Why Develop for Android?
The real question is, “Why not develop for Android?” If you want your app to be available to millions of users worldwide or you want to publish apps as soon as you finish writing and testing them or you like developing on an open platform, you have your answer. But in case you’re still undecided, continue reading.
Market share
As a developer, you have an opportunity to develop apps for a fairly new — and booming — market. Many analysts believe that the number of Android devices in use is greater than the number of devices on all other mobile operating systems combined. The Google Play Store puts your app directly and easily into a user’s hands (or, more accurately, device). Users don’t have to search the Internet to find an app to install — they can simply go to the preinstalled Google Play Store on their devices and have access to all your apps. Because the Google Play Store comes preinstalled on most Android devices (see Chapter 19 for some exceptions), users typically search the Google Play Store for all their application needs. It isn’t unusual to see an app’s number of downloads soar in only a few days.
Time to market
Because of all the application programming interfaces (APIs) packed into Android, you can easily develop full-featured applications in a relatively short time frame. After you register as a developer at the Google Play Store, simply upload your apps and publish them. Unlike other mobile marketplaces, the Google Play Store has no app approval ...
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