News, Opinion/Editorials

The Hard Part: Getting Developers

By: David Baxter, 3/23/2011 10:44 am | 46 comments

Today CNET has an interesting article about the difficulties that HP has in front of them regarding getting developers on board.

I think Evernote’s CEO summed the problems up very succinctly:

“The platform sort of stagnated” while Palm was independent, recalled Phil Libin, CEO of Evernote, the Web-based and mobile note-taking app. “From a raw numbers perspective, it became difficult to justify ongoing development on WebOS since we had several hundred times more users on our iOS app. We didn’t make any new features for nine months.”

Let’s be honest here, webOS has had some problems. Even Richard Kerris (VP of Worldwide Developer Relations).

“It starts with having a consistent set of tools, development tools with great documentation, and making training available,” he said in an interview with CNET. “To be honest, we haven’t always done that. We’ve had some hiccups.”

As CNET mentions, hiccups is probably not the right word. I am thinking…earthquakes.

Most webOS users are stuck on a version that has largely been abandoned. That is a problem in an of itself, but the real issue is that the faithful don’t have a viable way to upgrade to the newer version of the OS. If you are a Sprint customer (which most webOS fans are), your only real upgrade path is to either ditch your carrier or franken-pre your old device [Ed: Tonight you can watch one being cut up live!]. Not very solid options…

Kind of a bleak picture isn’t it? So where do you go from here? UP!

First…you start over with devs. Sure there are some hardcores out there (and we love them), but the key to success is to find the key apps and deliver them better than anyone. Kerris understands this.

“The numbers game is not one we care to play,” Kerris said. “People don’t use more than a couple dozen [apps] at most. So we want the ones we do have to be really functional.”

So the goal of webOS is to have at least 25 apps. I think they can hit it! The future sure is bright. Wait…no, that’s not right.

HP knows they can’t “relaunch” with 300,000 apps, but they can launch with several hundred that fill the needs that users have. News readers, Amazon, weather, email, some showy games, a movie finder, banks, etc. [Ed: Can we throw in some Netflix?]. The problem is that the developers aren’t biting…so how do we change that?

Phase I: Show ‘em the money

The elephant in the room is that webOS developers just aren’t making any money. That is what needs to change ASAP. We need a poster child of a dev that makes serious money off of his webOS apps. That is exactly how iOS took off. A few devs started posting that they made a million dollars and everyone rushed in. We need that.

To help get this off the ground we need more things like the 50% off sale on HP’s dime. That drove up sales like crazy. The Hot Apps contests also helped….a lot. Is a $100,000 prize gonna entice the big boys? No, but it will bring the little guys in by the bucketful, and in all honesty, that is where all the innovation is anyway. The big guys will come when the consumers come…which brings us to phase 2.

Phase II: Show ‘em the peoples

We need buzz, pure and simple. We need consumers talking about webOS devices. The simple truth is that webOS is better than anything out there. Devs know it and gear heads know it…but the average joe doesn’t. The new devices will help with this…a lot, but HP can’t be shy about how amazing their OS is.

The “can your phone do this” kinda stuff is powerful. With all the new features like Just Type, Touch to Share, and Synergy, this is even more powerful. The competition is fierce, but webOS products speak for themselves…we just need to get the word out.

Phase III: Show ‘em our horn…wait wha?

From a dev perspective we need to toot our horn a little bit and show them that they can build apps that they simply can’t anywhere else.

Show them the API for Just Type.
Show them the ecosystem they can tap into to create a continuous client
Show them Enyo and how powerful it is

All developers, at their core, are tinkerers. They like to try new things and stretch their wings. The functionality of webOS 2 and 3 gives them tools they simply don’t have with the other frameworks. The webOS events that HP and devs are sponsoring will help with that, but we need more.

The road ahead of webOS is long, and the competition isn’t going to wait around while HP gets its act together, but the good news is that webOS is truly a superior product. We just need to let the world know that.

What do you guys think? I know there are a lot of developers out there…what would entice you to jump on board (or if you are already on the train, how do you get your iOS frinds to come)?

What are some other things HP can do to get the dev world excited?

