It's no huge surprise that Android has a few issues with fragmentation: most of us with a Google-run handset are still waiting for the update to Ice Cream Sandwich, and getting hold of Jelly Bean is just a pipe dream for now. It's not just a nightmare for us consumers though, it's a headache for developers too.
And when one of the developers in question used to work for Google, and says he made his new app for iOS because of Android's fragmentation, you know the problem is bad.
Rian Liebenberg is the man who used to work for Google. He spoke to Electricpig about his new venture Recce, a mapping app that he chose to make for iOS over Android.
"We do have a working Android build, but given some of the device fragmentation, we couldn't guarantee we were going to have a great Android experience on every single implementation," Liebenberg said.
"The hardware fragmentation problem on Android made it more complex for us, so we decided to hold it back."
That's really quite damning, but many on Android will know exactly what Liebenberg is talking about. Ice Cream Sandwich launched back in October -- that's nine months ago -- yet it's still only found on 10 per cent of Android devices. And now its successor is here, yet most of us are still stuck on Gingerbread, which is effectively a two-year-old operating system.
In fairness, Google has owned up to its shortcomings, and Jelly Bean should hopefully make it easier for manufacturers to update their handsets to the latest version. Hopefully.
What do you think of the Android fragmentation? Which version are you on at the moment? And do you think Jelly Bean will improve things at all? Let me know what you think in the comments below, or on our Facebook page.
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anonymous 15 July, 2012 09:37
i think that Google should stop providing support for all current android devices and launch only nexus devices and inviting as they do already companies to start making nexus devices ( a budget device, a high end device and a tablet) for each OS update they release. google must realize how tedious it is too have a top end phone running an ancient operating system. and regardless of how great android is, if this continues i will move to iOS.
anonymous 15 July, 2012 10:07
It's a fair point...it really annoys me that virgin have built a plant that can go into space yet despite all my complaints easyjet still haven't rolled out an update to their fleet so I can fly into space for £60 + baggage charge...I guess u just get what u pay for!
anonymous 15 July, 2012 10:23
Am on gingerbread 2.3.5
The fragmentation leading to getting stalk on a level like I am now is frustating. Too much free app, so much abuse
Let google get her act to gether jeez.
anonymous 15 July, 2012 10:27
I m stuck with froyo. My next phone Will be I phone
anonymous 15 July, 2012 10:32
Different OS versions on different platforms...? Software developers have been having that headache for 20 odd years with Windows...Stop moaning and getting coding. .
anonymous 15 July, 2012 10:38
This is an over rated issue, Gingerbread might be on on older phones but the cycle for this is two years when people upgrade there phones. As all new phones are pushing latest updates that are easier to upgrade.
If a developer wants to develop for ios first that's up to them but the largest market is on Android and they could suffer by missing out to their competition.
damien2501 15 July, 2012 11:14
Its the same old story. Apple have such a big advantage by making uniform hardwear and softwear. Google make softwear and let everyone create the hardwear for it to run on, so iOS devices will be updated at the same time, cleanly coded and more efficient.
anonymous 15 July, 2012 11:19
Don't forget the fragmentation within handsets, too! I've been sitting with a Sony Xperia S waiting for three weeks while other regions and carriers get updates that don't yet work on my SIM-free handset.
Couple to the jungle that is Google Play, I doubt my next phone will be an Android handset.
tgw123 15 July, 2012 11:22
I have a Motorola Defy. Got it in November, 2010 running 2.1 and it got its only update to 2.2 Froyo a year later. Sadly ever since then my phone has not worked properly, despite going back to Vodafone and being replaced with a reconditioned model. This one however is no better. I don't know though if that has anything to do with Android. It could be Vodafone's fault due to it stuffing a load of unwanted and uninstallable crap on the phone that I don't want to use. Either way, Motorola did say at the time that 2.2 was as far as they would go with this model. Frankly, Android is good but they need to sort their act out and deal witht his terrible updating issue as a priority matter or it will come back to bite them on the arse at some stage.
anonymous 15 July, 2012 12:28
People have a choice, buy Nexus if you want prompt updates and pure Android, or get something else but accept the phone as it is. People have become obsessed with updates for Android in a way that I have never seen before, it's baffling.
There is also a third way, custom ROMs.
In my opinion all this moaning and criticism is without foundation.
