In 2007 Steve Jobs walked on to stage and, in his style, revealed the iPhone. A smartphone that would revolutionise the entire software market. Close on it’s heels, Google launched Android almost a year later. While the adoption for Android was slow at initial phase, today Android controls close to 89 percent of the mobile market. Contrast this to Apple, which has 11 of the smartphone market.
As such, you might be wondering if you should launch your app idea for iOS or Android? At TADCO, we believe the answer to this might solely lie on the app you want to develop, plus a whole lot of data points. In this post we explain a few data points that will help you make the decision for choosing the platform.
Time to Development
Assuming you want to develop a native app, building for iOS takes roughly less time than building for Android. This is because Apple’s development tool kits are top notch and Apple has spent a lot of time making perfecting them. Apple has also invested in building a new programming language, Swift, which according to the TIOBE index (an index that detects popular programming languages) is in the top 10 programming languages.
Another factor is with iOS you have to usually support 2-3 device sizes and 2 OS versions, but with Android there has been so much of fragmentation that you have to roughly support 6000+ devices. Android developers have to go through different pains of figuring out why an app works on one version of Android but does not work on other.
As such, development time is minimum on iOS as compared to Android.
Revenue Distribution
Of course one of the main reasons why you are building an app is to earn money. But which platform will earn you more revenue? The answer undoubtedly is iOS. It is a known fact that users on iOS are more inclined towards paying for apps as compared to Android users.
Another data that points positively in favour of Apple is that it has paid out till date $70 billion to app developers, as compared to around $20 billion to Android developers. It’s clear that when it comes to revenue Apple apps are leading the way.
Market Share
When it comes to Market share, Android leads all the way. In 2016 Android has close to 88% of the entire smartphone market, as compared to Apple’s 12%. If your aim is to reach a wider market rather than chase monetary gains, Android is the way to go. With almost a billion smartphones being sold up to now, Android’s grip over the smartphone market cannot be ignored.
Still confused over whether to go Android or iOS first? Our team at TADCO has helped clients by analysing their idea and helping them make the decision. Contact us today and we will help you get started with your app idea.
