Android is fragmented - what now for app developers?

There is a really interesting post over on The Next Web called "The Toll of Hardware and Software Fragmentation on Android Devs". (http://tnw.co/HtBIXz)


In it, Natalia Luckyanova from Imangi Studios says that nearly all of the support emails for their game Temple Run from Android Users relate to problems getting the app running.


We've also uncovered some issues with Relevenz running on Ice Cream Sandwich, while it runs without a hitch on Gingerbread. Hmmm. This kind of fragmentation in mobile is nothing new. But you would expect that having problems with MMS interoperability and rendering standard HTML in previous years, the mobile industry would have learned a thing or two.


So what are the choices?


Well, the mobile web is still there. You can develop once using a HTML5/CSS3/Javascript combination and it will run pretty much on any smartphone. However, there are still downsides, like limited access to the phone's hardware and slower rendering times.


For the native app developer? It's hard to see Google actually coming out and enforcing a single flavour of Android. The only way that change could happen is through developer revolt. Perhaps it's time to get organized.