Even though Android is the most popular smartphone platform in the U.S., and even though there were 10 billion Android app downloads as of December 2011, many Android users are frustrated that they're still treated like a second-class app market. That's because "fragmentation" makes it more complicated to develop Android apps that will run on most Android phones.
New research from Localytics claims that Android fragmentation might be becoming less of a issue.
If correct, this could start bringing more popular apps to Android phones faster -- or maybe even first. But the catch is, the Android ecosystem is far more variable than the iPhone landscape. That makes it a bigger long-term risk for app developers.
Many popular consumer apps are still are rolled out first for the iPhone. (Hello, Instagram?) That's because many Android phones are running substantially older versions of Android, which limits which apps they can support. Plus, Android phones come in a dizzying array of sizes, configurations, and capabilities -- compared to a fairly small selection of iPhone models. Also phone manufacturers and wireless carriers tend to customize the Android interface (in "flavors" such as HTC Sense and Motorola Blur).... Source/Origin >> Read More
