Apple IOS vs Andriod vs MS Surface

[TheFaQQer]

Longer term the dev team will be create actual apps - and that is really when we need to know what platform we will be using.

Although is developing apps for different platforms a case of developing for one and tweaking to fit the others or are they completely different?

You'd be better off developing browser-based Apps than something which you are going to have to redevelop when there is a change. Also, are you ever going to allow users to choose what they want in terms of technology - e.g. will some users be allowed to use their iPad whereas others prefer to use Android devices? If so, then you need something generic rather than OS-specific.

Oracle's mobile offerings are being developed in OAF (I think) or something generic which will run on anything - if a multi-billion dollar company figures it's too much hassle trying to cater for multiple options, I'd be inclined to agree with them

[northernladuk]

I think android will win out in the end as the technology is moving into non phone touch screen applications faster than the other operating systems. Cameras now mostly but I can see fridges, central heating systems, home alarms etc all having android interfaces in 5 years.

Get with the times grandad....

Samsung's new fridge runs on Google's Android - Times Of India

[original PM]

You'd be better off developing browser-based Apps than something which you are going to have to redevelop when there is a change. Also, are you ever going to allow users to choose what they want in terms of technology - e.g. will some users be allowed to use their iPad whereas others prefer to use Android devices? If so, then you need something generic rather than OS-specific.

Oracle's mobile offerings are being developed in OAF (I think) or something generic which will run on anything - if a multi-billion dollar company figures it's too much hassle trying to cater for multiple options, I'd be inclined to agree with them

As the user will have company supplied devices we can be quite specifc regarding the development platform - however does anyone have any idea of the compatibility between the browsers offered by IOS, Android, Surface?

and is there a browser which behaves the same available for all three?

[eek]

As the user will have company supplied devices we can be quite specifc regarding the development platform - however does anyone have any idea of the compatibility between the browsers offered by IOS, Android, Surface?

and is there a browser which behaves the same available for all three?

IOS (Safari) and Android (Chrome) are both based on webkit. Surface still uses IE.

Personally I would target IOS as its going to have the fewest screen variations and the ipad mini is a definite thing of wonder.

[d000hg]

Oracle's mobile offerings are being developed in OAF (I think) or something generic which will run on anything - if a multi-billion dollar company figures it's too much hassle trying to cater for multiple options, I'd be inclined to agree with them

That's a poor argument because
a)You don't know that the reason was "too much hassle"
b)Other giant companies will have chosen to go bespoke for iOS, Android or Windows

It's not a black & white situation... some things are DEFINITELY best done as browser apps but others are not. If you want to hook into functionality provided by the device, run offline, etc, it starts becoming less obvious to use a web-app.

[Bunk]

IOS (Safari) and Android (Chrome) are both based on webkit. Surface still uses IE.

Personally I would target IOS as its going to have the fewest screen variations and the ipad mini is a definite thing of wonder.

If it's browser based you shouldn't target specific devices, instead target the capabilities of the device. You can use media queries to cater for different screen sizes.

[eek]

If it's browser based you shouldn't target specific devices, instead target the capabilities of the device. You can use media queries to cater for different screen sizes.

True but that's extra work (for designers as well as programmers) and if you are targetting middle management and above (which most of these latest data in hand apps are) keeping it simple also means you can keep it pretty and consistent.

[smatty]

One consideration would be software updates. Android seem to release a major revision on a yearly basis. That's quite a lot of work if you've got custom builds maintain and they need changing/re-testing/etc.

I've got Android devices from HTC & Samsung and ended up going to custom ROMs to keep reasonably up to date which is not an option for enterprise. Both companies were very slow releasing ICS and now it's out I don't think they release security fixes for Gingerbread so you would have to upgrade the OS or run at risk. These devices were flagship models 14 months ago, both manufacturers seem to pretty much ignore them as soon as they hit market and something newer is released.

The official Nexus devices do seem to be supported a bit longer.

[minestrone]

I could be wrong on this but...

I see a lot of apps that are used having no point being apps in future, going back to mobile HTML.

Much of the reasoning behind apps was to have the view pre downloaded and only the data having to be got real time. With mobile speeds improving to such a level is there any great need for this?

[Durbs]

is there any great need for this?

Yes, cause HTML5 apps are crap. They are chosen entirely on cost, never on quality of user experience, a browser based app can never match a native app.

Facebook iOS a good example where they gave up and realised that to provide the experience their users wanted, they had to abandon HTML5 and go native, and the app is all the better for it.