Don’t close yourself into a vendor bubble
It’s the time of the year again when we see provocative marketing statements attached to fanboy tweets dismissing the-other-platform™.
If you’re an app developer for either iOS or Android dismissal innovation as a copy, been done before, etc. won’t really help anyone. I know Apple’s marketing statements can be obnoxious and often framed in the way that an uninformed listener might get a pretty skewed understanding of the state of things. But that’s marketing. Simply skip the presentations if they trigger you.
There are sources that ignore the BS and report the facts like Marques Brownlee’s YouTube Channel:
If you’re an app developer you need to know both sides of the story. For Android developers, understanding the current state of iOS is important. Apple’s marketing might be obnoxious but it reaches far. What Apple says on the stage shapes opinion in our industry.
The C-level people in your customer company are likely using an iPhone. Apple’s message sets their expectations. Now, as an Android developer you can in most cases shatter those expectations and push way beyond what they thought was the limit but if you don’t understand them you make your task more difficult than it has to be.
Innovation comes from everywhere. Don’t ignore the small iterations in innovation. Not every part of new product can be completely new. The industry builds on top of previous experiences from everyone. Just look beyond the claims of “FIRST!!1” and embrace the small steps. These are the real-world improvements that impact our (and our clients’) use of the phones the most in the long run. The fact that collapsing notifications have been around on Android long before Apple brought them to the iOS doesn’t diminish the improvement to the iOS users’ daily lives.
Remember, you don’t owe allegiance to a company even if you like, use and program for their products. Ignoring or dismissing a part of the industry will harm only you. Take a look around. Use the other platform, if possible. And if nothing else, TALK to the the other platform people, not to show that your platform is better or more advanced, but to share experiences discuss the differences and to understand.
