# Mystery of the missing Honeycomb apps Why so few apps?



## lobster (Jul 4, 2011)

Interesting article 



> PC World - Google's much-anticipated tablet operating system, Android 3.0 Honeycomb, made its splash in late February with the launch of the Motorola Xoom. Few Honeycomb-optimized apps were available at launch, but no matter: The expectation was that they'd follow soon after. Why wouldn't they, given the ever-growing popularity of Android?
> 
> But instead of an explosion of Honeycomb apps, the fuse burned down to the powder keg...and then nothing happened. Four months later, we're still waiting: The number of Honeycomb-optimized apps remains in the low hundreds. By comparison, there are over 100,000 apps optimized for the iPad.


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## editor (Jul 4, 2011)

There doesn't seem any particular shortage of apps for the HTC Flyer I've got downstairs.


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## Crispy (Jul 4, 2011)

Doesn't that run Android 2.something though? No tablet-specific 3rd party apps at all.


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## editor (Jul 4, 2011)

Crispy said:


> Doesn't that run Android 2.something though? No tablet-specific 3rd party apps at all.


Oh yes, that's true! Well, actually it runs a curious custom HTC interface on top of Android 2.2, but most of the things I use it for are web based anyway really.


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## fractionMan (Jul 4, 2011)

The article admits that a lot of it is because there's no specific search in the app store for honeycomb apps.  As in, the apps are there, you just don't know about them.


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## Crispy (Jul 4, 2011)

fractionMan said:


> The article admits that a lot of it is because there's no specific search in the app store for honeycomb apps.  As in, the apps are there, you just don't know about them.


 
 needs fixing immediately


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## fractionMan (Jul 4, 2011)

Yeah, I thought it was a bit weird.


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## editor (Jul 4, 2011)

Apparently there's 60,000 usable apps.


> Google and Samsung, a major maker of Honeycomb tablets, argue they're being done wrong here—that thousands of apps work well on Honeycomb tablets, although those apps may be hard to find. Developers say they're holding back, if they say anything at all. And HP suggests that maybe a little more developer hand-holding could be a good thing.
> 
> The 232 figure, cited by David Pogue at the New York Times as well as by this publication, lives on because Google steadfastly refuses to release an official number of Honeycomb-optimized apps. Since Android devices scale phone apps up to tablet size, though, the real number isn't 232, says Philip Berne, marketing manager at Samsung. He says it's more like 60,000.
> 
> ...


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## Crispy (Jul 4, 2011)

100% of iphone apps scale to ipad too, but that's not really an optimal solution, An interface that works well for a 3-4" screen isn't going to work as well on a 9-10" screen (I don't think 3.0 supports smaller screens IIRC).


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## elbows (Jul 4, 2011)

Well made tablet apps are a joy, so I hope this situation changes.


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## Sunray (Jul 4, 2011)

Its most probably because nobody is buying these tablets. 

The classical Chicken and Egg situation that means if you want a tablet that has quality optimised apps, its the iPad 2 or nothing.


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## fractionMan (Jul 4, 2011)

It's also that people are far less likely to pay money for apps on android, so there's less point in developing them.


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## fractionMan (Jul 4, 2011)

Being discussed on slashdot: http://slashdot.org/story/11/07/04/...dot+(Slashdot)&utm_content=Google+Feedfetcher


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## Bungle73 (Jul 4, 2011)

Crispy said:


> 100% of iphone apps scale to ipad too, but that's not really an optimal solution, An interface that works well for a 3-4" screen isn't going to work as well on a 9-10" screen (I don't think 3.0 supports smaller screens IIRC).



Exactly.  How many of those "60,000" apps are optimised for a tablet?  Not many.


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## cliche guevara (Jul 4, 2011)

As a Honeycomb tablet owner, the single worst thing about it is the lack of Honeycomb specific apps. Sure, most apps work fine on the tablet, but there's generally a lot of wasted screen real estate. I want more Honeycomb apps like Plume, Google Mail, Podcatcher, etc.


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## editor (Jul 4, 2011)

fractionMan said:


> Being discussed on slashdot: http://slashdot.org/story/11/07/04/...dot+(Slashdot)&utm_content=Google+Feedfetcher


The highest ranked comment:


> I'm guessing no-one on this thread owns an Android tablet.
> 
> There is not a shortage of Honeycomb applications. The vast majority of 2.x Applications will run on 3.0 with no trouble. Some of the UI's are not made for 10" screens but that does not make the applications difficult to use at all. The TFA is just trolling for page hits (it's ComputerWorld, did you expect anything different).
> 
> ...


