Why wont Ubuntu capitalize on Android apps??

[Johnsie]

If the Android Market place worked well on Ubuntu then there would be far more quality apps for Ubuntu. Android app development is happening at a much faster pace than Ubuntu app developement. Surely it makes sense to have a native compatibility layer so that we can have access to the large selection of quality software that is available for Android. Yes alot of stuff is designed for small screens, but there are alot of apps out there that would also be useful on the desktop, netbook and laptop.

[youbuntu]

If the Android Market place worked well on Ubuntu then there would be far more quality apps for Ubuntu. Android app development is happening at a much faster pace than Ubuntu app developement. Surely it makes sense to have a native compatibility layer so that we can have access to the large selection of quality software that is available for Android. Yes alot of stuff is designed for small screens, but there are alot of apps out there that would also be useful on the desktop, netbook and laptop.

Have you watched the tech news lately? These app stores are not indicative of success, they merely indicate that many thousands of devs are writing useless, trivial apps to make up the numbers so that it may be seen as a worth competitor to the Apple App Store... so?

[pi3.1415926535...]

Well is possible though to run Android apps on Ubuntu without huge amounts of recoding? There is a great similarity in the kernel, though I am not sure about the GUI.

[foutes]

Have you watched the tech news lately? These app stores are not indicative of success, they merely indicate that many thousands of devs are writing useless, trivial apps to make up the numbers so that it may be seen as a worth competitor to the Apple App Store... so?


So you are saying there are not "useless, trivial apps" in the Apple App Store??

[earthpigg]

Well is possible though to run Android apps on Ubuntu without huge amounts of recoding? There is a great similarity in the kernel, though I am not sure about the GUI.

you can run them natively on an emulator in ubuntu.

[skierkyles]

A bunch of apps meant for a 4 inch screen and fingers (and gps and accelerometers, etc.) do not seem all that appealing for my 2 19 inch monitors and mouse.

But a while ago at a UDS, they had android apps running on Ubuntu.

[Johnsie]

There are even trivial apps in the Ubuntu repositories. However, the more developers you have developing for a platform the more likely it is that someone will produce something good. Application development on Ubuntu is very slow because there are very few people willing to program specifically for Ubuntu and even less willing to package the debs. Having android compatibility would make it more likely that killer apps are developed for Ubuntu.

Yes you can run them in a phone emulator in Ubuntu, but it makes more sense for the apps to run in a window rather than a phone emulator.

Android apps are just fine on a big screen, my android pad has hdmi out and I put it on my 32 inch tv sometimes to watch videos and listen to music.

[inobe]

@ op, do you mean an app market for ubuntu?

[Johnsie]

No, we've had an app market in Ubuntu for years and app development has been slow. What I'm talking about is tapping into the Google app marketplace. App development is much faster on that than for the Ubuntu marketplace. There are many more developers and we should find a way to take advantage of that.

[marl30]

you can run them natively on an emulator in ubuntu.

I would be interested in an emulator for running Android apps in Linux?

[Johnsie]

marl30 if you download the Android sdk you can run android apps on Ubuntu or Windows. However this is a very slow process and is not a very efficient way of doing it. I use the sdk to develop apps for my phone and tablet, but I would never really use it for the general running of apps. Definitely worth checking out though

http://developer.android.com/sdk/index.html

[inobe]

No, we've had an app market in Ubuntu for years and app development has been slow. What I'm talking about is tapping into the Google app marketplace. App development is much faster on that than for the Ubuntu marketplace. There are many more developers.


there is no way to count market share, this is the underlining reason, android is unlike your average linux desktop, folks actually register and agree to licensing.

it's more appealing to know an app would get so much attention, because it's fact that it will.

[earthpigg]

what would do this, i think, is something that can run google's modified version of java natively on ubuntu without any additional layers.

[Johnsie]

yeah, that's exactly what I've been thinking. A Google-Java package in the repos that install apk files and run the apps... Marketplace would be good too, but I'm not sure Google would allow that.

[gigaferz]

well im sorry to interrupt but it seems somebody here is not living in this planet.IF I could create an app or program of anykind of course i would do it for android and ios . Why? you ask.... the answer is simple there is more chance to make some money out of it.
now other thing if you have ever installed something in a jailbroken(?)iphone you must have seen the packages running are debs.
so that means there is a lot of people with knowledge and talent but are aiming to a wider platform.
not to change the subject but has anyone read this:

http://www.brownrudnick.com/nr/pdf/alerts/Brown%20Rudnick%20Advisory%20The%20Bionic%20Librar y-Did%20Google%20Work%20Around%20The%20GPL.pdf

http://www.zdnet.com/blog/open-source/does-googles-android-violate-linuxs-copyright/8497?tag=nl.e539

