This article is for all you one-time Glassware developers out there, wondering if you should continue work on your app in the current climate. I know how you feel; I’m one of you. And last summer I was first in line to stop developing for Glass. I think that was the right decision… then. But [...]

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This article is for all you one-time Glassware developers out there, wondering if you should continue work on your app in the current climate. I know how you feel; I’m one of you. And last summer I was first in line to stop developing for Glass. I think that was the right decision… then.

But that was then. Now, Glass has “graduated” from an experiment to a proto-product. I know, Google could still pull the plug, and nobody but the hardcore would be too surprised. But there’s also a pretty good chance that they won’t.

And if they don’t, that means that Glass is now on the road to being a full-blown consumer product. A product that will need apps – and unlike many products, there’s an opportunity to develop those apps before it ships. There’s also an opportunity to get them blessed approved by Google, even during this interim period.

You know what else consumer products have? App stores. Real, honest-to-god, pay-to-Play app stores, where those consumers can buy apps. Not a half-baked directory, but an actual store.

One problem that many products have at launch, however, is that their app store is empty. The shelves are bare, apart from what the vendor itself produces. But Glass 2.0 has a ready-made solution to that problem: that directory of approved apps. That’s where Google will go to fill those virtual shelves. The lesson being, of course, that if you want the best possible placement for your app in the coming Glassware Store, get it approved now.

But it won’t be the same Glassware, I hear you cry. Google has already said that the API will have deep changes before the 2.0 release. Sure it will… but which devs have the best chance of being shown the new API before launch? See if you can guess.

Now, all of this is still speculative, of course. As others have said, don’t start a new business now based on building Glassware for consumers; the future is too uncertain. But if a dev already has that Glassware (mostly) written, and perhaps has even started through the approval process, wouldn’t it make sense to hedge that bet by taking this last step?

One more note: Last summer, the Glassware approval process was horribly backlogged. Bet it’s not any more…

(Photo credit: Go sign via photopin (license).)

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