That said, I've said for months that Google need to rea) y invest in a Nexus line of 2/3 phones and a tablet, much like Apple. They need to distance themselves from this fragmentation for PR reasons. If they have to launch an Android based Chrome mobile OS then so be it, and leave Android for third-party manufacturers to continue as they do now. Personally I'd like to see that, but who knows.
anonymous 15 July, 2012 14:15
@ananonymous:
Exactly, this Android fragmentation is exactly like the 20-year old Windows problem. ...Developers, stop waste your coding time. We moved to Apple just because of this, and man, do we not look back.
anonymous 15 July, 2012 14:21
This is why I moved to ios. The experience on android was just too messy and fragmented. That was the case two years ago when I ditched my htc for an iPhone and - judging by the android tablets that we bought our kids - it's still the case now.
_mdwh_ 15 July, 2012 14:26
It's hilarious what levels the media stoop to to try to make Apple still look relevant. It's not like an *ex* boss is going to be a reliable authority on Android. And what "boss" was he anyway? A quick Google suggests this is some nobody, could be anyone in the large company - I'm sure there exist some employees and ex-employees of Apple who prefer other platforms.
Aside from the Apple astroturfing (does CNET get paid to do this?), it's a blatant advert for this guy's new software, masquerading as some kind of flawed Android vs Apple debate. If he wants to only cater for the smallest platform (sorry, there are more platforms than Android and Iphone - and even Symbian still has a larger userbase), that's up to him. Perhaps the real reason why it's only worth writing mapping software for Iphone is because all other platforms already have decent mapping as standard - it's only Apple users who have to pay.
The whole fragmentation thing is FUD. Even Samsung-Android alone outsells Iphone, so these aren't "fragments" but huge great chunks - it's Iphone that is a tiny fragment. And who cares when the fragments are compatible.
Most phones don't run vanilla Android, so going buy the dates of vanilla Android, rather than TouchWiz or Sense is completely incorrect. As ppl say above - if you want to get vanilla Android the moment it comes out, then buy a Google phone. Otherwise, there's nothing to complain about. Also Android has to deal with thousands of devices across multiple manufacturers, so comparing to Apple is unfair. It would only be a problem if the staggered rollout meant Android phones got new features later than Apple, but in practice, Android is still ahead, with Apple years behind everyone else. Who cares if the Apple updates are "quick", when you've waited years for basic features like apps, multitasking, MMS, video calling, voice recognition? I'm not sure why running the latest IOS on an ancient Iphone is good, when it's still an outdated ancient Iphone.
If fragmentation really is an issue, why aren't you also running articles about Symbian, BlackBerry and WP, saying how they're also much better because of this? Apple is not the only alternative, by far. Or why aren't Windows and OS X being criticised, because heaven forbid, lots of people don't run the latest versions?
To answer your question, I'm running the latest version of Android. If I had say an S3, I'd still be running the latest version of Samsung's _TouchWiz_. If people really cared about fragmentation, they'd buy the phones with vanilla Android. People don't care about so-called "fragmentation", and it's misleading to try to spin and fool people that they're missing out based on some version number. We're happy with Android, and we're fed up of the media going on about Apple all the time. Indeed, your ad on this page sums it up:
"Get our free CNET iPhone and iPad app" - Sorry, like most people I don't have an Iphone or Ipad. Why not provide for those using more popular platforms, like Android, Symbian or indeed Windows x86?
_mdwh_ 15 July, 2012 14:30
"Developers, stop waste your coding time."
Yes, I'm sure I'm wasting my time coding for the most popular platforms from desktops to mobiles. I'd be much better going to Apple and writing for the least popular platforms.
Maybe some of us are just competent developers, and can cope with so-called "fragmentation" (what normal developers call catering for more than one version - but then it's no surprise that people who only want to cater for the minority of Apple users, can't get their heads round catering for people with differing needs). Do you only write for one model of Mac too then?
_mdwh_ 15 July, 2012 14:39
Having read this article again, I realise you're conflating two entirely separate issues. He's talking about different hardware models (which he spins as "fragmentation"), you're confusing it with different OS versions.
For different hardware models - yes, you do have a harder time developing for platforms that have more models. But it is misleading to say that this means that platform with fewer models must be better. There are advantages and disadvantages to each way of working. A similar argument applies for PCs (including Macs) versus consoles.
If Liebenberg wants to admit he is too incompetent a developer to work with different hardware models, that's up to him. But the greater range of models means a far greater range of choice for consumers.
If Apple are so great, and everything should be like the Iphone, why isn't there only one model of Mac? I mean, heaven forbid developers cater for more than a few models.
