Should Mobile Developers Choose iOS or Android?

Over the past some months, Google has made noteworthy updates to their Android operating

system in an effort to catch the attention of developers who are looking to make high quality

applications for the platform. Android-powered phones now make up the mainstream of the

smartphone market, but to the surprise of many, lots of developers still desire to create

applications for Apple's iOS. Some readers might query how a developer can prefer the more

constricted iOS-style development to Android's open market distribution system, however

professionally executed surveys and studies by research companies have revealed a selection

of different reasons as to why this inclination may arise.

Initially although there are now more smartphones running on Android than on iOS, Apple's

iPod Touches and iPads pass the total number of iOS powered devices on the market to nearly

250 million. Despite the recent growth in tablets running Android, there's no means Google's

platform will be able to match the number of iOS' widespread users any time soon. A better user

base means a better chance at for a developer's application to be downloaded, and that motive

alone makes it worth sticking to iOS for many especially those developing applications for which

the user has to pay.

Beside with a larger total number of users, Apple has their App Store designed in a way that

exposes a great number of different applications to users. Top rated free and paid applications,

applications of the week, and staff selected applications are a few of the diverse categories

where sets of applications are highlighted. Developers want their application to be revealed, and

the open nature of Android leads to many uninteresting applications cluttering the store,

meaning users are obtainable to be less likely to find and download the quality applications

they're after.

iOS is often chided because of the limited number of devices that run it, but in actuality, this

prevents the inequality between devices that Android-powered units often face. Since every

Android-powered device is so unusual it's nearly impossible for developers to make their

applications run perfectly on every device.

Users are far more eager and likely to pay for applications on the iOS platform compared to the

Android OS. Developers are far more contented making applications that don't need to earn

their profits from advertisements, because in most cases, an app will look and run better without

ads filling up the screen. The better and application looks and runs, the more likely the

developer will be praised for the development work. Since many Android applications are

uploaded and offered free of charge, developers feel a stronger obligation to release ad-

cluttered applications in the Android Store without cost in order to compete for downloads.

There's no question developing an application for iOS comes with a elevated start-up cost than

developing one for Android, but in the end, users are far more likely to find and pay for an

application released on iOS. This isn't to say Android application development should be

dumped by any means since there is still a sizable market for them, and with some hard work,

it's very possible to make impressive and influential Android apps. Nevertheless, with the sheer

number of iOS-powered devices on the market today, there's no question that any developer

should jump if iOS application development as an alternative.