In the vast smartphone applications world, there are tons of mobile apps available for everyone, but only those are successful that offer the most functionalities and value to their users. When building your first mobile application, it can be very unclear to choose which platform to launch your app first and align your priorities. There are a lot of factors that go into devising your platform strategy.
Google and Apple are the two uncrowned kings of the mobile apps world, with millions of apps available on the Play Store and App Store. As of January 2021, Google led the smartphone OS market with more than 71% of the share. The rest of the major chunk is in Apple’s hands and some other market players with smaller stocks.
Data published on the market shares with respect to the global smartphone shipments worldwide shows Google leading from the year 2014 to 2023.
The factors that can affect your initial choice of the platform, if you are just getting started, can differ according to your business objectives and what you wish to achieve through your app, but some common factors can be:
If you plan to incorporate some other features in the mobile application, those must be considered at earlier stages to avoid any conflicts.
When talking about audiences, there are a lot of things that both platforms have in common, but some distinct traits segregate the app industry based on priorities. Data has shown different characteristics of both OS users.
If we talk numbers only, Google has the most number of active users around the world with users belonging to various age groups, geo-economic and academic backgrounds, using basic to flagship devices offered by many manufacturers.
On the contrary, Apple users are mostly more educated, younger, and more wealthy and tend to do things in a free manner. iPhone users are also more addicted to electronic devices and like to spend their time using these devices.
It should be decided first what your targeted audience is and what you are looking to accomplish in order to understand your actual goals better and choose the platform accordingly.
A 2015 study shows (see figure below) that cumulatively, the development costs for Android Apps were higher in the North American region. In the rest of the world, there weren’t many differences in the development costs.
Fast-forward 2021, with the immense number of android phones and varying device sizes, Android developers have to put more effort into developing the mobile apps while iOS developers have fewer devices to cater to, making it easier for them to make specific apps with accurate sizes and improved user experience. This affects the development costs with the Android development jobs on the higher side.
Generally, mobile applications cost more than website development or other software development jobs. A basic Android or iOS application costs around $10,000. However, there can be differences in pricing pertaining to some specific features you might have in the app.
A more advanced and moderate app development job on the native platforms costs somewhere near to $25,000 to $30,000, again, depending upon your needs, requirements, and the mobile app development agency you have chosen.
Both Android and iOS platforms have their pros and cons, and it comes down to your needs and objectives to decide whether you will build an app for Android or iOS. Let’s look into some of the pros and cons of the platforms to help you decide easily.
Android is an open-source operating system backed by Google. The native programming languages used for the Android app development are two; Java and Kotlin. Java is an old language and has many other usages around the world as well, while Kotlin is a more recent language used only for Android app development. However, Kotlin is a powerful language and is highly cross-functional.
The development platform mainly used for Android development is Android Studio, though there are other options available too.
iOS is an operating system by Apple which is not open-source, unlike Google. It also uses two programming languages for native development; Swift and Objective C. Objective C is decades old and is less preferred today, while Swift is a more efficient solution for iOS app development and uses less code to complete the jobs.
iOS mobile applications can only be developed using Apple’s Mac computers. The primary IDE used for iOS app development is called XCode.
After all the long talks, facts and figures, and subjective opinions, the ball is finally in your court. It is up to you to decide which platform suits you and whether your needs are fulfilled or not. Considering all the factors that could alter your mindset and limitations and constraints, it is a big decision to choose one platform when starting up. Still, an informed decision is better than a fluke because you know what you are doing. If you still need assistance to choose a platform that better suits you, hire any leading app development company and ask them to guide you in a systematic way.
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