Twenty or so years ago, the Amiga had the advantage that most people were using just a single model - the Amiga 500, then later the 1200. Did I hear the media, or Apple fans, saying how that was so much better to develop for, compared to the countless models of Macs? No, I never did. This is yet another case of "let's handpick whichever argument makes Apple look better".
Another problem with his argument is that the Iphone is getting so unpopular compared to Android these days that even a single model of phone per generation (Samsung S2, now the S3) is selling comparable to Apple's Iphones (in the UK, it's the Samsung model that is number one, and has been for a year). So even if you're an incompetent developer, then just cater for the S3 - the market is still as big as Apple.
anonymous 15 July, 2012 14:44
Well in my humble opinion its not in the best interests of handset manufacturers or telcos to make updates so easily available.
Just like the handsets available pre iPhone such as those running symbian, blackberry or other OS's what the handset makers and telcos really wanted was to sell users a new handset and thereby to renew or sign a new contract every so often.
So really what incentive for them would there be for you to upgrade the OS on your old handset when what was really preferable for them was for you to buy the latest and greatest handset model that just launched yesterday?
So even today of all the handset manufacturers only Apple really treats their handsets like a personal mobile miniature computer that is also a communications device. All others still treat their devices as mobile phones that coincidentally also runs apps and allows you mobile internet access.
anonymous 15 July, 2012 15:51
And yet I have been running ICS since its release, on a galaxy s, yep that's it no number after the letter, the first hardware release.
And if you are a lame coder? Well you know what they say "if you can't do the job wear a big hat"
boristhespie 15 July, 2012 18:34
I'm typing this on an ipod tpuch fourth gen with ios4 something or other. Shitty itunes continually took over my computer, froze it and has never, despite new installations on numerous other computers, update my tech.
Is this what you mean by fragmentation?
Many apps need ios5 or more. I'm pissed at tjis fragmentation.
anonymous 15 July, 2012 19:25
There is no fragmentation with Nexus devices. Google need to communicate this better and more manufacturer need to get on board with the vanilla android. When buying a PC you wouldn't necessary upgrade the OS when a new version was available you would wait a buy a new computer with better specs. What's the difference!!
anonymous 15 July, 2012 21:18
After reading most of these comments i come to the conclusion that most of the comments were written by someone who cannot and does no even understand the words fragmentation, market share, software versions etc etc etc..
i would be nice if comments were factual rather that in my opinion. i get tired of hearing NA NA mines better than yours.
Android is going the same path as windows run on anything support any type of hardware with any type of port forever.
and all that happens is that the software gets more bloated and does not work correctly all the time. On any platform.
So nock your self out with android but i want my stuff to work ALL THE TIME not just some of the time..
anonymous 15 July, 2012 21:49
Does this app do anything that we can't already get on Android?
anonymous 16 July, 2012 02:38
Call me cynical but it's funny how many devs use a fragmentation complaint to get some PR for their latest venture. It's often a cheap shot and a simple refusal to read the the docs at developer.android.com (that tell you how to make an app that works on multiple screen sizes and multiple android versions...)
anonymous 16 July, 2012 08:50
I like it when people that clearly don't use Android, and have certainly never used a Nexus phone running pure Android, like to talk down at others as if they actually have a clue what they're talking about.
Android works only some of the time?
Dear me.
Listen. I've said this dozens of times on here now. If you use a HTC, Samsung, Motorola, or any other phone like that, and have trouble with Android and think it's the OS, go and try a Nexus phone and see how Android SHOULD run without third-party bloatware and pointless graphics eating up resources slowing the system down and THEN please come back and see if you complain about the OS.
It's not the OS, it's the modifications. This is obvious to anyone that has used a pure, unmodded version of Android.
Rich Trenholm 16 July, 2012 09:00
Hi _mdwh_, we have a free Android app too - just search Google Play for 'CNET Global'
anonymous 16 July, 2012 10:09
Fragmentation obviously doesnt work and is obviously a hindrance to programmers AND consumers - this is why there are more machines running OSX than there are Windows... Oh wait....
anonymous 16 July, 2012 11:01
Rich Trenholm 16 July, 2012 09:00
Hi _mdwh_, we have a free Android app too - just search Google Play for 'CNET Global'
----------------------------------------------
Well why don't you advertise that as well? It's things like this that make people think you are biased towards Apple.
anonymous 16 July, 2012 11:20
ohh iOS dont have fragmentation so i bought a iPhone 4 and now their latest Siri and Navigation dont work in 4 and only works in iOS6 with 4S only
anonymous 16 July, 2012 12:33
I am a dev too, iOS dev is so much better. Years ago I hated px dev cause of so many os config out there, but with iOS one dev it's that it... Android you have to worry so much about older phones, etc, etc.