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## cliche guevara (Jul 4, 2011)

Okay - There is no shortage of Honeycomb apps, however there are a disappointingly small number of apps designed specifically for Honeycomb.


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## Bungle73 (Jul 4, 2011)

editor said:


> The highest ranked comment:


You seem to be missing the point about the apps not being optimised for a tablet.

iPhone specific apps will run on an iPad (you can even zoom in so the interface fills the screen), but I'd much rather use an app that was designed with a tablet screen in mind.  This is what's lacking with Android.


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## editor (Jul 4, 2011)

Bungle73 said:


> You seem to be missing the point about the apps not being optimised for a tablet.


I'm using "not tablet optimised" apps on the HTC Flyer  and they work _absolutely fine._


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## cliche guevara (Jul 4, 2011)

All Honeycomb tablets are 10.1", and there's a huge difference between displaying an app designed for a phone on a 7" tablet to on a 10.1".


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## grit (Jul 4, 2011)

fractionMan said:


> It's also that people are far less likely to pay money for apps on android, so there's less point in developing them.


 
*This, this a thousand times this.*


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## lobster (Jul 4, 2011)

I wonder what the reason that Android users are not as likely to pay for an app as ipad users.. maybe because its by google and who has ever paid google for a app?


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## grit (Jul 4, 2011)

lobster said:


> I wonder what the reason that Android users are not as likely to pay for an app as ipad users.. maybe because its by google and who has ever paid google for a app?


 
Kinda, its primarily the demography of the average user along with the fact that the brand is not considered as luxury as iOS


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## editor (Jul 4, 2011)

lobster said:


> I wonder what the reason that Android users are not as likely to pay for an app as ipad users.. maybe because its by google and who has ever paid google for a app?


Maybe it's because there's far more devs happy to offer free apps on the Android platform?


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## editor (Jul 4, 2011)

Seems it may indeed be down to there being more Android devs not in it for the $$$: 





> But, the fact is that not all Android app developers work at the compulsion of the cash register. A lot of Android app developers are still producing apps in the spirit of opensource–which, although not closed to the possibility of earning profit, does not place profit on a high pedestal for developers to worship and lay down their lives for.
> 
> http://www.androidauthority.com/android-users-love-free-apps-says-distimo-report-15686/


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## grit (Jul 4, 2011)

editor said:


> Seems it may indeed be down to there being more Android devs not in it for the $$$:


 
I really dont like the tone of that article, jesus christ developers have to pay their bills just like anyone else


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## editor (Jul 4, 2011)

grit said:


> I really dont like the tone of that article, jesus christ developers have to pay their bills just like anyone else


I'm sure they do, but  not everyone is in it purely for the money, or motivated by extracting the maximum profit out of their work. 

People like me, for instance.


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## grit (Jul 4, 2011)

editor said:


> But not all are in it for the money, or motivated by extracting the maximum profit out of their work. People like me, for instance.


 
True, however if you want a large amount of very high quality apps, you need developers motivated by money.


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## Bungle73 (Jul 4, 2011)

grit said:


> True, however if you want a large amount of very high quality apps, you need developers motivated by money.


 
Exactly what I was thinking.  It's all very well saying there are lots of free apps on Android, but how many of them are actually any good?


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## grit (Jul 4, 2011)

Bungle73 said:


> Exactly what I was thinking.  It's all very well saying there are lots of free apps on Android, but how many of them are actually any good?


 
Very few, the gaming situation is fucking depressing, even the paid ones.


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## Kid_Eternity (Jul 4, 2011)

grit said:


> True, however if you want a large amount of very high quality apps, you need developers motivated by money.


 
Yep.


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## ChrisFilter (Jul 4, 2011)

I wouldn't go near an Android tab atm.


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## editor (Jul 5, 2011)

ChrisFilter said:


> I wouldn't go near an Android tab atm.


The HTC Flyer is a great tablet and has rightly picked up great reviews.


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## editor (Jul 5, 2011)

grit said:


> Very few, the gaming situation is fucking depressing, even the paid ones.


Eh? There's loads of good games available on the Android platform. Not as many as for the iPad/iPhone of course, but it's hardly a "depressingly" small number.


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## Sunray (Jul 5, 2011)

People forget that to create a decent functional application on any platform takes a degree of planning and time that the rest of the world really doesn't seem to grasp.

