Which App To Develop First For Business In 2022 Android Or Ios?

By Author: Dev Prajapati
Total Articles: 7
Comment this article

Mobile apps have become an integral part of human lives and so have Android App Development agencies. These handy applications have evolved into survival tools in these pandemic times. Earlier, before the Corona Virus era, the app industry was growing in single digit – year on year. Not anymore! Today, it is growing in leaps and bounds, and therefore every reputed business entity and startup desires to offer its customers state of the art applications. While some have gone on to become unicorns others are still maintaining an impressive success rate.

Some of the financial numbers for this industry are simply mindboggling. For example, this domain was valued at $107 billion in the year 2018. Today, it has jumped to almost $200 billion. It is predicted, that by the year 2026 it will cross the $500 billion mark. While its earlier growth had been pegged at 18.4% every year, this number has now evolved dramatically due to the pandemic as several enterprises have jumped onto this arena to make human lives safer and efficient.

Android or iOS App Development -

It is not just the growth factor that is attracting ...
... businesses. It is the whopping number of mobile phone users that are generating excitement. Consider this – roughly 7 billion folks around the world possess mobile phones. It is this stupendous number that every business organization wants to exploit. The question is how … by migrating their services from web to handheld devices, in the form of an app. However, there is a catch. Apps are expensive to build, and even more demanding when it comes to maintenance. Moreover, the digital world, especially the mobile phone user base is typically split into two categories - Android and iOS.

Businesses/startups, therefore, need to make the right choice or preference between the two for their first launch. So, should it be Android application development or iOS? Well, the answer to this is not easy. It becomes even more difficult for small and medium enterprises that have limited financial resources and almost nil external funding.

How about developing app for both the platforms? This is one of the common questions which pop up during the early stages of development. The truth is developing for both the platforms has its disadvantages -

• It will be a pricey affair. The cost can literally burn a huge hole in the pocket.

• Maintenance of these apps will also eat into the funds quickly. Entrepreneurs may soon find themselves in a financial mess.

• Marketing two different apps will also become a herculean task. It will demand different teams, a different sets of target parameters and may cause internal conflict.

• Tracking and building app reports for two apps may turn out to be quite tedious in the long run.

iOS Application Development or Android?

Before choosing an appropriate app platform for the first launch consider the following -

Target Audience -

Businesses and startups need to consider the gender and the age group they are targeting. Most of the mobile phone owners belong to the Android category. However, age and gender factors can supersede this fact, especially in certain niche services. A lingerie app is one such example. Chances are the majority of the women wanting to buy inner garments online may belong to iOS family. Thorough research can help decide the right platform. Not only the best android app development company but even a freelancer would suggest a platform based on complementing the audience.

O.S Audience -

Almost 72.13% of the world’s population uses Android phones. Business enterprises therefore need to develop an app based on this platform because it has a better presence. This is especially true for applications which are non-niche such as entertainment, productivity, add-ons and sports.

Already know your O.S audience? Great! Businesses and startups who already know their O.S audience can simply opt for the platform that boasts maximum users. Here is a thoughtful insight; although iOS has only 27.13 percent of smartphone users across the globe, enterprises with large number of Apple users can still opt for it and avoid Android development expenses, at least during the initial phase. Any renowned Android application development agency will vouch for it.

Geographic and Demographic Parameters -

Businesses also need to consider geography while choosing an appropriate app platform. For example the percentage of iOS users in US is around 57.46% and Android 42.22%. However, these numbers change considerably when it comes to Europe where 36.42% of users are iOS affiliated and 63.02% Android.

Entrepreneurs can opt for cross-platform technologies. However, this article is about the first choice, typically between iOS and Android platforms. In any case, enterprises whether small or medium will have to provide both the options in the long run if the users are split equally. In such a scenario the advantages and disadvantages of both these platforms become irrelevant.

Development Timeframe -

Although iOS app development process is quicker because of low fragmentation, its development standards are extremely high. These rigid rules make it difficult to upload a non-standard or bug ridden app on Apple Store. Moreover, the approval takes a long time. Businesses may have to wait for a lengthy duration before they can start with their marketing tasks.

On the other hand, Android apps take a long time to design and develop due to fragmentation. Android platform is used by hundreds of brands. Each one embeds a different version / flavor on their devices. Besides, some of these manufacturers do not use stock GUI which means they are tweaked to suit their devices and / or provide extra features. In such a scenario developers need to spend a long time testing the app on various handsets. On the positive side, getting an approval for Android app is comparatively quicker as Google Play is quite forgiving, and a fact which every Android App development agency will vouch for.

Revenue Goal -

Proprietary apps, or apps which provide niche services such as Food Delivery, Banking and Fintech, Travel, eLearning and Retail have their revenue model cutout clearly. However, gaming, productivity tools and add-on apps most of the time depend on revenue generated from downloads / in-app ads.

iOS offers a great opportunity to generate revenue from downloads as iOS device owners spend much more on Apple Store than Android users on Google Play. However, Google Play does offer in-app ad model to monetize applications. It is also an accepted fact that iOS device owners typically earn more than Android users. In short, they are affluent and therefore tend to spend more on app downloads.

Development & Security Advantages -

Android application development offers developers several choices in terms of IDE’s, libraries and packaged functions. Some of the developers go a step further and exploit third party add-ons to embed special features. All this leads to non-standard compliance. The problem is, the final product may look and feel good on one device but may crash or turn sluggish on another. This may result in the app getting black listed or may see increase number of uninstalls. On the other hand, iOS app development is restricted to a limited environment and tools. It therefore offers a uniform, cohesive and smooth user experience across all device variants.

The inherent framework of iOS application development makes it a rock solid, secure platform. It firmware and software are protected by some of the stringent proprietary security layers. It goes without saying that Apple devices such as iPhones, iPads, Macbook Pro, Macbook Air, Apple television and watches are much more secure from enterprise data hacks than Android.

Updates -

As mentioned above, fragmentation in Android leads to hundreds of different devices and operating system flavors. What does this mean for the end-users – a constant barrage of updates and security patches? Even the smallest change made to an Android app can result in user malfunction or security breach. This increases post-development tasks and subsequently leads to an enhanced financial burden. iOS on the other hand is free from fragmentation and therefore the updates are less frequent.

No Indian iOS app development company will suggest overriding the above and choosing a platform solely based on development merits and demerits. Disregarding will not offer linear success. Businesses may need to tweak their marketing strategies regularly which may lead to further deterioration in the number of downloads. Businesses should also look at the following metrics -

• 70% of uninstalls happen because of app crashes.
• 67% of app deletion occurs due to bugs.
• 58% users do not recommend an app because of confusing GUI.
• 70% of the users delete an app because of sluggishness.

Business owners need to understand that choosing the right platform for their first launch is crucial but what is more important is quality. Avoiding the above will surely improve downloads and minimize deletions.