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.