[forrestcupp]

Have you watched the tech news lately? These app stores are not indicative of success, they merely indicate that many thousands of devs are writing useless, trivial apps to make up the numbers so that it may be seen as a worth competitor to the Apple App Store... so?It's true that there are lots of useless apps. But I wouldn't say that makes it unsuccessful. I've heard a few freelance programmers who have made a few Android apps that are bringing in enough money to pay their house payment.


you can run them natively on an emulator in ubuntu.Natively in an emulator! :)


A bunch of apps meant for a 4 inch screen and fingers (and gps and accelerometers, etc.) do not seem all that appealing for my 2 19 inch monitors and mouse.
This pretty much sums up the whole problem. Aside from the small screens, devs are really trying to take advantage of multitouch and accelerometers. Those are two things the emulators can't really support.

[youbuntu]

For what it is worth, I got Ubuntu running on my Android ZTE blade phone. Had to VNC to localhost to see it running, but it worked :D

[kerry_s]

op, i can charge you for apps if you feel the need to pay :)

While Android market is useful for android, i don't feel its right for the desktop. On top of that most free apps are ad infested.
I love Android I'm using it now, while it works great on this tablet I would hate it on my linux os.

[earthpigg]

This pretty much sums up the whole problem. Aside from the small screens, devs are really trying to take advantage of multitouch and accelerometers. Those are two things the emulators can't really support.

eh. If available on the desktop, i'd use "beat the traffic". it's better than any website i've ever encountered. including beatthetraffic.com.

it shouldn't "theoretically" be that way, but it is.

[Rachel_Eliason]

I recently got a cheap Android pad and I have been wondering the exact opposite, how can I put my Ubuntu stuff on the pad. Most of the android market is still aimed at phone apps.

Of course if you could make Ubuntu and Android more compatible, that would be a huge improvement to both systems, in my opinion.

[LunaticHiatus]

android apps use dalvik and android apis and such which ubuntu doesn't have. But there is work being done on getting android apps to work on multiple platforms. Alien dalvik is one, there is another open source version similar to alien dalvik but I forget what its called. I would wait until those are developed and talking about it from there.

[piquat]

Isn't anybody worried about the lack of a vetting process in the market?
As it stands now, I basically treat Android apps the same way I do Windows "freeware". IOW, if it has few DL's and/or few reviews, I don't touch it.

Anybody can make an Android app, same as a Ubuntu app, the difference is that as long as it follows the rules, it makes it into the market. I've been led to beleive it's a little harder to get your app into the official repos for Ubuntu.

[jtzero]

Ah ha!, the open source version mentioned above?
http://www.icedrobot.org

GREAT Project!

[forrestcupp]

Anybody can make an Android app, same as a Ubuntu app, the difference is that as long as it follows the rules, it makes it into the market.

That's why the Android market is a dreamland for developers and not as great for users. Fortunately for me, I'm more interested in the developing side of the market.

[BrokenKingpin]

More than half the apps on mobile phones are just crap (fact, because I said so!), I don't want them anywhere near my desktop. Every 12 year old kid has their own useless mobile app, which just floods the market with garbage.

[bxcrx]

If the Android Market place worked well on Ubuntu then there would be far more quality apps for Ubuntu. Android app development is happening at a much faster pace than Ubuntu app developement. Surely it makes sense to have a native compatibility layer so that we can have access to the large selection of quality software that is available for Android. Yes alot of stuff is designed for small screens, but there are alot of apps out there that would also be useful on the desktop, netbook and laptop.

You might like this then...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GT5fUcMUfYg&feature=related

[rief]

Ah ha!, the open source version mentioned above?
http://www.icedrobot.org

GREAT Project!

This is the way for me. The Android Market is growing faster and faster, it has many applications that can be useful for daily routine and that are developed on top of a virtual machine. If Ubuntu can develop a virtual machine compatible with Dalvik, then the Ubuntu project will have applications from the Linux world and from the Android world.
I'm talking about developing a tablet/notebook that contains a market different from the Android market, bigger. In particular about notebook, the solution of Google is Chrome OS. Canonical could develop a line of notebooks with a real OS (for me a browser will never be a real OS) plus all the benefits coming from Android applications.

[earthpigg]

Amazon has a Flash layer (http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=amb_link_356933982_1?ie=UTF8&bbn=2350149011&rh=n%3A2350149011%2Cp_n_feature_browse-bin%3A2740068011&page=1&pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_s=center-1&pf_rd_r=1TDHSEEQ09WYEJ1TXSPY&pf_rd_t=101&pf_rd_p=1309793902&pf_rd_i=3071729011) working...



Unfortunate that flash is the devil.