Epic VP Jay Wilbur believes that “anything in the Apple world is perfect,” while “hardware fragmentation” in the Android space is a “really big issue.”
To illustrate his point, Wilbur demonstrated a build of Epic Citadel running on a Galaxy S, which went “on iOS first,” even though it “runs really well and fast” on Android.
“[Of course], we’ve done some development on Android. One of the problems with the Android marketplace is hardware fragmentation, that’s a really big issue,” Wilbur told The Slowdown.
“The other thing is marketplace fragmentation, there are so many different app stores out there.”
Wilbur emphasized that in contrast, Apple maintained very “tight” control over its rather extensive ecosystem.
“So anything in the Apple world is perfect. It’s just perfect. We like that, we like that a lot.
“We know that it’s just gonna work. Sometimes that’s not always the case in the Android marketplace.”
My take on it all?
Sure, there are indisputable advantages to a “walled garden” system – even if it is somewhat rigid at times. No doubt, devs prefer coding an app that will work across multiple iOS devices and offer lucrative financial returns.
And yes, Google will have to start dealing with the fragmentation issues plaguing the Android smartphone and tablet worlds. Otherwise, devs will grow tired of coding apps and games that function on say only 30-40% of Android-based devices.
That being said, it is far from certain that the majority of developers share Wilbur’s sentiments, specifically that “everything in the Apple world is perfect.”
(Via The Slowdown &VG247)
