Any one who has been in track of mobile application development might have realized that the sweet Honeycomb released some four months ago by Google has been lying on the low side so far. User are left wondering where the sweet Honeycomb apps are. Has the bees ceased working?
The much anticipated tablet operating system, Android 3.0 Honeycomb made its launch in late February with the Motorola Xoom. Very few Honeycomb optimized apps have come out since then. There is expected to be a flood of apps after the initial launch, but after four months we are still waiting. The number of Honeycomb optimized apps is still in the low hundreds.
So what is the deal here? What is the mystery behind the missing Honeycomb?
1. Design and Redesign
Honeycomb is suitable for large displays about 8.9 inches and above, so are no 7 inches tablets (although later versions, 3.2, are supposed to correct this). The large display brings with it a design challenge. Architects believe this might not be problem but rather more work. Designing an app for a 10-inch screen is a total different experience than for a 5-inch screen, especially, for text-focused apps. This is the more reason why Android 2.x apps will run on Android 3.x but with an awkwardly small and clunky text features.
For gamers, adapting to a wider display screen is not much of a problem. Gamers rely on other third-party engines such as Unity for scaling and to adapt their games to the Honeycomb.
2. The Android App Market
When you go into the Android market after obtaining your new Honeycomb tablet, you find it difficult to locate Honeycomb-optimized apps. Aside from the “Featured Tablet Apps” feature, you have no way to search for apps by OS in the market. Google for sure expects Android 2.x apps to run on Honeycomb, but the fact that they can run does not imply that they are optimized for Honeycomb-specific features. There are also Honeycomb-optimized apps but there is no indication to that effect in the market.
3. Ice Cream Sandwich on the way?
Many speculators believe that the hold-up is due to the in-coming Ice Cream Sandwich, which will merge Androids tablet and phone platforms, which will arrive this fall. Why develop an app for a platform that will be enveloped by another.
4. Where is the Demand?
Most developers also believe that demand for Honeycomb apps has been on the low side resulting in the slow development of apps. Demand for Honeycomb just does not exist yet. So no demand, no revenue, no app.
All the same, it is not possible to completely write off the Honeycomb from the mobile app world. Some players are very optimistic the Honeycome will jump back and pick up both user and developer interests.
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