Android vs. iOS: Which Platform is better to build Your App for First

Building an app is vital to represent your business digitally. And even only an app can be the source of your income. Having an app for your business comes with a lot of benefits such as increased net income, and a strong online presence. An app that solves some problem(s) of the users can make them your customers.

To make sure that you make the most out of your app, you first need to decide which platform to build it for first. The platform you choose to build your app for first shall directly impact your business revenue. But this choice has to be based on several important factors. Based on your business goals, target audience, revenue model, and niche, the choice between the two operating systems may vary for different businesses.

To start from the very basic, Android and iOS are the two leading operating systems in the world. Although operating systems such as Windows Mobile, Samsung, KaiOS, and some others exist, Android and iOS collectively make 99.37% of the global OS market share.

Why can’t you make an app for both Android and iOS?

Building native (compatible with only one OS) or cross-platform (compatible with more than one OS) apps have their own pros and cons. Depending on the type of business, type of app, budget, and some other factors, the choice between the two varies.

Building cross-platform apps do come with some advantages such as – speed, reusable code components, and reduced costs. But a few disadvantages of cross-platform apps also need to be considered –

·         Performance problems: As there are both native and non-native components in the source code of cross-platform apps, they can have performance challenges with the two OS.

·         Less exclusive user experience: Since the code is made is complaint with more than one OS, it can sometimes limit the user experience.

·         Slow code: Sometimes the app may run slowly because of its code-compliance with two OS.

·         Limited tool availability: The app cannot take the most benefit of tools available for native app building. For a few particular apps, using native tools is an absolute necessity. So cross-compliance of the app might be the cause of problems here.

This does not imply the native apps are, in any way, better than cross-platform apps. The overall requirement of the business is what determines the choice between Android and iOS.

Why are we only considering Android and iOS?

According to Statscounter, as of November 2020, Android owns 71.18% and iOS has hold of 28.19% mobile OS market share. Samsung (0.24%), KaiOS (0.13%), Windows (0.03%) and other (0.14%) have negligible market share. Thus, every company primarily focuses on only the two giants – Android and iOS. As evident from the statistics, Android has a greater market share than iOS.

Android users:

The secret to making the most useful and appropriate app lies in knowing the exact requirements of the audience. And you cannot know the requirements of the audience without knowing their basic behavior. These are some of the basic characteristics of Android users as recorded by Cnet.com through a survey of 15,818 people:

·         They are 10% more likely to be men.

·         They are 80% more likely to have only a high school diploma.

·         They primarily belong to the age group 18-34.

·         Android users are 24% more likely to have a household income between $50K to $100K.

·         Android fans are fond of saving their hard-earned money.

·         71% of Android users have never traveled abroad

·         Most of them live in developing countries.

All these characteristics of Android users form an impression on our minds of a typical Android user. To conclude, a typical Android user belongs to a developing country, has hardly traveled abroad, cannot be called rich, and is not likely to make a digital purchase on your app.

iOS users:

Take a glance at the below-enlisted characteristics of the iOS users to compare and contrast the behavior of the two:

·         They are 18% more likely to be women.

·         They are 37% more likely to have a graduate degree.

·         Most iOS users are above the age of 35.

·         They are 67% more likely to have a household income of $200,000 or more.

·         iOS users are more inclined towards spending money.

·         As compared to Android users, iOS fans are 50% more likely to have visited more than 5 countries.

·         iOS users mostly reside in developed countries.

Looking at the above points, it can be understood that iOS users are usually wealthier than Android users. They are concentrated in the developed nations of the world and are more likely to buy your services through your app.

Android app development

Having seen an overview of the target audience behavior for Android and iOS, it is time to finally talk about Android app development. Let us first discuss the pros of android app development:

Pros:

Larger market share

Android owns more than 70% market share of the global mobile operating system market. So when you build an app for Android, you have access to a large audience to whom you can showcase your business. And not to forget, the chances of your app getting published are better when it is built for Android.

