Netflix now streams TV and movies on five more Android smartphones, as the online movie giant struggles to integrate with Google's diverse and somewhat fragmented mobile platform.
Incredible Evo 4G, Nexus One, G2 -- along with the Samsung Nexus S.The app is free, but Netflix service costs $8 per month. An iPhone version has been around for months, but Netflix had troubles with Android, citing trouble with fragmentation.
"Because the platform has evolved so rapidly, there are some significant challenges associated with developing a streaming video application for this ecosystem," said Roma De of Netflix's product team. "One of these challenges is the lack of standard streaming playback features that the Netflix application can use to gain broad penetration across all available Android phones."
It will take time for Netflix to roll out an equal number of apps, as the company must painstakingly tests each app for compatibility with Android's nine versions.
Google's mobile operating system is open -- not limited to one manufacturer like Apple -- and Android phones come in various shapes and sizes with different chips and screens, requiring developers to test their apps for several platforms running on a multitude of devices.
Netflix' difficulties with Android are nothing new, and a recent survey by Baird Research found that over half of developers consider fragmentation a "huge" or "meaningful" issue. These problems could discourage developers from creating new apps, pushing them to rival platforms from Apple and Microsoft.
Apple still leads the app market at some 300,000 apps and churning out almost $3 billion in profits this year, which should keep it attractive to developers. IOS has the advantage of working across all of Apple's products, making developers' jobs easy.
Netflix has had apps for iPhones and iPads for some time.
But as Android gains market share with apps, programmers can't ignore Google's mobile platform, even if it means tediously testing each device before marketing an app.
At its developer conference this week Google addressed these concerns, appeasing programmers by launching a program to create common Android accessories. This step should help with accessory compatibility at least, though it does not solve the multiple OS version problem.
The five Android phones run on Android 2.2 and 2.3. Netflix is promising more in compatible software in the coming months.
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