotten up to 75% (!), meaning the gap will only grow in Android's favor. These are, of course, worldwide numbers, but given that more than half of church members are outside the US, that seems fair to use.
This being said, the fact that the DEVELOPERS (not the Church, of course) continue to treat Android users as second-class citizens seems a bit short-sighted. I realize that most Church leadership use iOS devices, and they are probably beta testers, but the lag between iOS and Android is both enormous and unnecessary.
Also, that iOS headstart argument is played out. They had a 1.5 year lead on Android, which is 4 years old now.

smp55 wrote:This being said, the fact that the DEVELOPERS (not the Church, of course) continue to treat Android users as second-class citizens seems a bit short-sighted.

That might be a valid view if in fact there was one group of developers for both devices. It's not. There are two groups of developers. The iOS team had a head start.

smp55 wrote:This being said, the fact that the DEVELOPERS (not the Church, of course) continue to treat Android users as second-class citizens seems a bit short-sighted.

Please remember that when you talk about "The Developers" you are talking about a group of volunteers who are creating and maintaining these apps more or less as a hobby. They don't owe you or me anything. "The Developers" choose which platforms and which apps they volunteer to work on based on any number of criteria and for any number of reasons. For example, I don't volunteer for Android projects because the platform doesn't interest me at this point in time. It's not that I'm being short-sighted; I simply enjoy the benefits of other platforms and have no interest in spending my very limited available time doing Android development.

What the church and the volunteer developer community are doing is nothing short of miraculous. I appreciate your fervor and encourage you to become a part of the solution. If you have the skills needed for development on your favored platform, volunteer them. If you don't, go get them.

I think the church, much like political parties, does not endorse any specific platform for their members to use. I will admit there are nicer features that go with the iOS platform. Could it be related to the development tools available for each platform? Possibly. I am grateful for the fact that the scriptures are available on these devices and allows me to have them with me no matter where I am.