Source: CNET

About David Baxter

David is the founder and Editor-in-Chief of webOSroundup. When not toiling away at WOR he is usually with his family, at church, building a website of some kind or another, or playing a video game. @davidbbaxter

View all posts by David Baxter →

Anonymous

Great article and you are correct. HP has a long tough road ahead of them but if anyone has the money and products to make it happen, HP does. They just need to stay a little bit ahead of the tech curve and produce products on time with the consumers in mind.
b77

What do I think? I think despite my love of webOS that it’s becoming evident that my next phone will be based on another operating system. Even if the future looked brighter, I’m still sour that my Pre Plus has been abandoned. I can’t run most of the newer apps. As soon as I’m eligible, I’ll be moving along. It’s disappointing.

Anonymous

Then the only place where you can go is iOS, as at other platforms you will get (officially) abandoned even earlier.

Because xda-developers are nothing better than the unofficial way to update your phone to webOS 2.1, just that in case of Android often it’s even impossible because of locked bootloaders or because nobody wants to develop custom roms for your phone, or because all the roms available have issues….

http://twitter.com/IngloriousApps Inglorious Apps

Actually, I think HP should hand over bags of cash to port over those ‘Big name’ Apps, then have some webOS exclusive Apps.
I know some webOS users (like wusaint :) ) who are contemplating leaving because they want specific Apps. At this point in time, users shouldn’t be choosing other platforms because of ‘Apps’. It turns out most users don’t look at their phones as phones but as “Things for running Apps”.

Oh, by the way, if HP wants to hand me some bags of ca$h, I’m okay with that too :)

eid

100% agree. Pay a reasonable amount for the top 10 big name apps like $100K a piece every year. This will defray development and support for a small user base. Hold yearly contests for cash to attract smaller developers. Make sure all app niches are covered including business apps. This is still pocket change for HP. Advertise, push product through channels, add form factor devices. Cont to leverage webos through HP’s laptops, pcs, printers so it percolates through the consumer psyche.

http://twitter.com/chrisakavern Christopher Varney

To keep developers interested, Sprint needs to get involved. It’s been all over the news, AT&T buying T-mobile, a big kick in the junk for Sprint. How do they recover? Web OS is the answer, they were the first to use it when it first arrived and now it is time for them to use it again. They don’t even need to build a new network of users as there are so many Sprint Web OS users sitting on the edge of our seats waiting for some kind of news from Sprint. Even if they chose to bypass the Pre2 and go right for the Pre3 that would satisfy me and I would be willing to wait that little bit longer, but right now, we don’t even have a promise. I have played around with Android and in truth I find it clunky and frustrating, nothing is as streamline as Web OS. Come on Sprint give your customers what they want.
Anonymous

I wanted to apply for dev account, but HPdoes not support devs from certain countries (Croatia is one)…One (potential) webOS dev less…

Anonymous

Do you have to tell them where you are from? I mean do you have to tell them your real adress? I guess they also don’t support Australia, nevertheless Ron Whitby is with them ^^

Joseph

Oh I see. You think it would be OK for HP to be saying something like “Come, give us time and talent”…”and lie to us with a false address as well… if you want any money.” Are you freaking serious? Why not let the Croatians sign up openly and honestly? WHY NOT? I mean seriously why the ZAgreb not? Tečajevi se primjenjuju do 200.000 kn za pravne i fizičke osobe za iznose veće od 200.000 kn protuvrijednosti po pojedinoj valuti fizičke osobe kontaktiraju poslovnicu banke ili svog osobnog bankara, a pravne osobe svog voditelja poslovnog odnosa.

