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97% of iOS users can use Google Now (iOS 5.0+). 25% of Android users can use Google Now (Jelly Bean+).

Fragmentation not a big deal?

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Thanks for your comments so far.

On the Apple v Android question. It is absolutely our plan to have quality products out on both products as soon as possible. There are three main factors we had to keep in mind when lining up releases: development, testing and launch complexity.

As the BBC Sport app is a hybrid app, based on the new Sport mobile browser site, the platform-specific development can progress in parallel, building on the core browser site. The decision to launch the core mobile browser site first (before either app) was itself to ensure that users got a quality product across as wide a range of devices as possible. The Android-specific development is very close to completion.

Due to the huge range of Android devices, testing for that platform is more complex and therefore takes more time.

And finally, scheduling ‘big bang’ launches, across a range of platforms, increases risk, and we want to ensure launches are as smooth as possible for users. Back in July, when we launched the Olympics app for iPhone and Android together, we saw over three times as many downloads of the iPhone version. Android continues to grow apace but this, together with the development and testing complexity, led us to the decision to phase the iOS app first.

Features also add complexity (and risk) to launches, which is why we’ll be adding football teams, team customisation and video in the coming weeks, across all platforms, rather than at launch.

@ Uncle Fred - From an operating system point of view the Kindle Fire is an Android device, rather than a separate class of ‘build’, so requires relatively little additional development effort.

“On iOS, when a developer releases an application you think: Can’t wait to download it!.
On Android, you think: I hope it will work with my phone…”