I went to see a customer the other night, you know, on a proper “lead” ;-) and he had been looking online at composite doors, specifically in this case at Solidor composite doors. Like me, this client had Android devices, so he had to use his daughter’s iPad Mini to download the Solidor app to try and design his door. I say try, because the app wasn’t quite behaving itself. Perhaps because it was on the iPad mini and not full size iPad? No idea. But the wider point here is that if the industry is going to start developing apps, they need to design them to work on Android devices as well as iOS devices.

Fans of Apple probably won’t want to admit this, but the number of Android users is on the rise big time. Android powered devices continue to sell in very high numbers. This is something which is only going to get stronger in the future and app developers have been quick to understand this. But in our industry, most of the apps have been designed with iOS-only devices in mind. If manufacturers are wanting to get into people’s homes and in front of many eyes as possible, they need to get their IT departments to code Android apps as soon as possible.

I even think it is causing damage to those manufacturers who are wanting to build up a branding presence with the general public. There’s a bit of a myth that has built up that says everyone has an iPhone or an iPad, but there are more Android devices than you think out there and just as many dedicated Android users as iOS users. In fact there are probably more Android users now than iPhone users. Suppliers need to understand this and know that if they want to get in front of as many people as possible to create that brand, they need to get their apps in the Google Play store.

The devices I use for work are a laptop powered by Windows 8.1, a Google Nexus phone and a Google Nexus 10 tablet. The ones I take into customer’s homes are the phone and the tablet, yet I can’t use any door builder apps or conservatory designers because there isn’t anything available. It’s a shame because I think the Solidor door builder app would look great on the Nexus 10’s very high quality screen. I want to be able to give customers a mobile device in the hand (if they don’t have one) and let them design their own funky door – without having to buy an iPad.

Anyway, that’s my point made I think. Do you agree? Should manufacturers design Android apps alongside iOS apps? All comments welcome in the section below.