Posted by Kieran on September 7, 2009 under Android, Spotify | 
One of the great advantages and potential minefield of Android, is the simple fact that an application does not need to be in the Android Market as Spotify have clearly illustrated
http://www.spotify.com/en/mobile/overview/install-for-android/
Clearly this is aimed at the Finish owners of Android handsets where there is no Android Market.
The downsides of this ad hoc distribution is that an application could potentially be malicious and just alter the users dialler to re route calls through a premium number, (similar things happened back in the days of dialup with peoples machines getting compromised by malware)
However the pros for the consumer and third party developer are much like the internet and that seems to manage quite well despite the threat off malicious software getting installed on an end users device
Posted by Kieran on August 12, 2009 under J2ME, Mobile, iPhone |
Erik Starck posted over on his blog at Sony Ericsson about the fact that Spotify will not be releasing a J2ME client until the user experience is good enough,
These thoughts are from an ex Sony handset user, my last four handsets have been as follows W800 -> K800 -> iPhone 2G -> iPhone 3G and when developing for J2ME the Sonys are always my reference device of choice (Since Jp3 and the K700)
I agree with Eriks comments that actually for a specific phone (especially a Sony JP8) its perfectly possible, with the utilization of modern libraries such as LWUIT to achieve an application that is as rich as the iPhone, especially for something like Spotify.
The problem here is that most people when they request a Java application, do not want a specific phone (iPhone) or family of phones (Sony JP8, Series 40 feature pack 3 etc), this is when fragmentation rears its ugly head and things get a little more difficult for people newer to mobile, as the write once run anyway promise breaks down rapidly.
The points Erik raises that are causing the headache for J2ME user experience right now can be broken down into certain areas
The fact that the alerts that pop up and alert the user for things such as http connection and saving to the file system are irritating, however the majority can be removed by self signing the application with a Verisign/Thawte certificate (however the root cert might or might not be present on a given phone) , submitting the application through the Java Verified process, this certificate is on the majority of MIDP2 phones but not all.
In the case of messaging however, you would need your application to be signed either with the handset manufacturer or operators certificate, the problem with the operators certificate is for the people who have transferred network or have purchased an open market phone, They will not have the operators root certificate present and therefore the application will be unable to be installed.
- Discovery of application to install
Assuming you have managed to install the application, where has it gone? Apple really got this process spot on. After the user chooses to install something from the app store, the user then sees where the application will live, whilst it is installing, contrast this to the Nokia S60 experience and you can see the problem!
Then you run into the other problems that Apple have made easier for a third party developer
- Worldwide Distribution
- Favourable revenue share
- Payment handled for the developer by Apple
- Payment does not matter whether the user is accessing on WIFI or their cellular radio
- Update process (achievable in J2ME but has to be coded into the application from the start and is not as pleasant)
- Discovery of application
- Device with a large screen, fast and plenty of heap memory
- Educated users who know their phone is able to run applications
- Trusting users who are happy to consume applications
Spotify should run well on Sonys and their developer program has long provided the following document which at least shows the promise of what a Java solution can enable if tailored for the Sonys, rather than employing the lcd approach to J2ME development. The problem of course then is there is a lot of handset groupings out there and tailoring an application for each platform needs to be done for a reason and unless the user experience is there for them to find the application once installed on their phone are they going to use it?
One thing is for certain though as the Java platform is open and you can self distribute, you can at least guarantee the application will be able to be placed upon the device it was developed for.
Spotify may say no to J2ME but Apple might say no to Spotify! (hopefully not)