One person cannot alone produce a quality non trivial application in less than a full year of work.  To be high quality it needs to be QA'd which developers are notoriously bad at doing. People might sit at home producing open source applications but they are generally shit.  Unless they are fantastic developers, if they are great then why are they valuing they their own time at fuck all?


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## cliche guevara (Jul 5, 2011)

editor said:


> Eh? There's loads of good games available on the Android platform. Not as many as for the iPad/iPhone of course, but it's hardly a "depressingly" small number.


 
There are several high quality offerings from Gameloft, and the Tegrazone, neither of which are on the market.


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## ChrisFilter (Jul 5, 2011)

editor said:


> The HTC Flyer is a great tablet and has rightly picked up great reviews.


 
The hardware isn't the issue. Look at the amazing apps for the iPad; there's some fantastic stuff on there. Really, really clever apps that redefine the whole computing space. Honeycomb is miles behind.


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## cliche guevara (Jul 5, 2011)

What functionality does the iPad have that a Honeycomb tablet is missing? I'd agree that the quality and quantity of tablet specific apps is better on iOS, but I'm yet to hear of anything Honeycomb can't do that iOS can.


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## grit (Jul 5, 2011)

editor said:


> Eh? There's loads of good games available on the Android platform. Not as many as for the iPad/iPhone of course, but it's hardly a "depressingly" small number.


 
Like? I'm not starting a fight I'd fucking love to know because from endless searching I cant find fuck all. The only exception being "they must be fed"


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## grit (Jul 5, 2011)

cliche guevara said:


> What functionality does the iPad have that a Honeycomb tablet is missing? I'd agree that the quality and quantity of tablet specific apps is better on iOS, but I'm yet to hear of anything Honeycomb can't do that iOS can.


 
There isint really any game changing exclusive functionality to either platform.


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## ChrisFilter (Jul 5, 2011)

It's not about the OS. And if you mean "what do iPad apps do that Honeycomb apps don't do" then that's a long list. Games, for a start! And music production, DJing apps, design and art apps. 

I'm sure there'll be a decent blog post on the subject somewhere.


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## lobster (Jul 5, 2011)

With the dreadful tone of this thread, i do wonder what Amazon expects to achieve from its two new units later on in the year?


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## grit (Jul 5, 2011)

lobster said:


> With the dreadful tone of this thread, i do wonder what Amazon expects to achieve from its two new units later on in the year?


 
Amazon is one of the few companies that can create products good enough to justify a device, as they have done with the kindle.


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## lobster (Jul 5, 2011)

grit said:


> Amazon is one of the few companies that can create products good enough to justify a device, as they have done with the kindle.



Amazon have a huge inroad with publishers before the kindle was even thought of , that I believe make the kindle the biggest ebook store. Without the largest selection of e-books (that only work on kindle devices/software and therefore tied to amazon forever ) the success would not be as great. And huge amount of advertising that other ebook readers do not even come close  to 

The same success echoes with the Ipad and its enormous selection of apps. 
If I understand you assumption correctly, Amazon are going to release their tablets with 1000s of apps that will smash or at least be comparable to anything on the ipad to pieces ? as its been repeatedly said on here that its all about the "apps"  you have extremely high expectations or I am misunderstanding you?

I don't really like to compare android to apple as I have never used a ipad or plan to but as the conversation in here has decided to use apple products as a standard to compare, we can use that for the time being. 

What I personally think would be interesting to see on the android platform is more desktop-featured apps opposed to front-ends to webpages. It has been pointed out by a vocal minority that there is no decent email app on any of the mobile platforms . What about a decent photo editing app like elements/lightroom ? photoshop  even in the long run


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## grit (Jul 5, 2011)

lobster said:


> What I personally think would be interesting to see on the android platform is more desktop-featured apps opposed to front-ends to webpages. It has been pointed out by a vocal minority that there is no decent email app on any of the mobile platforms . What about a decent photo editing app like elements/lightroom ? photoshop  even in the long run


 
The reason they are no desktop featured apps is because... they are suited to desktop. I'd rather fucking stick needles in my eyes than try to use photoshop on a tablet.


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## lobster (Jul 5, 2011)

grit said:


> The reason they are no desktop featured apps is because... they are suited to desktop. I'd rather fucking stick needles in my eyes than try to use photoshop on a tablet.



it would be modified to have the features of photoshop, it would not be an exact copy as i agree with you, it would not really work for the vast majority of folks. (Meego is a living example of that)  when i mean desktop featured apps, i mean  options inside an application. 
I give an example. The last time i used pulse news reader, i was limited to only 60 feeds, i had no way to import/export feeds , google reader is supported now but nothing beats traditional export/import , unlimited feeds. 
I would also like to see a mini office suite that is not shite.

