So, it looks like X-Plane Mobile for Android has been axed......

[Dave12308]

All mention of X-Plane for Android has been removed from their site, now only the iOS and Palm Pre versions are listed. According to their facebook page, this is their response to someone asking if it was coming anytime soon:


X-Plane by Laminar Research Sadly, no. At this point, we're considering it postponed indefinitely. If/when we get news, we'll certainly post it here and on the official site. Wednesday at 9:50pm ·

Apparently, they are blaming it on issues with the Marketplace. Funny, because hundreds of other devs seem to be capable of using the Marketplace with no problems. I don't know how the Marketplace works, but I assume Google gets a cut of the profits; perhaps Laminar Research has a problem with this, or some other dispute with Google - in the end I don't really care, though; I am very mad about this. I was anticipating this app more than any other.

As much as I love Android, it's crap like this that might cause me to consider the iPhone 4 if it were to come to VZW. It seems like Android is always the underdog when it comes to getting good apps, even at this point almost a year after the Droid explosion started. At this point, you'd think everyone would have their Sierra-Hotel-India-Tango together.

So, what are other folks' thoughts on this?

[xtremecanefan]

Very sad to hear this. Was looking forward to it. I always thought the google market was much easier on devs than the apple market.

Sent from my Droid using DroidForums App

[Martin030908]

E-mail them. Worth a mention.

[tktouch12]

this is dissapointing. by now android should be getting more app attention, but i think all the different specs make it difficult.
could their marketplace issues be related to piracy of apps and how they loose money form a bad security system? or maybe thats not a big deal (i would hope its not)
and ya, i'm pretty sure the android marketplace is way cheaper than the apple marketplace for devs

[Googleaddict]

I have X plane on my ipod touch so im not really that angry..but still you should email them about it

[Dave12308]

I did email them about it, unfortunately the response I recieved was basically a carbon copy of the Facebook posting; plus I was told that they can't tell me WHY it's been indefinitely postponed at this time. I was told to email them back if nothing changes before the beginning of next year.

[dakster]

As long as they're crunching away on X-Plane 10 for the PC, I can forgive the squashing of the android app. xp10 is gonna be pretty sweet.

News - X-Plane.com

[sandiegoan]

I just got my first android phone. I was looking forward to getting xplane because I had seen it on their web site. So, I looked on their page to see when it was coming out. All the messages and postings about it were from May of this year.

So I wrote them and they answered me saying that they were frustrated at the problems but couldn't say anything about it because of a non disclosure agreement.

More frustration for me. I am only a casual flight sim user but I was really looking forward to it after trying the demo version on my PC.

So I called them. Got a machine but they called back and told me that they are as frustrated as I am because they cannot sell it. It has been ready for over six months! Again I was told that they could not say anything about it because of non disclosure agreements.

I go by the old saying "follow the money". Palm isn't really a player. Apple has it locked up by being available on all three of their portable platforms. A few days ago, I heard someone say that the new Windows phones will have a flight simulator.

So, following the money, I suspect that Apple is fighting back or Microsoft is going to do something soon.

Either way, I wish that I could have my X Plane NOW!

[Dave12308]

Well, AFAIK, neither Apple nor Microsoft have ANYTHING to do with Laminar Research, the makers of X-plane. I can see no fathomable reason on earth why they "cannot sell it" - Thousands of other devs, small and large, manage to sell their apps. The first time I wrote them, they told me it was delayed due to "technical issues with the marketplace" - and now they claim they "cannot sell it".

To me, the whole situation is ridiculous, and I feel that at some point, Laminar Research owes our community an explanation. I've never heard of a dev claiming that they "cannot sell" their app before this.

EDIT: Well, the latest update to their page says it will "probably be released........ sometime." and that "Delays that are out of our control have thus far prevented us from releasing it." -- not much to go on there, but I suppose it means there IS a glimmer of hope. Unfortunately, by the time it happens, the iPhone will probably have "X-Plane 10 Mobile" and our version will be "obsolete".