Lisa

The lack of apps is starting to un nerve me as well. Need logmein, ereader or kindle (the current reader programs are questionable), flash would be nice….though the newer os supports it, I can’t get it. The iOS and android style chase app. There are so many problems with the other OS at this point…I’m sticking with my pre. When it dies….if there’s no new Palm devices on sprint and if WP7 gets multi tasking, that’s where I’ll be going. Can’t continue to support palm/hp if I can’t buy their products. Don’t want to pay the verizon “premium”, so will stay w Sprint. Love my Pre, love my touchstones…. Hope for a brighter webOS future.
Lisa

The lack of apps is starting to un nerve me as well. Need logmein, ereader or kindle (the current reader programs are questionable), flash would be nice….though the newer os supports it, I can’t get it. The iOS and android style chase app. There are so many problems with the other OS at this point…I’m sticking with my pre. When it dies….if there’s no new Palm devices on sprint and if WP7 gets multi tasking, that’s where I’ll be going. Can’t continue to support palm/hp if I can’t buy their products. Don’t want to pay the verizon “premium”, so will stay w Sprint. Love my Pre, love my touchstones…. Hope for a brighter webOS future.
Lisa

The lack of apps is starting to un nerve me as well. Need logmein, ereader or kindle (the current reader programs are questionable), flash would be nice….though the newer os supports it, I can’t get it. The iOS and android style chase app. There are so many problems with the other OS at this point…I’m sticking with my pre. When it dies….if there’s no new Palm devices on sprint and if WP7 gets multi tasking, that’s where I’ll be going. Can’t continue to support palm/hp if I can’t buy their products. Don’t want to pay the verizon “premium”, so will stay w Sprint. Love my Pre, love my touchstones…. Hope for a brighter webOS future.
Lisa

The lack of apps is starting to un nerve me as well. Need logmein, ereader or kindle (the current reader programs are questionable), flash would be nice….though the newer os supports it, I can’t get it. The iOS and android style chase app. There are so many problems with the other OS at this point…I’m sticking with my pre. When it dies….if there’s no new Palm devices on sprint and if WP7 gets multi tasking, that’s where I’ll be going. Can’t continue to support palm/hp if I can’t buy their products. Don’t want to pay the verizon “premium”, so will stay w Sprint. Love my Pre, love my touchstones…. Hope for a brighter webOS future.
Lisa

The lack of apps is starting to un nerve me as well. Need logmein, ereader or kindle (the current reader programs are questionable), flash would be nice….though the newer os supports it, I can’t get it. The iOS and android style chase app. There are so many problems with the other OS at this point…I’m sticking with my pre. When it dies….if there’s no new Palm devices on sprint and if WP7 gets multi tasking, that’s where I’ll be going. Can’t continue to support palm/hp if I can’t buy their products. Don’t want to pay the verizon “premium”, so will stay w Sprint. Love my Pre, love my touchstones…. Hope for a brighter webOS future.

Anonymous

WP7 won’t get multitasking. It only gets a similar system to what Apple calls Multitasking (the card view that we saw was just a list of the recent apps).
Anonymous

WP7 won’t get multitasking. It only gets a similar system to what Apple calls Multitasking (the card view that we saw was just a list of the recent apps).

-JF-

For me – a potential webOS developer – the things missing are:
- up to date documentation
- dev environment with code completion
- samples
and for me as a webOS user
- other ways to pay for apps than credit card

I think there are enough ideas around, that the app count and income of developers would increase if these things change for the better
Ken

Sorry WebOS. Tired of waiting. Moving on to Android (Waiting for the Evo 3D)

Greg Mair

So you are going from Waiting for a phone to waiting for another phone but just on another platform.

Doesn’t seem like to me you have waited that long

Joseph

No, he agrees with you. He totally agrees he’s never waited for Palm, or HP to deliver. Not one minute of waiting. You are so incredibly right about he’s never waited…. THAT looooooooong.

Raun

I feel like I’m watching James Cameron’s Titanic and the captain has just ordered the ship to maintain speed so they arrive early to create a buzz

Joseph

Interestingly, a little bird has told me Leo has the same nightmare. Over and over and over. Every iceberg filled night. Poor Leo. I love him so, but this nightmare is coming between us…. in coming months I may need to leave him.

