<story><title>Is it hard to become an Android developer?</title><url>http://www.kreci.net/android/is-it-hard-to-become-an-android-developer/</url><text></text></story><parent_chain></parent_chain><comment><author>wallflower</author><text>Excellent and practical tips and a few highly-recommended book recommendations/study materials from the HN community:&lt;p&gt;&quot;Ask HN: Jumping into Android Development&quot;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1347170&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1347170&lt;/a&gt;&lt;p&gt;The general consensus from my extended network of mobile developer friends and acquaintances:&lt;p&gt;Android is harder to develop for than iOS - you will spend more time and effort on building something nice than you would in iOS. Windows Phone 7 is not an easy transition for .Net and C# developers because it is basically Silverlight framework programming. No one I know is doing WebOS (Palm) development.&lt;p&gt;Also, the money in mobile development is almost always from making apps for companies and organizations that want to have their own app (e.g. consulting). This is from my knowledge of how my friends are making a living. Yes, they have their own apps but to succeed in the direct to consumer device marketplace is really is more about being a better marketer, designer than a mobile developer.&lt;p&gt;The consumer who downloads your program only sees the tip of the iceberg (the UI, the functionality, the user experience). Does it make them feel cool (or appear cooler to their peer group) and/or add some bit of value to their life workflow? They don&apos;t care how it was made. Note: This is why HTML5 apps are at a disadvantage - there is only so much you can do with Canvas.</text></comment>
<story><title>Is it hard to become an Android developer?</title><url>http://www.kreci.net/android/is-it-hard-to-become-an-android-developer/</url><text></text></story><parent_chain></parent_chain><comment><author>tocomment</author><text>My biggest obstacle in getting into Android development is thinking of ideas for apps to make.  It seems especially hard to think of simple ideas that would make a good first project.&lt;p&gt;When I try to sit down and do a &quot;toy&quot; app to learn the platform better I find myself getting bored because I&apos;m not excited about the app I&apos;m making.&lt;p&gt;Does anyone have an advice on finding or coming up with ideas?&lt;p&gt;Or better yet, does anyone need a simple app made?  (Maybe I should do an offer HN if that&apos;s still around).</text></comment>