Flexibility of platform

Android is an open-source operating system. This makes a huge difference between Android and iOS. Android developers have the flexibility to use crowd-designed plugins and frameworks. You can create whatever type of app with the tools that are created by your fellow developers.

This helps in easy customization of UX (User Experience) and UI (User Interface). Any developer would understand the indispensability of an excellent UX and UI. After all, it is the look and feel of the app that makes or breaks the first impression.

Cons:

Despite some amazing pros, android development is still not free of some considerable cons. Have a look at the following cons of choosing Android as your primary development platform:

Expensive and time-consuming

Developing an android app can be time-consuming as well as expensive. On average, it takes about four months to design, create, and develop an app that is ready to be launched. This is just the average time. The time required changes based on the complexity of the app. Simple apps may take less than the average time whereas complex apps shall take much more than 4 months. The development time for masterpieces might even expand to as long as a year or a couple of years.

Creating an app can be a long journey in which you need someone to have your back. Partnering up with a good app development company is usually expensive. Well, app development is a long process that needs expensive tools and skilled individuals. So it being expensive is completely understandable.

 Too many Android devices

There exist approximately 24,000 various types of Android devices on the planet. And this number limits to 20 for iOS. A there are so many android devices, it becomes difficult for the developers to make the UX and UI compatible for all. The developers can only customize the app according to the OS. It is not physically possible to make the app compliant with all 24,000 devices.

Therefore, there are chances that your app may not perform well on some rare mobile devices. It does not mean that the app will not run smoothly on any device.  The app will have seamless administration in almost all devices but the chances of this incident are still not negligible.

iOS app development

Let us now move on to the advantages and disadvantages of choosing iOS as the platform for your app launch.

Pros:

High security

It is a well-known fact that Apple takes its security protocols seriously. So when you use Apple’s operating system – iOS, you get the highest possible security features. For businesses looking forward to working with customers’ data on their app, iOS can be a good option. iOS prevents piracy of the client data and hence enhances the authority of your app.

Inexpensive and fast

As apple is the entity that has developed iOS, Apple is what makes the guidelines and protocols. As discussed earlier in the article, there are only 20 iOS devices in total. Therefore the development process is fast. The developers have to consider only a few devices and therefore they can complete the app development faster.

Predefined tools

Apple has also created specific frameworks, modules, and interface models for the ease of iOS developers. The pre-crafted set of tools available for iOS development make the job for iOS developers a whole lot easier.

Cons:

Strict rules of App store

Apple is a company that is strict with all aspects of the development processes. There are a bunch of restrictive protocols that determine whether or not an app shall pass the App Store regulations. If your app does not go in accord with the regulations, you will need to rebuild it all over again. on the other hand, Android being open-source is free of such super-strict rules.

Fewer customization options

Apple provides you with predefined tools but the number is limited to a very few. The harsh regulations usually prove to be a major setback for all iOS developers.

 

Final word

To sum up, no platform is “better” than the other. Both android and iOS have their audience residing in different parts of the world and your target audience should determine which platform you want to build your app for.

If your revenue model is going to run on subscription fees or paid versions and the audience is mainly concentrated in the developed countries, iOS seems to be a better choice. Whereas if your app targets the audience in developing countries where most people use android, you might need to alter your revenue model as android users are not much accustomed to buying digital app plans. And if you still cannot reach a final decision you can also consider cross-platform app development.

Regardless of the pros and cons of the two platforms, the experienced developers know how to deal with them. Partnering up with the right app development agency is crucial to make sure your app becomes a source of income.

Let your app be the next banger!

Creating an app is no cakewalk. Also, app creation does not cease with the app launch, there is much more to it. The app needs to be updated now and then to keep up with the user feedback. It is highly crucial to keep coming up with updates and please the users so that the app generates revenue for as long as possible.

No matter which operating system you choose, M-connect solutions is the right place to get your app built. We have a team of the best android and iOS developers who can bring your innovative idea to life. With more than a decade of hands-on experience and thousands of positive feedbacks from our clients, we stand tall as one of the leading mobile app development companies.

Contact us today and bring your app idea to life!