I am a heavy iPad user now. Next phone will me iPhone...
anonymous 16 July, 2012 12:36
Google has created a mess for its customers. Has anyone seen a Google support center, customers service? Nope, they just want your contact info and don't give crap about you.
anonymous 16 July, 2012 12:44
People need become more educated about buying cellphones and android. So they can make better decision on buying , know the difference between stock Android and skin ontop of Android. Nexus products are the way to go if you want updates. Get educated about phones before you buy.
anonymous 16 July, 2012 13:01
Both my device runs JB. Not sure what your talking about. ;-)
FYI, I'm a registered android dev and supporting older platform up to android 1.6 is really easy.
anonymous 16 July, 2012 13:41
If you are worried about this fragmentation problem, then buy I Google Nexus 7 tablet like I am!
Why?
Simple. It is the FIRST device to have Android 4.1 and now helpful features that can amazing features like, Google Now and Android Play- with apps, e-books, magazines and movies.
Read more at: www.google.com/nexus
And it's for only $199 (8GB) and $149 (16GB)
Share your opinion - Is it worth buying this device or not?
1000111936 16 July, 2012 13:49
For decades if you wanted things to just work, you get Apple devices, but if you like to "tinker" and don't really care about productivity, Windows and now Android, were the choices. iOS is the gold standard for mobile devices, and obviously OSX wins against Windows every time... but there is a certain class of people who don't have a solid education about computing, so they get stuck with wonky, poorly crafted products. The iPhone is the same price as Android, plus it has better hardware and accessory support, so it's sad some people get duped into buying the wrong product.
anonymous 16 July, 2012 14:21
Every one just get a HTC HD2 and root it. You can run all the phone OS mentioned I'm this article.
HTC HD2 running ice cream sandwich
anonymous 16 July, 2012 14:32
I think iOS would have the same problem if HTC, SONY, Samusng, LG will make iOS phones
anonymous 16 July, 2012 15:06
Apple has always been about tight integration between hardware and software and, since Steve Jobs came back to the company...simplification. While at Atari Steve Jobs asked for and received a seven month leave of absence, during which he traveled all over India and the far East. When he came back he brought with him a realization that simplicity is the greatest sophistication...a very Zen-like concept. He also came back with the realization that in addition to being rational thinkers, the most gifted people with whom he came into contact also possessed a highly developed sense of intuition.
A highly developed, finely tuned sense of intuition is one of the talents to which many have attributed Jobs' uncanny ability to consistently and correctly anticipate those things which will not only succeed in the marketplace, but succeed brilliantly.
Products like the iPad, the iPhone and the iPad impress not only because of the simplicity of their design, but also because of the brilliant way that they are integrated into a supporting ecosystem that makes them even simpler and more reliable to use. The are supported in software by iOS and OSX, and iTunes, the application that links them not only with your own content, but an almost limitless array of content from a variety of sources.
The iOS that runs on the iPhone is the same one that runs on the iPad Touch and the iPad...and even the Apple TV. And iOS is born from OSX, which itself resembles iOS more and more with each new iteration. So there is a great commonality and consistency to the user interface that makes owning and using a variety of Apple products a significantly less stressful and comfortingly reassuring experience.
All of these products are supported by an immense network of retail stores manned by the most knowledgeable salesforce and support staff ever asembled for retail. And Apple's service after the sale is consistently the highest rated in the industry.
Fragmenation, or rather the lack thereof is but one piece of the puzzle, but a significant one, with regard to one specific product category...mobile phones, and is one area where Apple's approach is the obviously superior one. Apple has once again proven that simplicity succeeds, and in the case of the iPhone and iOS in particular, succeeds brilliantly.
anonymous 16 July, 2012 17:09
Ahem...... anonymous 16 July, 2012 15:06... 56% Market share for Android. Sorry what were you saying??
Most importantly, since ICS and looking forward there will be little fragmentation, and in time, there will be none. All thanks to multinational corporations working together - Except Apple, who want the opposite.
IOS is no more developed than Gingerbread, although it is way smoother. ICS was a vast improvement, and now JB. There really is no contest.
I can't wait until Apple bring out their new phone which steals ideas from all the Android phones!!!!!!
