Personally, I do not like iOS at all but after having worked in the app world for years I understand well why it is targeted first.
It is just easier to develop for iOS because of the massive hardware differences across Android devices. This is especially true for games that rely on features in the GPU, and even good tools like Unity do not eliminate the need for hands-on shader optimization.
iOS users spend more on average. Sorry fellow Android users, the metrics prove we are cheapskates!
Though I despise iOS I have to admit that Safari on my iPad is a vastly superior browsing experience to any Android browser I have used. I do use my iPad constantly for that reason alone.
I cannot imagine what I would do with my GF and my iPad that I would not prefer to do on a real computer, though.
And itās not just cash, I got the ear of a couple of developers once and ask why their super cool flight director program only worked on iPad. " with the iPad we have on processor to deal with so we know it will run on any iPad out there, with Android there are dozens of processors and video processors and each one has to be addressed".
Have you checked out āHabit Browserā by chance? Itās not perfect, it has itās POS moments like everything else, but itās the most desktop-like browser I have been able to find. It has SO many options, itās crazy. You might have to change the user agent before sites stop crippling what they send, and if something doesnāt work with a desktop user agent, you can set a per-site custom user agent.
Iād say that they have enough customer information from the pre-orders to have a target demographic for which to roll out a mobile app. Judgement call as to targeting resources and a business decision open to dissection though. Would like to know more about resource allocation in building out a robust Safari GFUI (not that Iād ever use it). Have they just said, āWell, you know, Edge and Firefox are just megafauna at the end of the Ice Age, so why bother.ā
What interests me is whether it will be free to download for Glowforge owners or an additional charge. Perhaps a basic app that does everything the desktop browser based GFUI does, but has some add ons to purchase that does some bitmap prep and maybe even some vector fu. Definitely some image processing stuff is in the works.
I will check that, thanks. My current Android browser is āFree Adblocker Browserā which does do a decent job of blocking ads on un-rooted devices, and feels about as fast as Chrome.
On iOS I stick with Safari because only Safari supports OS-level ad blockers, and it just feels 10x faster than Chrome for iOS.
I donāt want to add to the android/iOS wars, especially here, but:
Ad blocking aside, iOS (especially 11) is way more about protecting your privacy online, which is a bit the opposite of android, where you and your browsing habits ARE the product for Google, and even app developers there, who make money selling you to advertisers, targeted toward your browsing profile.
I can also verify (per earlier comments) that the apps Iām responsible for generate several times the revenue on iOS vs. android, marketshare bedamned. I feel like a huge chunk of the android installed base is people who would have gotten a flip-phone, but some rando samsung thing was free on contract, so whatever?
Anyway, Iām going back to making things. Hereās a 6ā sphere and an egg carton I just made!
I havenāt thought about MAX in a long time, but it sure was a fun show. Iāve actually won 2 MAX awards back in the day of interactive Flash, but those days are long gone due to the demise of poor, creaky old Flash. Glad to see GlowForge getting some attention there and looking forward to a new iOS app.
It was a satirical post - hence the emoticon and the Tongue In Cheek parenthetical at the end.
I figured there are some folks here whose first reaction will be along the lines of persecution, others who will be sure itās not being done the right way, some who could have done it already, others who would have done Android first, etc. Just wanted to get all the bitching out of the way early.
Except considering the lack of firestorm, I believe thereās a case to be made that the bellyachers are all iOS users Nothing else explains the deafening silence from so many quarters.
Been a Windows phone user (as my primary driver) since the HTC Windows 7 Phone was released. Alas, with MS filling the coffin full of nails and my 950XL attempting to climb in that coffin, I am about to bid farewell to the Mobile OS.
Many of those who I setup with the Windows Mobile platform miss their old phone interface, but lack of apps (and eventually lack of phones) sent them elsewhere.
I had a friend who worked on testing the WP 7 OS. I got the WP 8 Nokia 920 in the first week of availability. Same with the 950XL.
Was an Android user (and app developer) before that. Also did modifications of the AOSP. I wonāt support Apple by using an iPhone because of their predatory tactics toward developers, so looks like having to go back to Android and feeding the Google data stream
Yep, I like the consistency of the Apple hardware (very eloquent designs), but the company just rubs me the wrong way.
I have a Samsung S8 Plus, 2 or 3 different models of Moto phone and an OnePlus 5, but the Apple 6 Plus will probably become my main driver (once the 950XL stops).
How can you say this. Did they ask when you placed your order? Is there another way to tell what device you use?
Not being negative, just very curious how you came up with that.
No real world experience on how A/B testing, extrapolation from target demographics, sample sizes, and trends all going into the sausage making that is product development.
I am working on the assumption that Glowforge is a modern tech company that employs modern data analysis to extrapolate viable markets. I could be totally wrong on how this works. Maybe they donāt use consultants who are able to do those numbers. Maybe analytics is a multi-billion dollar industry that is a giant shell game, and the emperor is wearing no clothes.
Perhaps an alternative assumption is valid: Dan, the CEO uses an Android mobile device. We donāt want to be labeled as biased. So letās just throw our resources into iOS for first roll out of a mobile app. After all, who has been ever fired for buying IBM?
Snark is not my usual way of responding, so bear with me on that.
Simple response: My assumption is that Glowforge is a rational actor in a rational market and would tend to use the resources that favor success for both customer and company. Lots of people donāt make those assumptions. I do because in my line of work the alternative offers no hope nor a reason to act rationally, nor altruistically at all.
And my assumptions have all worked out pretty good for me. I got to share first pre-release honors with a tech media maven. I got to BAMF on Glowforgeās dime. I got a production unit already. All for jumping on the bandwagon and being a brown noser (as they used to call me back in high school.)
Glad to see GlowForge getting some attention there and looking forward to a new iOS app.
emoticon and the Tongue In Cheek parenthetical at the end.
