Excuses Excuses, we need an android version of your application

[Kirk wood]

Please stop making excuses and make the android version already. Just like every other software developer just chose an device manufacturer and make the app for that device, it’s not rocket science, it’s common sense, I would recommend google or Samsung, 

just start the rest will work it self out.

but if all you do is make excuses then you will never get anything done. 

We all keep saying we don’t expect you all to get it right for a while but something is better than nothing.

[Patrick Connor]

@Kirk wood

Welcome to the Affinity forums  

1 hour ago, Kirk wood said:

just start the rest will work it self out.

Thanks for the smile this put on my face, as I assume this is a spoof post. If not sorry but thanks for the smile anyway.

[PaoloT]

Software: just kick the ground, and it will will pop out on its own!

However, I have to support the request: make an Android version, or I'll refuse to buy an Android version of your software!

 

[Saarigan]

*Disclaimer: I have read through all the (partial shit-)posts on the forum about that topic and there are valid arguments against but also for porting the software to Android. So please no kidding, this seems like a legitimate consumer interest. In the end, it is however up to the devs to decide what clients they want to serve. I can only speak from a software engeneering/consumer perspective

Just to bump this up a little, there have been made a lot of improvements on the tech site in the meantime. Sure, Apple is a more consistant platform - for the cause that Android poped up as a competitor years after Apple released their first iPhone - but today, in 2024, we have some real competitors to their flagships.

Hardware

I don't speak about Samsung - as I don't know their latest hardware - but Huawei for example made a great job with their latest releases of the MatePad Pro series. Not just looks like an IPad - especially because they provide similar features with their M-Pencil 3 and Procreate clone named GoPaint - it comes very close to the feeling but at a more reasonable price. I mean yeah, the CPU is a bit less powerful but works as smooth for drawing like an iPad does. (Did I mention that the 11'' one is only 399€ including the Pen, did I?) And I mean, look at it 👇

And like Serif focuses on a certain series of iPads, they can also put their focus on a certain Vendors of Android devices. It isn't something unusual for this, Huion for example has a series of mobile compatible drawing tablets that can be used with a certain flagship versions of Samsung and Huawei devices. Mainly because these devices have a desktop mode built into their operating system but that's not the point. So porting your Affinity products for only a portion of devices and vendors seems viable to me, isn't it?

Software

I can - from a software engeneering perspective - understand that it might seem difficult to stay up to date with the frequent changes Google introduces into their system. I don't know much about developing for iPad OS but you can stick to a certain API level in Android as long as they don't introduce a breaking change into their OS. So I don't accept arguments pointing out that app development for Android is more difficult than for any other OS, that's not true. The truth is that it is as difficult as developing for any other platform - but I udnerstand that it might be difficult to get into it if there aren't devs proficient with the OS.

I don't know why people argue about privacy on Android but what I experienced when setting up my Huawei device was that they have a setting for each and everything to turn off if one has concerns about it. You don't even need an account, neither Google nor Huawei-ID to use their hardware. I'm very happy that I took the step and give them a try, definetly worth it!

But should this stop you from considering? I believe not, especially because there seems to be a base of customers willing to pay for it. Adobe brought their products to both Android and iOS and they won't if there isn't a market share to grab.

Performance

Performance also shouldn't be an argument. There exists Photopea for example, a fully web based alternative to Photoshop. And even they run on a reasonable performance on my Android device while Javascript is a portion slower than C++. So it shouldn't be too complicated to grab the Google NDK and get your C++ code to run on a reasonable performance on Android as well.

Sales

While I agree that there might be user complaining about the software not running on their cheap china devices, I can't understand the arguments for it. There is the Play Store analogous to the App Store. You can add your app to a certain production family, screen size, API level and I believe also some other criteria. Also if you don't want to publish on the official Google Store - for whatever reasons - you can still allow to download the APK file from your website - like you already do with the Mac/Windows installer. Sideloading is a thing on Android since ever, so why not make use of it. In the app itself, let the user pair their account to make sure a license was purchased, or let them link their Google account with their Affinity one - done!