So ironic.
anonymous 16 July, 2012 17:50
Most people don't get a droid phone because of JB or ICS or which ever you run on, intact if you ask the majority of the population they probablywprobablywould not know what you are talking about they buy the phone because it looks nice or there friend has one so although there is the fragmentation to most it does not matter. To those that do care about what they are running (like me) then I buy the top end phones (Galaxy S3) so I can't get my updates. I flash custom rooms on a weekly basis, so I get the best phone. If all you are so concerned because you can't get jelly bean or gingerbread then dip you hand in you pocket. Or get you self over to xda developers (web sIte) and learn what an android phone can really do. Android is open source so you can improve, customize or pretty much do what you can with your phone regardless of make or model. There is ways around everything.
anonymous 16 July, 2012 17:58
To anonymous 15:06
Well if it works so well, WHY is their market share going DOWN and android is going UP????????????????????????
anonymous 16 July, 2012 18:00
anonymous
Most people don't get a droid phone because of JB or ICS or which ever you run on, intact if you ask the majority of the population they probablywprobablywould not know what you are talking about they buy the phone because it looks nice or there friend has one so although there is the fragmentation to most it does not matter. To those that do care about what they are running (like me) then I buy the top end phones (Galaxy S3) so I can get my updates. I flash custom rooms on a weekly basis, so I get the best phone. If all you are so concerned because you can't get jelly bean or gingerbread then dip you hand in you pocket. Or get you self over to xda developers (web sIte) and learn what an android phone can really do. Android is open source so you can improve, customize or pretty much do what you can with your phone regardless of make or model. There is ways around everything.
Ruffus Stone 16 July, 2012 22:24
[[anonymous 16 July, 2012 17:09
Ahem...... anonymous 16 July, 2012 15:06... 56% Market share for Android. Sorry what were you saying??]]
54% on a rapidly expanding market for Smartphones, where the overwhelming majority of the Android share comes from mid-priced and cheap budget phones included in lower-priced pay-monthly phone plans, or on PAYG tariffs.
87% are running older superceded versions of the OS.
Despite the increase in competition and some really good Android phones being released now, Apple remain the largest producer of these Smartphones.
[[anonymous 16 July, 2012 17:58
To anonymous 15:06
Well if it works so well, WHY is their market share going DOWN and android is going UP???????????????????????? ]]
The market for Smartphones has been going through the roof with massive growth in both iOS and Android devices.
Apple had a head start and had most of the market until the competition caught up and is giving it a run for its money. With Android devices being marketed across a much wider price range and most of its sales catching the mid and lower priced market, it is naturally pulling ahead.
Apple's have quadrupled sales of their iPhones whilst their market share has fallen back. They're doing very nicely indeed with more than a third (35%) of the Smartphone market.
Apart from Samsung, who are emerging as the largest player in the Android camp (17% market share), all the other hardware manufacturers are scrapping over relatively small percentages of the overall market.
anonymous 16 July, 2012 22:59
Market share has not led developers to flock to Android.
Apple takes most the profit from the smart phone industry, and iOS users tend to actually buy apps.
It reminds me of a child that can't understand that a dime (a smaller coin) is worth more than the bigger, heavier nickel coin.
What you want is the loyal, educated, higher disposable income market.
Too bad we can't all afford Apple devices, but that's the way the world is. We can't all have waterfront homes and BMWs either.
And when iPad debuted for $499 jaws dropped all over, because nobody expected a price that low, nobody saw it coming. Fast forward to now, people say iPads are "so expensive", because the low profit, knock offs have staked out the low end of the market.
anonymous 16 July, 2012 23:02
Personally the idea of Apple having a "head start" implies there was a defined start to a race, but Apple more or less created the market, so as opposed to a head start for Apple, it was a "delayed start" for the others.
anonymous 19 July, 2012 11:44
How did Apple start the market? There were 'smartphones' long before the iPhone, pretty much since mobile phones became the norm and everyone had one. They were just exclusive and expensive back then, the tools of businessmen more than anything else. You'd have to say really that Nokia and Palm kicked the market off almost 20 years ago. I'd argue that Blackberry made smartphones the commercial successes that they are now.
It also seems to me that the market was far larger far earlier in the USA than in Britain, with other brands and models before the iPhone laying the foundations of the market.
I'd love to know how Apple have managed to convinced people that they created all these markets. It's like people having no idea of football pre-Premier League era.
Also, did the iPhone ever dominate the smartphone market? I suppose it probably did, but I wonder for how long? One thing is for certain, it will never dominate the mobile phone market as a whole, which being as most people buying a new phone will buy a smartphone, is surely the real prize.