Android device fragmentation makes developing and testing more challenging, but it also apparently effects how visually appealing Android apps are. According to “prevailing conventional wisdom” among developers, it is easier to make a “highly polished, elegant-looking app” for iOS – and the major reason is simply Android fragmentation. Wired talked to UI/UX designers and app developers from Hipmunk and Karma to find out why iOS apps generally look better than their Android counterparts. From Wired:

When coding for iOS, developers deal with a very limited number of screen resolutions and hardware profiles. But when coding for Android, developers have to resolve a virtually limitless set of device parameters.

“Android devices come in different shapes and sizes, different screen resolutions, different device speeds — and that’s actually a huge hurdle,” Karma app co-founder Lee Linden told Wired. “You need to be testing out something like 20 different phones with different resolutions and different processors, and that definitely makes development slower.”

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iOS 6 introduced a whole slew of new built-in features and apps to the iOS community. Unfortunately for developers and testers, those new features may make their market share obsolete. Here are some of the potentially hardest hit areas, according to TechCrunch:

Turn-by-Turn Navigation
The most obvious app makers who will be affected are probably Garmin and TomTom, famous leaders in the space that sell GPS-based navigation apps at a premium. Both have USA navigation apps priced at around $50 on the Apple App store today. … But forget about the big guys: There are a number of startups and free apps that could also be hurt by an improved Maps app.

Payment and Loyalty Programs
The introduction of Apple’s PassBook could be great for consumers, as it has the potential to allow them to aggregate all sorts of “passes” all in one place: That includes stuff like boarding passes, store cards, and movie tickets to start, but there are all sorts of possibilities here to disrupt the larger mobile payments industry, as well as upend a whole bunch of smaller loyalty programs that are emerging on iOS.

Offline Readers and Bookmarks
The new offline reading lists will allow users to cache entire websites rather than just individual links. For users who have to date relied on Instapaper, Pocket, Spool, or other apps to save content for reading during their commutes or when not connected to the Internet, having the same native capability built into iOS could obviate the need for those apps.

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There are “best app” lists for everything – best app of the year, best summer apps, best travel apps, best [fill in the blank] apps. And there’s usually more than one list for each “best of” category. It’s hard to keep track of them all.

But when I come across a “best of all time” type of list (like Apple’s Best of the Best) it’s such a bold statement that it’s hard to not share. And recently Rick Broida of CNET came out with “The five handiest smartphone apps ever.” Most useful apps EVER? How could I not get your opinions! Here’s what Rick thinks are the ultimate must-haves:

Bump (Android & iOS)
Last month, the app got an upgrade that makes it crazy-handy: you can now use Bump to quickly and easily transfer photos to your PC.

Cozi (Android & iOS)
Honestly, I don’t know how my family ever got along without it. The app provides a shared calendar that’s color-coded for each member of your family. Thus, you can quickly see who’s going where, and when.

eWallet (Android & iOS)
It’s no longer possible to go through life without a password manager. There’s so much private data to manage: bank accounts, e-mail passwords, frequent-flyer numbers, shopping site info, serial numbers — the list goes on and on.

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Steve Wozniak – yes, that Steve Wozniak – went on the record recently about how much he enjoys the Windows Phone operating system, saying that, ‘”Every screen is much more beautiful than the same apps on Android and iPhone.” Yeah, we couldn’t believe it either.

Here’s more from the TheVerge.com:

He’s so impressed by it, in fact, that he defines the experience of using a Windows Phone as feeling like you’re “with a friend not a tool.” In his mind, navigating Android is a much more cumbersome experience, to the point where he sees “no contest” between that OS and Windows Phone — Microsoft’s software is much more to his liking. He even goes on to say that iOS is “more awkward” in its interactions than the Lumia phone he’s presently using, though his favorite smartphone still remains the iPhone. The deficit of third-party apps for WP is something he acknowledges as holding that platform back.

Read the rest >>>

Interested in developing apps for the upcoming Windows 8 but don’t want to shell out the money right now for a lowly Windows 7 tablet? Fear not, Splashtop has your back!

The remote desktop maker has created a new iOS app called Win8 Metro Testbed that will allow developers to test their Windows 8 apps on an iPad (before Windows 8 is even available). Here’s their thinking (from Gigaom):

Why an iPad? Cliff Miller, Splashtop’s president of its Asia/Pacific region and chief marketing officer, said this of the potential Windows 8 developers the company is targeting:

“If they want to test their app with touch gestures there’s only one way to do that and that is to buy a Windows tablet, and that can cost $500 to $1,000 or more. … And 99 percent of Win8 tablet developers — they have iPads.”

Now, there are no Windows 8 tablets on the market yet. Microsoft has unveiled a public preview of the software, but the finished version of the desktop/tablet OS is supposed to roll out to the public some time in October. Developers can test their apps on Windows 7 tablets in the meantime, but to Miller’s point, it’s a hefty expense for some individual developers and smaller shops.

Read the full article at Gigaom >>>

So if you are interested in developing or testing an app for the up-and-coming Windows platform, break out the iPad and get cracking! Then when October rolls around and you feel comfortable buying the newest Windows tablet, you’ll already have an awesome app available in the Win8 store!

