Getting Androids and iPhones to Play Nice

Pity the programmer. The path used to be so clear. After coming up with the next billion-dollar software idea, the only decision to be made was whether to build it for just Windows or Mac as well. Now the options are far more diverse. Mobile platforms like iOS, Android, and Windows Phone all vie for coders’ attention alongside desktop operating systems and Web hubs such as Facebook. Each one requires time and often a different skill set.

The problem is particularly acute in video games, where iPhone users expect to be able to interact with their friends even if, God forbid, they’re using a different device. Michael Carter, a 27-year-old software engineer, thinks he has a solution in HTML 5. Carter’s company, Game Closure, builds tools that let game developers write one version of their genius idea, then publish it anywhere. In Game Closure’s take on the card-game Hearts, for instance, friends in different cities can play against each other using Facebook, an iPhone, or an Android tablet. “It’s the future,” says Carter of HTML 5.