A survey of over 2,000 mobile app developers has found evidence of waning interest in Google's Android OS for a fourth consecutive quarter.
Gamesindustry.biz reports that the survey, conducted by Appcelerator and analyst firm IDC every three months, polled 2,173 developers and found that 78.6 per cent expressed interest in developing for Android.
While that's a healthy figure, it's a five per cent drop from the previous quarter and the report claims it is "consistent with the trend of small but steady erosion in Android interest over the last four quarters."
Appcelerator strategist Mike King told Reuters the broad range of devices with which Android is compatible was to blame, saying: "The fragmentation of the platform, which Google seems unable to curtail, is driving this drop in interest."
By contrast, the resoundingly defragmented iOS is as popular as ever. Eighty-nine per cent of respondents said they wanted to work on iPhone, with 88 per cent keen on iPad. Just 66 per cent of those polled expressed an interest in developing for Android tablets.
One possible silver lining for Google is an apathetic response to Facebook's social graph; of the 11 biggest developer priorities on Facebook, effectively harnessing the social graph ranked a lowly eighth.
Thirty-nine per cent of respondents said Google's network of services - including YouTube, Gmail, Google Maps and theGoogle+ social network - was more important to them than Facebook's social graph.

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