Where can I get decent Mastodon apps for Android?
I've been looking for an alternative to Twitter lately, and I found Mastodon. I have a feeling I'm not the only one. I like it there because most of the people there seem smart, friendly, and less likely to blow up than on Twitter. But once I got used to the interface, I realized that, while the mobile app worked, it didn't do everything it could. So when I heard that a new one called Ivory was in beta and that several people said it was a much better experience, I couldn't wait to try it out.
Then I ran into a problem I had seen before: Ivory is only for iOS devices. I use Android.
I've been using Android phones for quite a while now. I like Android, and I'm used to it, but I'm not a believer in it. I have nothing against iOS or iPhones. In fact, I have an iPhone on my desk that I use for work. I like some things about iOS and some things about Android better.
On the other hand, I have to admit that I sometimes feel like a five-year-old when I hear about an app that looks easy and useful, run to its website to see if I can try it out, and find out that it's only for iOS. I want to play with this new gadget, and anyone who tells me I can't makes me very angry.
It's not just me. On Mastodon, people have been talking about this topic in some very interesting ways. Many Mastodon newbies, especially those who are used to Twitter's interface and third-party apps, are now looking for ways to improve the experience with apps. And it's not a surprise that iOS is making better apps than Android.
Why? Well, there are many options, and many of them have been talked about in different places on Mastodon.
These apps come from Twitter and were made by people who work on iOS.
Now that Elon Musk has kicked third-party apps off Twitter, it's only natural that the developers who made those apps are moving to Mastodon. For example, Tapbots, a two-person company that made Tweetbot and a few other apps for iOS and macOS, is now working on Ivory, which is being billed as the next big thing for Mastodon clients. It's clear that Android is not on their minds.
It is more difficult to make apps for Android.
Apple only sells a few different phones each year, and they are all made to work with its latest operating system. Android, on the other hand, is on phones made by many different companies for many different types of phones, and the operating system has often been heavily changed. For example, Samsung, which makes a lot of the Android phones on the market, has a version of Android that can have a different interface and basic features than Google's version (which can be found on phones like the Pixel line).
To deal with these differences, you need resources, which some small developers and companies may not have. JR Raphael, the founder and publisher of Android Intelligence, says, "These days, it's pretty rare for a big company not to release an app for both Android and iOS at the same time, with equal priorities. Where I think we can see a clear difference is with the smaller, startup-based services and app developers who work on their own. When resources are clearly limited and a company has to decide where its attention is most valuable, we still see places focus on iOS first and then come back to Android later, or sometimes just focus on iOS. It's frustrating, and I wish we could do something about it."
People who use Apple are more willing to spend money on their things.
People seem to think that Apple users are either wealthier or willing to spend more on their tech. Apple's hardware is definitely known for being expensive. Even though the best Android phones, like those sold by Samsung or the latest Pixels, aren't exactly cheap, there are a lot of Android phones that cost less.
So, here are some numbers: Statista.com says that Apple's App Store made about $21.2 billion in the third quarter of 2022, while the Play Store only made about $10 billion. Yet, in its report of earnings for the first quarter of 2023, Apple said it had 2 billion active users, which is 1 billion less than the 3 billion active devices that Google said it had in 2021. So, unless Google lost more than a billion users in the past year, which would have made headlines, the App Store is making a lot more money with a lot fewer people using it. A lot of that money goes to games, but developers still get a bigger piece of the pie than they do on Android.
So that perception does have some facts propping it up. Because of this and the other problems, a smaller company or even a single developer may decide that making apps for iOS devices makes more financial sense, no matter what their personal preferences are.
Apple's interface is more artistic.
The one I found most interesting was the claim that Apple's apps are just better in terms of how they look and how easy they are to use. One argument I often hear from Apple fans is that the interfaces of apps made for macOS and iOS are more aesthetically pleasing and easier to use than those made for Android's OS. http://sentrateknikaprima.com/
John Gruber, who writes the Daring Fireball blog and hosts The Talk Show With John Gruber, has written a couple of good essays about this. I was especially caught by the entry “Making Our Hearts Sing,” the title of which is a quote from Steve Jobs’ last stage appearance. Gruber says, "I think what's happened over the last decade or so is that instead of the two platforms reaching some kind of balance, the cultural differences have grown because both users and developers have self-sorted. Most people who see and appreciate the artistic value in software and interface design have ended up on iOS, while most people who don't have ended up on Android. https://ejtandemonium.com/
I've been looking for an alternative to Twitter lately, and I found Mastodon. I have a feeling I'm not the only one. I like it there because most of the people there seem smart, friendly, and less likely to blow up than on Twitter. But once I got used to the interface, I realized that, while the mobile app worked, it didn't do everything it could. So when I heard that a new one called Ivory was in beta and that several people said it was a much better experience, I couldn't wait to try it out.
Then I ran into a problem I had seen before: Ivory is only for iOS devices. I use Android.
I've been using Android phones for quite a while now. I like Android, and I'm used to it, but I'm not a believer in it. I have nothing against iOS or iPhones. In fact, I have an iPhone on my desk that I use for work. I like some things about iOS and some things about Android better.
On the other hand, I have to admit that I sometimes feel like a five-year-old when I hear about an app that looks easy and useful, run to its website to see if I can try it out, and find out that it's only for iOS. I want to play with this new gadget, and anyone who tells me I can't makes me very angry.
It's not just me. On Mastodon, people have been talking about this topic in some very interesting ways. Many Mastodon newbies, especially those who are used to Twitter's interface and third-party apps, are now looking for ways to improve the experience with apps. And it's not a surprise that iOS is making better apps than Android.
Why? Well, there are many options, and many of them have been talked about in different places on Mastodon.
These apps come from Twitter and were made by people who work on iOS.
Now that Elon Musk has kicked third-party apps off Twitter, it's only natural that the developers who made those apps are moving to Mastodon. For example, Tapbots, a two-person company that made Tweetbot and a few other apps for iOS and macOS, is now working on Ivory, which is being billed as the next big thing for Mastodon clients. It's clear that Android is not on their minds.
It is more difficult to make apps for Android.
Apple only sells a few different phones each year, and they are all made to work with its latest operating system. Android, on the other hand, is on phones made by many different companies for many different types of phones, and the operating system has often been heavily changed. For example, Samsung, which makes a lot of the Android phones on the market, has a version of Android that can have a different interface and basic features than Google's version (which can be found on phones like the Pixel line).
To deal with these differences, you need resources, which some small developers and companies may not have. JR Raphael, the founder and publisher of Android Intelligence, says, "These days, it's pretty rare for a big company not to release an app for both Android and iOS at the same time, with equal priorities. Where I think we can see a clear difference is with the smaller, startup-based services and app developers who work on their own. When resources are clearly limited and a company has to decide where its attention is most valuable, we still see places focus on iOS first and then come back to Android later, or sometimes just focus on iOS. It's frustrating, and I wish we could do something about it."
People who use Apple are more willing to spend money on their things.
People seem to think that Apple users are either wealthier or willing to spend more on their tech. Apple's hardware is definitely known for being expensive. Even though the best Android phones, like those sold by Samsung or the latest Pixels, aren't exactly cheap, there are a lot of Android phones that cost less.
So, here are some numbers: Statista.com says that Apple's App Store made about $21.2 billion in the third quarter of 2022, while the Play Store only made about $10 billion. Yet, in its report of earnings for the first quarter of 2023, Apple said it had 2 billion active users, which is 1 billion less than the 3 billion active devices that Google said it had in 2021. So, unless Google lost more than a billion users in the past year, which would have made headlines, the App Store is making a lot more money with a lot fewer people using it. A lot of that money goes to games, but developers still get a bigger piece of the pie than they do on Android.
So that perception does have some facts propping it up. Because of this and the other problems, a smaller company or even a single developer may decide that making apps for iOS devices makes more financial sense, no matter what their personal preferences are.
Apple's interface is more artistic.
The one I found most interesting was the claim that Apple's apps are just better in terms of how they look and how easy they are to use. One argument I often hear from Apple fans is that the interfaces of apps made for macOS and iOS are more aesthetically pleasing and easier to use than those made for Android's OS. http://sentrateknikaprima.com/
John Gruber, who writes the Daring Fireball blog and hosts The Talk Show With John Gruber, has written a couple of good essays about this. I was especially caught by the entry “Making Our Hearts Sing,” the title of which is a quote from Steve Jobs’ last stage appearance. Gruber says, "I think what's happened over the last decade or so is that instead of the two platforms reaching some kind of balance, the cultural differences have grown because both users and developers have self-sorted. Most people who see and appreciate the artistic value in software and interface design have ended up on iOS, while most people who don't have ended up on Android. https://ejtandemonium.com/