I can dream...


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## ChrisFilter (Jul 5, 2011)

lobster said:


> it would be modified to have the features of photoshop, it would not be an exact copy as i agree with you, it would not really work for the vast majority of folks. (Meego is a living example of that)  when i mean desktop featured apps, i mean  options inside an application.
> I give an example. The last time i used pulse news reader, i was limited to only 60 feeds, i had no way to import/export feeds , google reader is supported now but nothing beats traditional export/import , unlimited feeds.
> I would also like to see a mini office suite that is not shite.
> 
> I can dream...


 
There are image editors for both platforms. Much better ones for iPad, mind.


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## editor (Jul 5, 2011)

ChrisFilter said:


> There are image editors for both platforms. Much better ones for iPad, mind.


There's certainly loads of great apps for the iPad and a far greater range but I've not seen anything better than Vignette on any platform.


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## Crispy (Jul 5, 2011)

Art Studio for instance: http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/artstudio-for-ipad-draw-paint/id364017607?mt=8 . Very full featured, good interface, fast performance. AFAIK, there's nothing that even touches it on Android

ed: is that the one you use to make everything look taken on a half-broken polaroid?


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## lobster (Jul 5, 2011)

Crispy said:


> Art Studio for instance: http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/artstudio-for-ipad-draw-paint/id364017607?mt=8 . Very full featured, good interface, fast performance. AFAIK, there's nothing that even touches it on Android



that is good and that's lacking from android.


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## lobster (Jul 5, 2011)

A few tips that could provide more Honeycomb apps

Its interesitng that quite a few of the comments consider Honeycomb a stop-gap until Ice Cream Sandwich comes out. I suppose there is perhaps a valid point made, presuming any app on ice-cream will scale up and down perfectly .


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## cliche guevara (Jul 5, 2011)

ChrisFilter said:


> It's not about the OS. And if you mean "what do iPad apps do that Honeycomb apps don't do" then that's a long list. Games, for a start! And music production, DJing apps, design and art apps.
> 
> I'm sure there'll be a decent blog post on the subject somewhere.


 
But there is also a long list of games on Android that aren't on iOS, check out Tegra Zone or Gameloft for evidence of that. Not to mention the emulators, N6 and PSOne both run very well on my Transformer. Music production is one place where you might be right, there's nothing on Android that comes close to Garageband, however there are plenty of drum machines, RD3 simulators etc, and DJing apps.


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## ChrisFilter (Jul 5, 2011)

cliche guevara said:


> But there is also a long list of games on Android that aren't on iOS, check out Tegra Zone or Gameloft for evidence of that. Not to mention the emulators, N6 and PSOne both run very well on my Transformer. Music production is one place where you might be right, there's nothing on Android that comes close to Garageband, however there are plenty of drum machines, RD3 simulators etc, and DJing apps.


 
Aren't Gameloft apps just ports from iPad/iPhone? They've certainly got plenty of iOS apps already.

Yep, emulator games, but the control ports are awful.


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## Bungle73 (Jul 5, 2011)

Yeah, which Gameloft games aren't aren't on iOS?  As for emulators, I don't think there's a PS one, but there are Spectrum and C64 ones.


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## cliche guevara (Jul 6, 2011)

ChrisFilter said:


> Aren't Gameloft apps just ports from iPad/iPhone? They've certainly got plenty of iOS apps already.
> 
> Yep, emulator games, but the control ports are awful.



There are some exclusive for Android, but then there are some exclusive to iOS. Emulator games are pretty awesome if you connect a wiimote, or in Honeycomb a PS3 controller.



Bungle73 said:


> Yeah, which Gameloft games aren't aren't on iOS?  As for emulators, I don't think there's a PS one, but there are Spectrum and C64 ones.


 
Doesn't really compare, does it?


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## Kid_Eternity (Jul 7, 2011)

Which Gameloft games are Android exclusives?


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## editor (Jul 7, 2011)

Crispy said:


> ed: is that the one you use to make everything look taken on a half-broken polaroid?


I've no idea what that bizarre 'half-broken polaroid' comment is supposed to mean - I guess it's some sort of criticism on my photos - but in my experience, Vignette is the best all-in photo editing app I've used on any platform.

But feel free to offer your critique of these "half broken" examples:


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## Crispy (Jul 7, 2011)

Nice photos. Silly fuzzy border.


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