Flipboard comes to Android: another iOS exclusive makes the move  

Flipboard, noted as the best “social magazine” app on iOS, has finally hit Android. The final application is nearly indistinguishable from its beta counterpart, except for new YouTube and Google+ integration (that’s a lot of Google stuff).

And you know what this means? Yet another “iOS-exclusive” app gone Google. The funny thing is, however, that Flipboard’s co-founder Evan Doll worked at Apple… as a senior iPhone engineer.

Brian Chen of The NY Times added to the story:

“The move might create tension between the startup and Apple, which handpicked Flipboard as one of its favorite apps of 2010.”

Flipboards comeback?

“They would love for us to be iOS exclusive from now until the end of time, but we’re trying to reach as big an audience as we can. We’re trying to be Switzerland.“

Then again, this has become a sort of trend in the app atmosphere. Developers testing the waters on Apple’s platform, getting featured in the App Store, then after building up confidence and a following, move to Android. The big tech blogs cover the story and boom! Yet another large influx of users and fame. Most recently, Instapaper made its move (though in Marco Arment’s defense, he didn’t make that app), and of course, Instagram.

And there you go.

This just shows that the once tight "quality choke” Apple had on its iOS developers has finally taken a muscle relaxant. Though Android still isn’t as stable and even across the board as iOS, developers and app-built companies are quickly recognizing that they’re only starving themselves of a much bigger market and user-base by avoiding the big A. The Android market. And with the upcoming release of Jellybean (really, who comes up with these names?), expect even more sharp edges of the SDK to be rounded off.

Now I could go on and on about what this move means for Flipboard, iOS, Apple, and Android alike. Regardless, the app is here. Download it or don’t.