As the GOOG Turns: the Android Soap Opera

"Android Developers Revolt." "Android Developers Flee to iPhone Platform."

The headlines on tech blogs lately are starting to read like supermarket tabloids, so I dug a little bit deeper to see if all the smoke has a fire behind it. What did I find?

Yes, there is a petition asking for more information from Google. Yes, I read it. But here's what it looks like to me: a vocal minority of Android Developers are frustrated and comparing the Android development process to that of the Apple iPhone. Let's compare the two, however, shall we?

Apple released its iPhone last year, with no SDK. Zero. No developers on the platform. No one seems to remember that the iPhone SDK wasn't released until March of this year, giving developers just slightly over four months of development time until the Apple App Store would be launched. And even then, it was limited to a set number of developers, not open to all. Google launched the preview release (and let's remember that's what they called it) of the SDK in November 2007, which would allow developers approximately a YEAR of development time, including planning, design, and coding, before handsets would hit the market.

We also need to look at price. Apple's SDK comes with a $99 price tag, a 30% cut in the App Store, and an iron-clad terms of use agreement including not building a GPS turn-by-turn application, giving no reason behind it. The Android SDK was released for free, and open-sourced.

Lastly, we need to look at the priorities of any development team. The Apple platform team had any amount of time to develop the platform, interface it with the (proprietary) hardware, and then get it debugged before ever releasing an SDK. The Android team is developing a platform that works with any number of phones. I, for one, would assume their priority is making sure the platform runs on the phones, not handholding developers, who should respect what directions the team is being pulled in and adjust their expectations accordingly.

Google has closed ranks after one of their team communicated his own frustrations to the rabble-rousers, giving them a bigger soapbox to stand on. (And I think I've made my opinions on developers talking to the public very clear.) A request to talk to Dan Morrill received no reply. Google did, however, issue a stealth response with an "accidental" email that went out to more than just the Android Developer Challenge Finalists who were "supposed" to get it, reading:

ADC Entrants,

We're pleased to announce that SDK build 84853 is now available on your private download site. This will be the last build released for ADC Round 2 and is the build that you will need to submit your final application under.

In addition, the final ADC deadline has been extended to Tuesday, August 5. This is the final ADC deadline.

Thanks!

Android Developer Challenge Team

I think that's a response letting the developers know that it's coming, and already in the hands of some of the developers who aren't whining and starting petitions.