Finances

I agree that investing into a new production line might be a costly process and the outcome might not be worth it but let me elaborate a little on that end. Looking at Linux, it is an overall free of charge and free to use operation system. But there are also payed versions, to get extended support but first and foremost to support the devs. On Android this might not be such a widespread fenomenon but I think this is because of 2 facts:

1. It hasn't been a platform branded as a premium experience like Apple was, so Google had a legitimate interest to bring as much apps into their store as they could
2. Users are used to a monetization model where they get apps for free or on a reasonable cheap price

Does this affect you as a company? I don't think so. For reasons - first and foremost because Affinity is a product series already established as a paid software suit. Second because people already signaled their will to pay a reasonable price.

But if you still have concerns, try getting feedback from your community and - for example -start a Kickstarter or GoFundMe campaign to find out. Tell us what you need and I guess there will be people pleased to fund an Android version. Or you can go the Linux way and get a Patreon and/or Ko-fi page to let people support the development of your products (not just a potential Android version). Just bringing some thoughts to the table.

Final Words

I came here because I currently have the need to work on a book and find your product on a comparsion form. So gave it a try. But I'd definetly stay if there will be an Android version in the future. Apple is no option for me, they might have a reasonable hardware but a lot of other flaws, therefore I stick on Android for my mobile life.

My 2 cents, thank you for reading - cheers 🫡

[Return]

Though Huawei is banned in most western countries there are other android tablets getting on the market like Google Pixel and Xiaomi Pad that could validate an Android version.

[Saarigan]

3 minutes ago, Return said:

Though Huawei is banned in most western countries

They aren't banned, they are still in charge of the US embargo against China, which is a different thing as they might not ship with Google Services built into their OS. I bought mine from their official store from an EU country without any issues and full warranty. Meanwhile there was an update to MicroG, which lets you run a Google Service-like environment and it works with the majority of Google Apps out of the box

[DigitalMaverick]

Please make affinity designer and the whole suite available on Android. I would love nothing more than to use my z Fold 5 with S pen to design the best art with. iOS is cheap and cumbersome, I want to use the premium tablet sized mobile phones to make the worlds best design tool to make great art with on the go, connected to blazing fast 5g interent. Is this too much to ask??? I think we can do this! 

[wonderings]

7 hours ago, Saarigan said:

They aren't banned, they are still in charge of the US embargo against China, which is a different thing as they might not ship with Google Services built into their OS. I bought mine from their official store from an EU country without any issues and full warranty. Meanwhile there was an update to MicroG, which lets you run a Google Service-like environment and it works with the majority of Google Apps out of the box

They cannot be sold in the US or Canada and I believe cannot be sold in the UK as well. That is a pretty big market, and where Serif is located themselves. I think that effectively rules out Huawei. There are legitimate concerns over Huawei as well, no need to go into them in this post as some googling will bring up a host of reasons which are why they are banned in Canada and the US.

9 hours ago, Saarigan said:

I came here because I currently have the need to work on a book and find your product on a comparsion form. So gave it a try. But I'd definetly stay if there will be an Android version in the future. Apple is no option for me, they might have a reasonable hardware but a lot of other flaws, therefore I stick on Android for my mobile life.

Out of curiosity, why would you want to work on a book on portable device over doing it on a full fledged desktop OS?

[fde101]

On 7/3/2024 at 10:36 AM, Kirk wood said:

Just like every other software developer just chose an device manufacturer

They did.  They picked Apple.

[wonderings]

7 minutes ago, fde101 said:

They did.  They picked Apple.

I wonder if that did that because it has the most potential to earn them money? Nahhh could not be that. They are just fuelled by hatred for Android and Linux and make their business decisions based on that extreme emotional reaction to their products. 

[Old Bruce]

1 minute ago, wonderings said:

I wonder if that did that because it has the most potential to earn them money? Nahhh could not be that. They are just fuelled by hatred for Android and Linux and make their business decisions based on that extreme emotional reaction to their products. 

Nah, they are just waiting for the One True OS. Andux. Or is it Lindroid? I can never remember.

[fde101]

8 minutes ago, Old Bruce said:

Nah, they are just waiting for the One True OS. Andux. Or is it Lindroid? I can never remember.

Isn't that what OS/2 was supposed to be?