But I agree the Eclipse / Android SDK should have a better way to support the debug/release build.
Then again, I have yet to submit my app to the App Store, or run it on a physical device. Getting started with iOS is a LOT less trouble compared to starting with Android development. I can't even begin to compare the two when started out anew.
But after that, for Android app, what you all need is to export the APK file from Eclipse (sign with a keystore) for upload or copy the device; for iOS app, you have much things to do ..
Comparing to Rake, I'm currently trying to create a rake task to create a custom package (non-gem). I don't even get a project name for free. I've got to ask the user to pass in the name (or a Gemspec object perhaps).
Is the objection to the mass of XML? Or to Maven itself? I can understand the former, but I really think Maven is a well engineered system...
Just in my experience every software project I have been on with Java that used maven had an immense build process. I am not kidding one system I worked on the tests alone within it took about 45 minutes per day just to get started. Maybe it is too powerful, and yes part of that is the xml/enterprise feel of Java and guilty by association.