JoeZiehmer

I’m still developing for my Pixi+ but I know and realize that it is a dying platform. We needed holes in the memory leaks in so many ways. Instead Jon and Palm refused to fix them. As a developer it is hard to take that we’re being left behind and the reason why I got an ePad and Android tablet.
JoeZiehmer

I’m still developing for my Pixi+ but I know and realize that it is a dying platform. We needed holes in the memory leaks in so many ways. Instead Jon and Palm refused to fix them. As a developer it is hard to take that we’re being left behind and the reason why I got an ePad and Android tablet.
Jkdj2010

Great article. I agree with what you said. In this day and age of smartphone technology, HP is moving way too slow. Sure they still have a chance to break in but they need to change what they are doing really quick. They first need to get their hardware out ASAP. When they decided not to update the legacy devices they pretty much exited the smartphone game. No one is going to buy any of the pixi, pixi plus, pre, and pre plus phones now. So the next thing they need to do is advertise. I can’t remember the last time I have seen an HP commercial and that in itself is a problem. This is the reason why Pre 2 phones are barely selling. Next they need a retail partner like best buy or wal mart or something that will push webOS hardware and help spread the word about webOS. And finally like you said, bring back the hot apps competition to help attract developers and grow the webOS community.
Juggalette

A freakn men ! Good article lots of what I’ve been talkn about mostly to my husband who has a droid I love the amount of apps and quality of them on the droid network and I guess iOS too I would never own an iPhone a droid is iffy they are bulky and the platform doesn’t seem userd friendly to me I love the multi tasking abilitys of my palm but n e ways essentially I think this will go back to the it takes money to make money HP may have to take a little loss to make a lot more down the line how about no dev fees ? Maybe rewards for milestones? How about cuttn vouchers to current palm users so if they’re upgrade is a ways away they can get with the new system and they will be that much happier to show off their phone and making sure they do all they can to be on every network perhaps offering incentives to companies that promote their phones ? How about more tv ads ? They have the best system and can do a lot but they seriously do need to get it out there or it will die off and that would be oh so sad heres hoping to a brighter future
http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=697836312 Diego Valdez

Good writing!

I dont need 200.000 apps!!!!!
All I need is to be able to read a f…… PDF book!!! (that is esencial for me)

I could really use Whats App too, but pleaseeeeee PDF, how can it be still unfixed? I dont even want 2.1, just my PDF fixed.

I LOVEEEEEEE WebOS, but if this does not get fix I´ll be going to another OS.
Anaya2

Why is it, that HP is talking to cnet, preCentral and so on, but can not talk to us developers directly, keer made some interesting insight, about what HP has in mind, but can not make a statement on the main developer site, what they really need is start communicating, and start talking to there devs straight up, instead from a third person
j_benj

Not to mention HP needs to get actual devices into the hand of users. If there are no webOS devices (of very few) handsets in the wild, apps are not going to sell.

JoeZiehmer

I’m not impressed by Palm so far. They spent to much time trying to be the top dog and watched it skip by while ignoring legacy users. Then continuning with the oft reported problems of memory leaks. How do we fix the leaks when our homebrew community does what Palm refused to do? They even aped the same code for accessing multiple cards. In my opinion Palm is better left as a third party company given market share.

Kodah2

HP needs to work with Pimlico. I’ve been missing Datebk since I moved from the Treo to the Pre. Pimlico always gave me great support and was very responsive. Palm just didnt’t have the numbers to make their effort worthwhile. After 2 years with the Pre, I still keep my Treo going specifically for Datebk6. It is the only way I can keep my calendar straight. Please, please, please get Pimlico on board.

Joseph

Or ANY other London underground band. I mean, punk it, people.

Snow

Y don make a PDA? I mean a new version of personal digital assistant, a notification, wen in lock screen, the pda notify us, like a dog in search in windows desktop. But not limited to ‘dog’, other developer might wan a hot girl, a marvel character, anything. In this way, ppl wil love the device just like we love the pet.
http://twitter.com/ApMik Aploe Miktona

How about getting rid of the stupid app catalogue restrictions on factory unlocked GSM phones so devs have a bigger market and the users can actually buy some apps?
http://www.weboscenter.com webOSCenter

If webOS can land a few of the big missing apps (i.e. logmein, kindle, etc) by the time TouchPad launches, I think all will be OK. The momentum of apps will start rolling as soon as quality webOS products start hitting the marketplace and well-trained store employees start to show-off the device’s abilities.

But it really comes down to HP. Are they going to release a compelling line of devices beyond the Pre3? Do they have what it takes to generate the device sales that will lead to putting money into the app developer’s pocket?

