Why platformed mobile phone apps are dying
We are living in a world where Apple and Google amongst MS and RIM too are fighting between themselves for space in the Mobile Applications market, and in their own closed ecosystems are doing alright for themselves, but it isn’t going to last.
You see, it really doesn’t help the consumer when their favourite app isn’t available on Android because the developers are only supporting the iPhone, or vice versa. Same goes for BlackBerry and the new Windows Phone apps.
As a software developer for the mobile world it must be a veritable nightmare when it comes down to deciding which platform to choose. Which way do you turn first? iPhone? Android?
So I say, why are we bothering with bespoke phone apps at all, when such good apps can be built upon Javascript/jQuery/Mootools etc with HTML5 and be cross platform, and then even work on desktop devices too?
Granted, some apps may require hardware specific functionality, or access to the device in such a way that is not available from Javascript, and these will continue, but for apps that have an online aspect to them, where they require internet connectivity to function (which are an ever increasing number), and since most devices are online 24/7 these days, what is wrong with developing the app as a hosted service where it can simply be built and installed once, and immediately used by its users without concern about having apps signed by Big Brother and then having users manually update?
Device specific mobile phone apps are a dying breed.
David James, 
David James are discussing. 
Archie Eddison 
David James 4:48 pm on April 3, 2011 Permalink |
This is an interesting opinion Archie and I’d love to develop for the web instead of an iphone but how do I market it and how do I make money from it ? With ios we have the apple store which showcases our products and takes care of payment meaning we dont need to get involved in that side of things. For the web, what are my options? Paypal 😦 which is really awful.
ArchieEddison 1:49 pm on April 13, 2011 Permalink |
Thanks David for taking the time to read and comment!
Traditionally you would look at PayPal I think but as you say I think this limits the opportunities considerably. You got me thinking because I’m also considering the options.
You could look at a solution like Chargify or Recurly but they will need you to arrange your own payment mechanisms and a fair amount of development work.
I almost said there isn’t really any equivalent of the Apple store but then in my research I came across a new startup company in the UK – Cloudware City which looks like they take care of everything, even showcasing and selling the products for you, handles the payments, subscriptions and user access for your site with an application interface (API).
From what I can see, they charge 30% which at first glance seems high compared to some, but is the going industry rate for the value it provides as a whole vs going out and doing it all yourself, not least added marketing!
The more I read, the more I feel Cloudware City is like a ‘hidden gem’ at the moment waiting to be discovered by developers like yourself!
I’m certainly going to check them out for my own ideas as they even have a WordPress plugin available too!
David James 3:03 pm on April 13, 2011 Permalink |
Thanks I checked it out and to be honest, 70% of SOMETHING is better for me than 100% of nothing that I’m getting or not getting at the moment! so I’m going to give cloudware city a try. Very helpful nice people at the moment too. I’ll let you know how it goes