It’s no secret that the vast majority of apps exist in within the app stores of iOS and Android. It’s somewhat of a secret, however, that most of the major apps are also available in the Windows Phone marketplace. Not all, but most. To help get this point across, CNET.com recently posted the following chart:

As a WP7 user, I should point out that Google Maps is available (I have it on my device) and that Gmail can be synched with the Linked Inbox. The one that kills me is Pandora.There’s no excuse for that. Anyway….

Read the rest here >>>

The iPad continues to dominate the tablet market and its sales are still increasing more quarter-over-quarter than Android tablets. But with the increasing number of Android tablets hitting the market and the popularity of the Kindle Fire, IDC projects that Android-based tablets will catch up and overtake iOS’ lead in the next four year. TechCrunch highlights some numbers from the new report:

While Apple will continue to be the single biggest tablet maker on the market, Android, collectively, will continue to hold its own against it, with some notable devices like the Amazon Kindle Fire doing particularly well. But it will not be until 2016 — four years from now — that IDC thinks that Android shipments will outnumber those of iOS.

Even though the Kindle Fire was available only in the U.S. in Q4, IDC says that the $199 device accounted for 16.8 percent of all tablet shipments in Q4 2011, or some 4.7 million units, making it the largest “Android” vendor. …

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For the second year in a row, uTest will be making an appearance at SXSW, the world-famous music/film/interactive conference in Austin, Texas. Unlike last year – where we spent most of our time eating, drinking and schmoozing with storm troopers – we have some new, big plans in store.

The obvious difference is that we’ll be cruising around Austin in the RVIP Lounge, hitting up hotspots, giving rides, singing karaoke (poorly) and playing host to SXSW attendees throughout the week. More to come on that, but you can follow @InTheWildTest for deets on our adventures, and real-time locations if you’re at SXSW..

The other difference is that, instead of just talking about the merits of in-the-wild testing, we decided to show a real-world demonstration. So, over the last 36 hours, we assembled a select group of US-based testers to put the official SXSW mobile apps through their paces. In-the-wild testing means live testers, real devices, imperfect connectivity… basically, true real-world conditions. So we went to work testing SXSW’s official apps for iOS, Android, Windows Phone and BlackBerry. For iOS and Android, we also included tablet testing, to bring the comparison total to six.

Below are some top-level results (note that each category ranged from 1-5):

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% of Total Bugs	17.7%	18.3%	18%	6.6%	23%	16.4%
Overall Score	4.1	4.0	4.6	4.7	3.8	4.2
Usability & Design	4.2	4.1	4.6	4.8	4.1	4.2
Features & Functionality	4.1	4.1	4.7	4.7	3.2	3.9
Application & Performance	3.3	3.2	3.9	4.0	3.5	3.7

********

Of course, these figures only tell part of the story. As the apps were tested in terms of functionality, performance, design, connectivity and other factors, several issues popped up on more than one occasion. Here were a few areas where some notable bugs were uncovered:

• Incorrect time displays
• Sync issues with registration and deleted items
• Crashes on various tablet OS versions
• Issues with installation
• Social media integration
• Issues with rating and uploading photos

It should be noted that despite these issues, the overall reaction from our community was positive for each of these applications. In fact, the overall ratings you see above are substantially higher than the industry norms, so kudos to the respective dev teams.

Anyway, if you’re at SXSW and want to learn more about In-The-Wild Testing, be sure to stop by the RVIP Lounge. If you’re not able to attend, then head on over to inthewildtesting.com.

In honor of the 25,000,000,000th (billionth) app download, Apple released a list of the top 100 all-time most downloaded apps. They divided the list into four categories – listing the top 25 most downloaded free and paid apps for iPhone and iPad. It appears that the page has since disappeared from Apple proper and now just redirects to the regular iTunes page, but thanks to the internet the list is not gone forever! Razorianfly has helpfully re-posted the list. Here are the top 10 from each category:

Top Paid iPhone Apps

1. Angry Birds
2. Fruit Ninja
3. Doodle Jump
4. Cut the Rope
5. Angry Birds Seasons
6. Words With Friends
7. Tiny Wings
8. Angry Birds Rio
9. Pocket God
10. Camera+

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Apple got a jump start on the app world when it launched its revolutionary iPhone in 2007. Since then, iOS has maintained its status as top the OS when it comes to app downloads (despite being eclipsed by Android devices). But it’s beginning to lose ground in Europe and experts are predicting Android downloads in the US will overtake iOS within the next month or two. Here’s TechCrunch with more details:

Figures out today from analytics firm Xyologic note that Android now accounts for the majority of downloads in the U.K., Germany and Russia, and predicts that the U.S. will be the next to go Google in either March or April. This is a sea change from months past, when Apple – the early mover in apps – has always dominated in app download activity, despite the fact that it has been trailing other platforms in terms of users.

Xyologic says that this now means that Android is dominating in nine different countries in app downloads, representing a mix of advanced and still-developing markets. In addition to the U.K., Germany and Russia, Android became the dominant platform in Czech Republic, Poland and Portugal in August 2011; it took over in Brazil in October and Spain in November.

In all three markets named today, the gap between Apple and Android is fairly big: the U.K. had 90.9 million app downloads for iOS, with 99.1 million for Android. Germany saw 59.5 million app downloads for iOS and 64.9 million on Android; and Russia had 38.4 million iOS downloads with 41.9 million for Android.

Read more at TechCrunch >>>

On a side note, Apple just passed its 25 billionth app download (worldwide).