Why there are so few pro Android music apps?

[el-bo (formerly ebow)]

I still have this nagging thought in my mind, though... even if I had decided to get an iPad, would I have found all these great apps really useful? I mean, can you make some serious music with them, or are they just playthings in the end? I'll always compare my tablet with my desktop DAW, and if I'm continually frustrated by the limitations, wouldn't I be better off playing Minecraft or Angry Winged Vertebrates instead?

Yes, this is the "second level" (and even more important)
of the discourse: how useful the tablet interface in music
production really is/will be? I believe it will have its role, but e.g. for keyboard instruments we have to re-invent the way keys are controlled - the size of the tablet compared to human hand size is one challenge, the flat
and numb tablet surface is an other. No doubt that
developers will find solutions to these interface
challenges.

it's as useful as you make it. great music has always been made despite technologies often being limited. ios music apps offer a lot of power, but it's definitely worth looking at it from different angles

firstly, just give up comparing it to a desktop setup. some people are successfully making their music an entirely ios experience, but you don't need to for there to be advantages

if you go the traditional route (ios synth to ios daw), you might find yourself short of functionality you have become dependant on. this traditional setup still has it's uses, especially as a front-end compositional tool that can be used for generating ideas away from the computer, with the intention of bringing them back into your main studio.

it is true that the lack of physical feedback from the screen makes it a very different instrument to a real keyboard, but that doesn't have to be a failing. more and more, we are seeing developers getting creative in the manner in which they develop their software to offer routes of expression. once you stop trying to compare a tablet to a keyboard you can embrace them

animoog is an incredible instrument (can't keep my hands off of it), and it is certainly an instrument that would suffer in transition to a real keyboard setup. alchemy mobile is also a very expressive beast. but these are still both based around traditional keyboard models...more or less....start looking at thumbjam, gestrument, tc-11, garageband smart instruments, orphion (and tons more), and you open your creativity up to ideas that you might never have come across had you stuck to the conventions of a chromatic keyboard

also, you cannot put a price on being able to compose anywhere, anytime

there are many people eking great music out of ipads. the limitations are being defied and broken daily, but these limitations (and the workarounds that follow) are also often inspiring in themselves

this has come so far and so quickly. i'd be more inclined to believe that failure to produce music on an ios device is down to the user, not the device

[haj]

I still have this nagging thought in my mind, though... even if I had decided to get an iPad, would I have found all these great apps really useful? I mean, can you make some serious music with them, or are they just playthings in the end? I'll always compare my tablet with my desktop DAW, and if I'm continually frustrated by the limitations, wouldn't I be better off playing Minecraft or Angry Winged Vertebrates instead?

Tablet setup is not "superior" to desktop DAW setup or desktop + alpha. So people who try tablet thinking ditching desktop DAW will absolutely be disappointed. If someone needs full feature of desktop DAW to make her music she'd better stick with that. It is getting closer to laptop level with every iteration of new hardware tho.

So, at this moment (at least) tablet music should rather be thought as something new, new way of doing things. Since it's a new way, to maximize it's better trying to find how to get most of it instead of trying to do the same old thing in a different (limited, in the way) environment, is what I think.

[gamecat666]

even if you did consider it a plaything, that can be a good thing for your normally 'serious' production.

I've recently found myself stagnant on a full DAW with all the trimmings, like a form of analysis paralysis. too many options and too much power to do ANYTHING, so i get bogged down in the details and end up doing too much procrastination.

however, even sitting down to something as limited at Korg M01(Nintendo DS), or NanoStudio on Ipad+49 key keyboard can be refreshing in terms of just getting a sketch or idea out quickly.

The same could be said for 'toy' hardware (like Korg Kaossilator2), or even higher end stuff like an MPC. You might not want to be entirely shackled to that one device, but they can be great inspirational tools. Dont write it off because its not cubase/protools etc

[Harry_HH]

So, at this moment (at least) tablet music should rather be thought as something new, new way of doing things. Since it's a new way, to maximize it's better trying to find how to get most of it instead of trying to do the same old thing in a different (limited, in the way) environment, is what I think.

Basicly I agree. Partly, its OK that "media is the message",
i.e.the terminal interface greatly affects to the end-result
of the content/form. But, on the other hand, many great
composers underline the fact that their music is
"absolute", they don't use any instrument when they compose.

For me a good interface is one which restricts as little
as possible. Of course we are always more or less
"prisoners of the interface". As someone said, sometimes
restriction can generate good, increase creativity.
But certainly I prefer seeing and feeling all the 88
keys (or 6 or 4 strings with frets) in front of than
fiddling 10 cm long peace of glass.

HOWEVER, as said, I put my hope to the new interface innovations,they may be gesture controlled or even eye or mind controlled - or flexible, adjustable screens. So far we have to settle for much less with the tablets. H.

[Jaydiem]

Hmm...I never imagined I would see so many Android defenders on a site aimed at creative professionals. Android will never have the quality creative apps Apple does...the foundation for dealing with audio and midi successfully is nonexistent and individual developers have no reason to build it up when the next OS update might make it unusable. Incorporating that foundation into Android is of very low priority to Google because even though Android may be running on one in five smart devices out there, they account for a small percentage of app and in-app purchases. And considering that around 5% of those devices are even running the latest OS build, the fragmentation which has been mentioned before is a huge issue.

People who are inclined to buy cheaper products merely because they have higher specs (which every company other than Apple and Motorola have been shamelessly inflating and even installing software that cheats benchmark tests) aren't the sort of consumers who would pay for high end apps generally. Marketing does fool some people, so I'm sorry if any of you think your Android device is on the verge of becoming a valuable creative tool, but it's not gonna happen. There is no financial reason for developers to make Android versions of those apps...but you'll occasionally get a decent one here or there either trying to capitalize on the lack of competition or because they have bought into all the anti-Apple hype.

Source: my brother is former Google programmer...he recently quit because of shady contractual stuff, but I have discussed Android with him many times. He's an Android fan, but can rationally accept that it isn't and will never be widely used to create professional music.

EDIT: Sorry if it seems like I'm being negative or argumentative or whatever. I read back and realized it might seem that way. I think Android is great at what it does...it has it's place and has some fine apps. Discussing Apple vs Android is up there with politics and religion as topics to avoid much of the time because people can get very argumentative and passionate about it. They often resort to repeating irrational arguments they have heard from trusted sources because it can be painful to accept that you are wrong, may have been misled, or outright lied to. I sorta let myself go off a bit above because this was the last place I woulda expected to find such stuff. I typically avoid forums and comments online because I end up saying far too much since I type too damn fast. Carry on with the friendly discussion...pay no attention to me...

[musical android]

Hey go to musicalandroid.com click on musical interlude in the sidebar and be prepared to be amazed of what people are creating musically with Android devices and Android applications...
I know that iOS have better applications and less latency and in general handling audio better but I am just a little bit tired of hearing that Android is useless for creating music with...
Just listen to what people are doing musically and you will pretty soon realize that there is more than a fair share of well produced and well made music made with such "useless" devices!
Please just go and listen and then the arguments can continue!!!

[telebunke]

I was longing for a good range of apps like alchemy, Magellan, iKaossilator, Cubasis, Sampletank. But as of today, the selection for Android is not comparable to what you can get for the iPad.
So, I got me an iPad Air and I' having fun, now. Otherwise, I was satisfied with Android.
And it seems to me, even if the same range of apps existed for Android, that if you wanna get high end apps running smoothly, you' have to get one of the top devices, which aren't cheaper than Apple devices.
But that may change in the future.

Tele