iOS VS Android | The Battle of Choosing Better App Development Platform
When getting an app built for the first time, it is often very confusing and stressful to decide on an app development platform between these two as both have their pros and cons and both can be very inviting and dismissing at times. One feature may get you drawn to Android while another would take you back to iOS. This constant struggle is often seen in many businesses that are just stepping into their digital marketing venture. We are here to make it easy for you to decide which mobile application development platform you should go for. It is always better to just go for both but not everyone can afford that at the same time. So go through this comprehensive guide on both app development platforms and decide for yourself depending on the nature of your business and audience. The user market of both platforms have a noticeable difference, to choose the right operating system for your mobile application, make sure it is in sync with your business model.
Here are a couple of factors you should consider while deciding for your mobile application development platform:
Market Share
As a total, both iOS and Android hold 92% of the market share, globally. This is why it is better to use both but as already mentioned above, we understand that sometimes it is not possible to get both at once due to limited resources or time. If you decide on the basis of the number of users and market share, then Android simply takes the lead here. Due to a wider range of mobile companies using Android systems in their devices, the market share is evidently greater with 75%. While only Apple supports iOS which decreases its market share to a minimum of 17%.
As per Statista data of the second quarter of 2018, Google Play Store has 2.6 million apps while Apple Store comes in the second position with 2 million apps. The total number of app downloads in this period were accounted to be at 28.4 billion, Android accounted for 20 billion of those total downloads.
Monetization Strategy
If digital marketing was an easy route to follow, it would’ve been a straight step by step process. You build an app, you launch it, and voila, the money comes inflowing your way! But digital marketing is not that simple. You need a solid monetization strategy that supports your business model to stay in the game. Each platform comes with its own characteristics in support or opposition to your strategy. In terms of revenue, it is no surprise that iOS apps bring in more revenue. The market share is significantly low but the consumer nature of iOS users and apps makes them more revenue-generating as compared to wider audience of Android.
Apple’s in-app purchases and pay per click business model generate 45% more revenue than Android on general basis. Last year Apple Store accounted for 88% more revenue generation as compared to Google App Store. Moreover, 23% of iPhone users prefer to shop online while only 17% of Android users are mobile shoppers.
Development Budget and Timeline
It is a crucial stage of any business decision making the process to estimate the time and budget of a project. Although it entirely depends on your mobile application, its features, and requirements for an exact timeline and budget package but generally iOS apps take less time in coding and development process than Android apps. Android apps are more complex in nature and have 40% more code lines as compared to iOS applications but then, iOS apps take longer time to get approved on Apple Store due to their stricter regulatory and standard policies. Whereas an Android app can be approved and up on Google App Store within days.
The longer an app takes and the more features it requires, the more it would cost and that depends entirely on your service provider. But some providers charge more for Android apps due to their wide range of users on various devices, so the cross-platform compatibility and UI implementations take longer and more expertise to cover the entire range. Android platforms can sometimes be slower due to this reason, an increased number of users increase fragmentation and lagging in the system while iOS is faster due to a limited number of users. We can say that building an iOS app is 30–40 times faster and less expensive.
Technical Differences
Besides coding complexities and responsiveness to a wide range of devices, there are some other technical differences as well. The technical expertise required for an Android app developer includes, knowledge of third-party libraries and APIs, OOPS concepts, database, and XML as some of the most basic requirements, along with Java programming language and experience with SQL server. For an iOS developer, some of the basic skills include decent knowledge of iOS frameworks like Core Animation, or Core Data, experience with Objective-C and Swift, the expertise of code versioning tools such as Mercurial, Git, and SVN.
The open-source feature of Android makes it easier to customize and upgrade while iOS’s security and regulatory policies make it a long and strict process to upgrade or customize an app. Android offers easier upgrades on a one-time fixed fee of $25 at the time of registration. Furthermore, Android offers more than 100 languages with its operating system while an iOS system offers 32 languages. The technical advances of Apple make it faster in overall user experience and design but Android is ahead in its AR VR experiences.
Few Pointers
Both platforms have their pros and cons, it depends on your business model to put in the final say in the decision. If you’re still confused, then here are a few pointers to guide you on the right way.
Choose Android if:
· You want more downloads and visibility
· Your target audience is in emerging markets of developing countries
· You want more customization options
· You want your app in stores at less time and price
Choose iOS if:
· You want more revenue per user
· You want a less complicating development process
· You put the security of your users at first priority
· You want better integration with social media platforms
