TweetDeck’s Max Howell on Developing for iOS and Android

A different perspective than Whereoscope’s:

Android Police: Do you like developing for iPhone or Android better, and why?

Max Howell: iPhone honestly. The development tools for Android are raw and relatively unloved which can lead to frustration. Debug cycles on Android take half a minute at least. On iPhone you can be testing new code in seconds. And it takes less effort to make beautiful software on iPhone, and ultimately all that matters is: is my software gorgeous? Does it feel amazing to use? Because if it doesn’t your app will not take off.

We had to work harder to make our app look great and feel great on Android. It’s worth it though, and ultimately is achievable. Google could make it easier, currently the UI tools in the API feel like the wrong level of abstraction.

Good, thoughtful interview overall. He mentions that Android fragmentation has not been a problem for TweetDeck. In contradiction to Whereoscope, though, Howell describes Android’s developer documentation as “poor”.

★ Thursday, 9 December 2010