This week, MMM participated with WIP at the Verizon Developer Conference. We were invited by WIP to annotate the UnPanel session on day two, but ended up contributing towards one of the session conversations on cross-platform development.
As many developers find out quickly, and some users have figured out as they have gotten into Google Android-powered mobile devices, or have moved from one mobile platform to another, there are times when applications or content just doesn’t work so well. We kind of think about data as being something that is easy to transfer from one platform to another, but such doings are ripe with challenges and opportunities. At the Verizon Developer Conference (VDCC), we participated in facilitating a few panel discussions on cross-platform development and some of the challenges. The following three items came up the most in these conversations.
Fragmentation
The number one issue that developers said that they faced when trying to take an application, or apply a service across several mobile devices, is this issue of fragmentation. Fragmentation is basically when you have a single platform (for example Google Android), but there are variances in how that platform is implemented across devices. These variances can include input mechanisms (touch, keyboard, etc.), application program interfaces (APIs) which talk to hardware or services, and even carrier-specific functionality which doesn’t line up across the same device on different carriers (for example, cell ID information).
What happens is that when a new update to a platform comes out, or an offshoot of a current platform is produced, developers have to code their applications and/or services to account for these changes. And especially in the case of non-Apple iOS devices (where things are commonly similar across all of these devices), this causes the developer to have to spend more time acquiring the resources to test and approve their software across these variant platforms.
One of the things that frequently came to mind is the challenge that many of the developers of Bible software have towards this issue. I wonder how many of you deal with fragmentation, and whether you share the opinion that this isn’t something that’s going away, but might be solved with better tools?
Communication
Another impact to cross-platform development that was talked about in these sessions was that of communication with the carrier. For example, while fragmentation is an issue, developers who are proactive would like to hear from the carrier something towards devices, APIs, etc. which might not be support or might change when platforms are updated so that they can be faster able to adapt their products to those new devices.
On the carrier side, its difficult to respond to everyone individually, and so carrier involvement in developer networks, standards bodies, and a general attention to being open in communication is something that Verizon and others are doing a lot more of. The challenge for them (of course) is to be open without impacting their abilities to continue to offer differentiated products and services.
To you who are developers, or even users, what kinds of communication strategies would you like to see from developers, carriers, and other service providers to better allow you to make the move from one platform to another? Or, does this even matter, do you just need things to work?
Up-to-Date Market Information
Of the many issues that developers can have in making sure that they have a solid application or service, one of their challenges is making sure that they have up-to-date market information about platforms. Verizon’s Developer Center has some upcoming things in this area, as do some other developer networks. But, this is still the challenge.
As a resource and analyst, one of the challenges is always to promote the statistics and the information that allows developers to make sound decisions towards where they can make solid applications. For example, you will never hear MMM tell you that Symbian isn’t a good platform to develop for, unless your target audience for your content is in an area where Symbian is not a primary focus for the carrier/user base. In the same accord, as a developer, you have to broaden your research and analysis horizons beyond just those persons who are “louder” about what positions they have, and make sure that you are seeing those folks who are holding a contrary viewpoint.
That being said, it is difficult for many people to both develop an application/service, and keep on top of market trends. What would you like to see more of in terms of getting up-to-date market information for your respective target audiences? Where do you go for information now, and are those areas sufficient?
Conclusion
During the time at the Verizon Developer Conference, I was exposed to a subset of some of the general opinions that I hear developers go through. Much of MMM’s viewpoints are formed and spoken of in global contexts – this was a chance to center in on a specific US (only) carrier and what issues matter to them.
Stay tuned as in a future post we’ll talk some about these specific challenges and opportunities. And what you can do as developers and as a notable target market (re: faith-based organizations) to make your applications more visible and profitable both spiritually and economically.
The Wireless Industry Partnership has released their July App(lication) Report. Here’s a snippet of its summary:
We talked last week about some of the groups MMM is associated with, and here’s one of the events that we’d definitely encourage you and your team to consider checking out.
I caught it while traveling last week, but didn’t make the effort to repost – hopefully correcting that now. The 
In a few recent conversations, it was talked about how there was a need to get up new websites, create billboards, and fill other media channels with content so that people can find avenues to Christ. Unfortunately, these were conversations within the Christian household. So when I asked these people tasked with filling these channels if they were addressing mobile, they not only didn’t have an answer, but pointed it to being a technical issue above all else.
