1. Something I Wasn’t Sure I’d Say About Android

    For the first time since I picked up my iPad 2, I’ve started leaving it at home occasionally. It’s not because I dislike the device - far from it, it’s a terrific couch-top device that allows Steph and I to do almost everything we want without a laptop. It’s simply that it’s not a part of my daily schedule.

    Part of my schedule though, are Apps. When we’re not building them, we’re talking about them. Rarely a day goes by where we don’t discuss a new app that we’ve heard about or used, and as you’d expect I’ll fire up iTunes on my laptop to check out any iPad apps. From time to time I’ll pick up an app on the assumption of ‘oh, I’ll put it on the iPad when I get home’. But the problem is, that unlike my iPhone which docks and syncs on a daily basis, the iPad will typically go 2 or three days between sync (thank you iPad 2 battery) and in that time I’ll nearly always forget I even bought the app - at least until the iTunes Receipt comes through.

    A similar annoyance goes for iBooks, which tempts me with headers in the iTunes Store for deals on eBooks - only for me to be kicked off to the browser. At that point, my entire desire to pick up the book starts to be questioned: do I want the book enough to enter the PIN code on my phone, find (or install) iBooks on the phone, and type in the name of the book and finally, finally pick it up.1

    In the run up to Google I/O this year, I took some time to look at what was announced last year. The real kicker for me? Intents and the Google Marketplace. The Google Marketplace basically offers a feature Kindle users will be familiar with: you buy the app online, in the browser, and can install it directly to your phone.

    And you know what, by god I want that for the iPad that’s sat at home and the iPhone in my pocket. Honestly, for all this talk of Apple’s cloud stuff (and, guys, don’t get too far ahead of yourselves - I know it’s brilliant link-bait to talk up what Apple’s going to do but stay sane) I can honestly say for the first time: I wish Apple would implement something found in Android.

    1. Yes, a first world dilemma. ↩

    Posted on Thursday May 19th, 2011