Why the Google IO is important for iOS devs

June 24, 2014

On June 25th and 26th, Google will host its IO 2014. Three weeks after the WWDC, it will be interesting to see if iOS and Android will meet halfway on theirs platform management strategies. Apple started an very-closed iOS and opened it little by little. Google is taking the exact inverse path. What that could means is a better experience for the Android user (think permissions given one by one at runtime instead all-or-nothing at installation) but also for the developer (as Android Silver could harmonize the minimum requirements as fragmentation has been the plague of Android since its starts).

So why could the IO 2014 be important for an iOS dev ? Apart from the high quality of the speaks (regarless of the technology, as one can learn a lot even by watching web-related sessions), if Google confirms its commitment to a better UX in Android, any iOS dev should seriously considers stepping in the dark side of the force.

We are not iOS programmers anymore as the characteristics (not the quality of theirs implementations) of iOS and Android are getting more and more alike (I talking big lines here, don't throw iOS widgets vs. Android widgets at my face please), we are mobile programmers. And if Google gives us the means to lower our development costs (once again: fragmentation), we won't have many excuses left.

If you are interested but don't want to invest in the native language for the other side, you can still have fun with this (of course) non-exhaustive list: