[Web4lib] Android app for library catalog

[Steven Pryor]

I generally agree with the sentiment about basing a mobile presence on 
mobile-friendly websites first.  I would not, however, expect Android 
users to stay anywhere near 5%.  The platform seems to be coming into 
its own all of a sudden and there are a LOT of Android devices hitting 
the market with some major publicity and vendor support now.  Coupled 
with Apple's recent practices to alienate developers and others (the 
same sort of thing that basically marginalized their platforms the first 
time around), I think starting on an Android app -- if you really want 
or need native app functionality -- would pay off in the future when the 
platform gains some serious market share.

Just my opinion,
Steven

On 4/13/2010 8:35 PM, William Denton wrote:
> On 13 April 2010, Heather J Klish wrote:
>
>> Has anyone created, or is anyone working on, an Android app for 
>> searching their library's catalog?
>
> I have an Android phone (and like it a lot), but I'm curious about why 
> you're asking.  Are you asking out of general interest, or are you 
> actively thinking about working on this?  Is there enough Android 
> usage at Tufts to warrant it?  At www.library.yorku.ca we're seeing 
> 75% of mobile vists from iPhones and iPods, and about 5% from Androids 
> (4% if you take away me, probably).
>
> We're going to start on a mobile-friendly version of our site.  I 
> agree with MJ Suhonos about apps versus web pages.  Google Sky Maps 
> and Layar are fascinating apps that have to be apps, but I want 
> everything my library does to be on the web first, and if that leads 
> to services that apps can reuse, great.
>
> Bill