A Healthy Dose of Rambling
Friday, June 3rd, 2011Apps and Challenges
For example, in one aspect of the past week’s trips, Brett (one of the contributors here) and I got a chance to connect and talk about how we’d like learn better cross-platform development techniques for some of the content that we own or read. We got into talking a bit not just about apps, but things like QML, HTML5, and even the mobile web server. Being on an edge of mobile use, we’re finding that its not just a matter of having access, but there’s sometimes when ownership and accountability needs to also be a part of the pie.
That goes into the Kiosk Evangelism project that MMM has been a part of and some of the challenges there. As a project, its going through a leadership transition. Some of the questions though influence practices and understandings. For example, if creating a mobile-tuned service (such as the digital library component of Kiosk Evangelism), does it make sense to go native with an app, or use the browser and possibly something like Modernizr to create a UI that plugs into several systems an scales well. Does such a UI need to also be offline-context-sensitive, and if so how?
There’s also the challenge of owner rights. Church Mag recently opined about jail breaking and it caused me to go back into the archives a bit and relook at just how free we are to customize devices or interfaces. Certainly, there’s a challenge all around if you want to do something right.
Some are better than others with challenges. I’m always impressed at the energy and execution behind Logos and YouVersion and their latest projects serve as a solid measure of encouragement. Of the many support and feature updates for the application and service, I’m impressed the most with how YouVersion is paying attention to how we hear the Word. Audio and native language features ring most relevant for a lot of folks. Logos has released Vyrso which is basically a reader that goes beyond just Bibles. Through that system, I wonder how many budding authors will take up the challenge towards creating content that empowers and reveals the impact of the Gospel? Seems like as good a channel as any to do so.
Events and Movements
On the other side of happenings, there are several events and movements happening that all have something to do with how we approach (or at least view from our perspectives) mobile ministry.
The Uplinq Conference recently concluded. We attended this last year and had a great time as a part of the WIPJam Panel talking about opportunities and challenges for mobile developers. This year, the conversations started on mobile and there was a lot of innovations presented in mobile and blended reality computing.
Due to scheduling, we cannot attend this year’s Muther Hackathon, but we certainly want you (or your dev team) to get out there to it. If you would like passes, shoot us a message or tweet as we have a few free ones to give away.
MMM will be at the ICCM conference in Indiana in a few weeks. We’ll be speaking on a session about mobile ministry, actually breaking down that sketchnote that we’d posted here last week. We’d love to connect with you if you are going to be there.
And don’t forget about the Carnival of the Mobilists. Though its now on a once-per-month posting queue, the selection of articles that makes it to each Carnival seems to get better and better. This month No. 249 is being hosted over at Francisco Kattan’s site. Now that I’m not in my car or in front of folks for a few hours, its definitely something that will enter my rested reading time.
MMM Team and Role
Personally, I’m having fun with a new mobile (the Nokia N8) and some of the challenges around using it with my personal approach to mobile. That part has been fun, but its also led to finding some nuggets that would be valuable here.
Our team has taken some heavy shots personally and spiritually lately. Its been an honor to keep them lifted in prayer, but having been sick last week definitely showed me just how fragile all of us can be.
What is MMM’s role? We point to what’s happening. Unfortunately, we’re also finding that people sometimes need help with finishing what they started or just telling their message in a manner that’s able to be heard. To some extent, we are a media initiative, and to another, we’re just some hands and feet to some parts of the Body that want to move forward with a pure and honest depiction of the Gospel in their contexts.
That makes for a wide and deep role for us. And honestly, one that a single person has trouble with, let alone a small team. If you’ve been interested in getting involved with helping us share the stories of faith and technology, get in contact with us. If your heart is in other areas, and you’d just like to know how we can be supported, get in contact with us.
We’ve got some house-cleaning to do on some of the pages here we know – and we’ll get to those items in time. In the meantime, there’s a Body using this tech that’s asking for the road that isn’t techie or overly theological. We’re helping to cut a trail, rambling on about what we find as we do
Tags: Carnival of the Mobilists, HTML5, ICCM, jailbreaking, Logos, Modernizr, Muther Hackathon, nokia, open source, sketchnotes, UI, Uplinq, UX, Vyrso, WIP, YouVersion
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