KitKat is pretty solid. I’m definitely taking Android and it’s place in the future of computing seriously.

I might write a reply post but the quick answers (for me) are:

1) When I freelanced I very rarely got requests for Android apps, whatever startup, agency, etc was hiring me always put their budget into Android first. So typically I would just go where the money was

2) When I was full-time at agencies, brands typically have a fixed budget for mobile per quarter/year and although it's increasing, it's never normally enough for more than one or two platforms. iOS will always come first, with Android being a 'nice to have'

3) I've worked on mobile sites and apps for 3 large UK retailers - New Look, M&S and Kiddicare - I can tell you that Android makes such a small portion of their mobile sales compared to iOS that it becomes a easy business decision to delay shipping a version.

Whether you're in a agency, startup, brand, freelance, full-time etc you can only really do what's in front of you, and when it comes to mobile, more often than not that's iOS design.

The spin-off from this is that as I spend more time working on iOS projects, i naturally grow my expertise on that platform and know less about Android.

Android isn't taken seriously because Android owners don't buy apps.

Designing for Android is a good exercise for designers. Here’s why:

• Different guidelines, which give you a new and refreshing attitude about aesthetics and user interactions.
• Design and deploy for numerous devices and screen sizes with just one app, which gives you a great constrain challenge. As the screen size gets smaller, you have to choose what to hide and what to prioritise.
• A fairly unexplored terrain, where good design is missing but is much appreciated and needed.

tl;dr

Out of pure ignorance.

Many designers are simply set in their ways. Perhaps unknowingly so.

There used to be a clear winner, so many designers flocked to iOS.

The problem is, they've been on iOS for so long that they think/speak ignorantly about the Android experience. They lack deep firsthand experience and intimate knowledge of its offerings, simply regurgitating a few lines from a once-read article.

Perhaps they never even experienced it to begin with, an egregious offense.

1. Fragmentation on Android makes it much easier to launch quickly and evaluate user interest on iOS.

2. In my opinion, Android lacks polish. It has improved over time. Since iOS' inception, Apple has obsessed over the details which I think earned more designers' respect.

3. Most designers already use Apple products. It keeps our lives simple.

Some interesting statistics here: http://techcrunch.com/2014/03/23/mixpanel-ios-7-adoption-at-90-while-android-kit-kat-remains-at-under-10/

Probably because Google never took the design of Android seriously till very recently.

I've designed a few android apps. The vast array of screen densities, performance and OS install disparity makes designing on the platform more of an annoyance than a challenge.

You have to make so many sacrifices for cheap ass phones, it becomes almost discouraging. Market share is only a tip of the android iceberg, the hardware/software fragmentation is the real trick

I think one factor is market interest. It seems like most designers are focused on building apps that would naturally launch first in iOS.

I am a product designer for a company building apps for manufacturing, and even in that space, iOS dominates the conversation when it comes to mobile applications.

Once people realize there's little money to be made ripping off games and social platforms no one cares about, they'll start looking to industry, where the real money is for most of us, and where platforms are perceived differently.

I also heard this from a group of developer friends on the subject: "whatever it takes to build on iOS, multiply it by 1.5 for Android."

Context matters, and pain points really matter.

http://androidniceties.tumblr.com/

They certainly do! As a long time iOS user who had a replacement Android phone for a couple of months I can confirm that design wise most current Android apps look very decent.

Some look and work even better because of the superior functionality Android offers such as inter-app communication.

Nonetheless pre-"holo UI" apps look ugly as shit, but so do outdated iOS 4/5 apps.

The stereotype of tasteless ports and ugly Android counterparts are kind of obsolete nowadays.

Android's biggest concern is piracy.

I've worked on a couple and it actually was smooth sailing for the most part until it got to development. By the time they were finished with working out all the kinks and implementing it to work as it should, we had maybe a sprint left to get the UI right. It was half assed to say the least. I've seen it too many times to believe it's a one-time accident.

So yeah, I don't take it seriously. KitKat is nice though.

I wish he applies this to Twitter client for Android. It clearly lacks the good Kitkat features and order.

Some blatant self-promotion: I started a vector UI kit for Android not so long time ago. It's pretty accurate and it will help you to define a good basement for your design. It's totally free (public domain licenced) and it's also on Github, you're welcome to contribute.

https://news.layervault.com/stories/17526-show-dn-android-vector-ui-kit

I think the problem is the brand itself => Android

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