Joseph

If. That word. Who invented, “if…”? And that crummy daughter of his, “if only.” I hate them. “If only” always goes on about how “it will all be ok.” If only the cat, bathwater, toaster, and Leo weren’t all in the same small 5 by 2 foot electric lightning storm life would be good. At least for Leo.

Neil Mason

I have been a palm user from the get go. If by mid summer when it’s time for my upgrade, if hp Palm isn’t with Sprint. I will be getting the HTC like all my other friends who were palm fans and got s**t on. At this point by the time Palm is reaching the U.S. It’s so outdated it’s pointless.
Banjod72

Am i missing something here? How many billions of dollars is a project like WebOs worth? If business angels and others “important” investors can’t see the necessity to work on WebOs, just hire programmers and make your own apps. Without a great choice WebOs is bound to fail. Just look at what most iphone users repute as “must have” applications and with all your genuine Palm point of view just make it better!
I’m really concerned that such a good project and imho the best alternative to iOs can miss its launch because of a miserable catalogue.
Another negative point is the availability scheduling!
You can’t let iDevices deploy, let them get all strategic positions, and then facing the challenge from the bottom of the hill.
I hope HP will change its approach and bet on a challenging mind (they are coming from very far, they’ll have to be patient) and never forget that Apple do assure a product viability for at least 2-3 years with a great user experience (your WebOs devices should be able to upgrade to the next OS for the next three years without being forced to buy the new buzzing gadget…)
Long live WebOs!!!!!!
Joseph

Great article. Great points. Good discussion here. If only HP were listening rather than just hearing.
Dom

I’m all-in on WebOs at this point. Besides a small crack on the surface of the screen, my original, launch day Pre is still going strong.

It always amazes me how many people to this day see me moving around the WebOs interface and ask me what phone I have.

A few key apps is what’s needed: all the major banks, Skype (which looks like is coming), Amazon, a good map app, and iTunes sync…the rest should follow. (I hope so. I bought HP stock inJanuary!)
Dom

I’m all-in on WebOs at this point. Besides a small crack on the surface of the screen, my original, launch day Pre is still going strong.

It always amazes me how many people to this day see me moving around the WebOs interface and ask me what phone I have.

A few key apps is what’s needed: all the major banks, Skype (which looks like is coming), Amazon, a good map app, and iTunes sync…the rest should follow. (I hope so. I bought HP stock inJanuary!)
Dom

I’m all-in on WebOs at this point. Besides a small crack on the surface of the screen, my original, launch day Pre is still going strong.

It always amazes me how many people to this day see me moving around the WebOs interface and ask me what phone I have.

A few key apps is what’s needed: all the major banks, Skype (which looks like is coming), Amazon, a good map app, and iTunes sync…the rest should follow. (I hope so. I bought HP stock inJanuary!)
Dom

I’m all-in on WebOs at this point. Besides a small crack on the surface of the screen, my original, launch day Pre is still going strong.

It always amazes me how many people to this day see me moving around the WebOs interface and ask me what phone I have.

A few key apps is what’s needed: all the major banks, Skype (which looks like is coming), Amazon, a good map app, and iTunes sync…the rest should follow. (I hope so. I bought HP stock inJanuary!)
Chedia

I am a long time Palm user. An RN…and the tools for me have all but vanished. My Palm has become not much more than a glorified phone if I lose internet access in the hospital. I’m having to make the very tough decision to move on…probably droid…what else am I to do?
Chedia

I am a long time Palm user. An RN…and the tools for me have all but vanished. My Palm has become not much more than a glorified phone if I lose internet access in the hospital. I’m having to make the very tough decision to move on…probably droid…what else am I to do?
Chris

I’ve been a pixi plus user for a year and so far android and iOS ia popular now. Also, Android is still supporting and releasing new updates to legecy devices like the tmobile g1. Hp just left there s**t in the dust. I’m moving to the Motorola Atrix, more storage, more power, and more support. Good bye WebOS.

The Hard Part: Getting Developers

Phase I: Show ‘em the money

Phase II: Show ‘em the peoples

Phase III: Show ‘em our horn…wait wha?

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