App developers live in an iBubble

N_LaRUE

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Apr 3, 2013
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Hi!

My first post here and I thought I would start with a slightly amusing but depressing story of an interaction I had with a developer.

First let me state that I own a Nokia Lumia 920, prior to the 920 I owned other Nokia phones. I have never owned anything Apple and don't intend to.

Now without a doubt a lot of us complain about the lack of apps available for Windows Phone. Yes we've been getting some mainstream apps lately but there are many, especially niche apps that, quite frankly, may never show up on Windows Phone. The reason behind this phenomenon I refer to as the iBubble.

My story:

I am a coffee lover. This past weekend I went the London Coffee Festival and anyone who is like me knows that the coffee scene is packed with hipsters and everything Apple.

I predicted going in I was going to be disappointed by not seeing any apps in there available for Windows Phone and I knew also that everywhere I looked I would see an Apple device. I didn?t have to be a psychic to know that my prediction was 100% true.

I ran across a developer who had just released an app for Apple, of course. I don?t remember the exact words of the conversation so I will be paraphrasing.

A representative of the developer smiled at me and I just told him I didn?t own an Apple device, he asked what I owned, I said Windows Phone, I got a ?look? that said everything. He then told me that they didn?t have plans to release to other platforms but if they did it would probably go Android, Blackberry (???:shocked:) then possibly Windows. Needless to say this person was not up to date on recent numbers. I then pointed out that it was rather easy to port Apple apps to Windows and he mumbled something about their servers? compatibility :)confused:). He then asked if I still wanted to receive a news letter in case they decide to release for Windows, needless to say I passed up this offer.

Unfortunately due to my being taken off guard I didn?t get the chance to point out some of the more positive aspects to a developer to take up Windows Phone.

The bigger issue here is that a lot of developers only exist in the Apple ecosystem (what I call the iBubble) because that?s all they know. Everything they own is Apple. Their whole lives are wrapped around Apple and everyone they know owns an Apple device. They see absolutely no reason whatsoever to step outside this iBubble.

This of course is not a phenomenon to just coffee apps but to any niche app that is out there. The likelihood of any developer stepping out of the iBubble is probably not going to happen. This to me is a big issue. Now I know we don?t need everything that Apple or Android has but we need to expand what we do have to encompass what is available on other platforms. It is the lack of niche apps that will keep people away from platforms like Windows Phone. The simple line of ?There?s an app for that? is true in a real sense and to tackle this Windows Phone needs to start branching out and getting niche markets onboard. There have been many times I wanted an app and it simply doesn't exist.

Also I would really like a nice coffee app for Windows Phone. I don?t like any of the ones available and if I had the ability I would probably make my own.

Anyone else have this kind of experience or what they think of this situation?
 

arnieman

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May 18, 2012
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Great write up.
We really do need to burst that iBubble of theirs and show what our platform has to offer. There are many colleges and schools who teach app writing and development specifically for iPhones etc which isn't helping at all.
 

N_LaRUE

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Thanks for the comment and totally agree with you. The iBubble will be a hard bubble to burst.

I personally think that Microsoft should explain how to port iOS to Windows Phone as a starting point then at least we can get some of these apps to our platform. Then in time the developer can decide if they want to go full Windows Phone. It's a compromise I know.

There is an issue within schools (especially colleges/universities) to use nothing but Apple. Microsoft has brought out some free dev tools for schools but its all about getting schools to use them. I think concentrating on any one platform is dangerous for growth and diversity.
 

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