Designing for Android
Google’s mobile platform, Android, is starting to gain some real momentum. This comes on the heels of the launch of the Google phone, the Nexus One, and the fact that all of the major US carriers have or plan to have supported devices.
We see this impacting the numbers related to access of the internet through mobile devices; whereas, Android represents 27% of the Q4’09 AdMob traffic, up from 4% in Q1’09. Compare that to the fact that the iPhone share has stayed pretty much flat over the same period at just above 50%.
Given this we suspect that the development community will start to pay attention and that this will represent the first real platform to give the iPhone some true competition when it comes to mobile applications.
For those who want to get a start on designing and developing for the Android there are some great resources.
First, Google provides a set of best practices for User Interface development at the Android Developer website.
Second, Smashing Magazine has provided an Android GUI PSD.
