News Analysis: Mobile developers aren't always treated well in today's marketplace. That's especially true when one considers how developers were effectively forgotten when AT&T decided to cap smartphone data over its network.
All
the debate over AT&T's new data plans have largely come to a close. The
plans are set to go into effect on Monday, which means every customer will now
need to live with them. But those that need to live with the changes go far
beyond just customers.
Now, phone makers will need to keep them in mind as they prepare
their phones for the market. Software makers, like Microsoft and Google, will
also have to keep them in mind. But perhaps the biggest group that will feel
the impact of the new plans, aside from customers, is the mobile-developer
community.
Smartphones featuring mobile applications that allow consumers to
take content from the Web and stream it to their phones partially contributed
to AT&T's decision to do away with unlimited data plans. Not only did it
increase the amount of content being pushed to each user's device, it also
increased the amount of data that AT&T needed to accommodate. It was
getting costly and putting undue pressure on its network. And it decided to do
something about it.
All the while, developers now need to consider many more factors
when creating applications for the iPhone, iPad or any other smartphone
platform that's running on AT&T's network. Gone are the days when
developers can simply create applications without worrying about the consumer's
plans. Now, mobile development is different. And that won't change anytime
soon. Let's take a look at why mobile developers stand to lose out with
AT&T's new data plans.
1. Caps don't work in developers' favor
The
main issue with data caps for mobile developers is that they don't have any way
of knowing which consumers have the 2GB plan and which have the 200MB option.
In other words, a video-streaming app might work best for those that have 2GB
of available data, and be practically useless for those that have 200MB of
available data each month. That's a problem. Developers need to know what
they're playing with in order to make the best applications they can.
When
iPhone owners all had unlimited data, it was easy. Now, developers must create
applications that accommodate even those with less data. That's a shame.
2. Consumers will be wary
Consumers
will be wary of applications that use up too much data. After all, the
amount of allowed data includes everything from surfing the Web to checking
e-mail to using mobile applications. If consumers know that a particular
application could reduce the amount of data they can dedicate to other
applications, they might be less likely to use the respective program. That not
only stymies a developer's ability to create useful, worthwhile applications,
it also limits what consumers will be looking for. That won't play into any developer's
favor.
3. Developers have more concerns
For developers, it goes beyond simply deciding whether or not an
application will accommodate different plans. Now they need to think about
their previous applications and see if they will lose popularity because of the
new caps. They also need to consider the impact that the plans could have on
those applications that they haven't released yet, but are working on. The
mobile app market is changing now that AT&T has modified its data plans,
and it's incumbent upon developers to now wait and see what happens before they
make any decisions with their applications. That's unfortunate.
4. Innovation could be difficult
Innovation could be stymied now that developers are forced to
worry about data caps. After all, prior to the announcement of new data plans,
developers really only needed to think about how an application would work on
an operating system. But now that the new data plans are in place, they need to
think about their limits. In other words, that neat idea that would have
probably used up significant data might need to be put on the back burner until
the developer can come up with a way to drastically enhance its ability to
offer the same experience without being such a drag on the user's monthly data
allotment.
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