Developers Favoring iOS Over Android, Study Shows

[poofyhairguy]

More than half (57 percent) of new projects in the second quarter of this year were developed for the iPhone/iPod Touch, up from 54 percent in the first quarter. In the same time, the development for the iPad was up to 15 percent (from 10 percent in the first quarter), while Android app development was down to 28 percent (from 36 percent in the first quarter)......

Researcher Charles Newark-French says he believes the focus-shift back to iOS development probably has a lot to do with the launch of the iPhone on Verizon, as well as the successful debut of the iPad 2.

"Ongoing work to improve the Android Market layout and to push forward the adoption of Google Checkout are critical to its success," Newark-French wrote in a blog post. "The development community is concerned about the rising cost of deploying across the Android installed base, due to the double whammy of OS and storefront fragmentation."

http://www.pcworld.com/article/235851/developers_favoring_ios_over_android_study_shows.html

Everyone assumes devs like iOS more, nice to see some real data on it.

My question is:

At some point do the market-share numbers of Android hit a level where developers have to "suck it up" and develop for Android even if is a pain in their ass?

Also:

If Amazon does launch a tablet without many of Android's problems (fragmentation, etc.) will it become the darling of developers?

 

[Suspicious-Teach8788]

the other thing to consider is the iOS app store flood gates opened first. Obviously your top, most brightest developers jumped there first. By the time Android saw itself as a ripe opportunity, the leftover developers were the junk ones. Then it was a matter of getting people to port apps over, but we all know ports suck in general....

 

[shortylickens]

http://www.pcworld.com/article/235851/developers_favoring_ios_over_android_study_shows.html

Everyone assumes devs like iOS more, nice to see some real data on it.

My question is:

At some point do the market-share numbers of Android hit a level where developers have to "suck it up" and develop for Android even if is a pain in their ass?

Also:

If Amazon does launch a tablet without many of Android's problems (fragmentation, etc.) will it become the darling of developers?

Its easier to milk people for larger sums of money on the Apple market. That will always have high appeal to people who like paychecks.

With Android people are a little used to having lots of good free apps, so theres not as much incentive for a small or medium company to set up their business there.

 

[MrX8503]

At some point do the market-share numbers of Android hit a level where developers have to "suck it up" and develop for Android even if is a pain in their ass?

If the money is there, developers will develop for the platform no matter how painful it is. Where it stands now though is that iOS has the largest returns for their investments, so developers are flocking towards iOS right now.

A friend of mine develops for iOS and he hates Apple and Steve Jobs, but he develops for iOS anyway because he knows that he's getting the most in return.

I think at some point Android will get that support, that point just isn't today.

 

[runawayprisoner]

http://www.pcworld.com/article/235851/developers_favoring_ios_over_android_study_shows.html

Everyone assumes devs like iOS more, nice to see some real data on it.

My question is:

At some point do the market-share numbers of Android hit a level where developers have to "suck it up" and develop for Android even if is a pain in their ass?

Also:

If Amazon does launch a tablet without many of Android's problems (fragmentation, etc.) will it become the darling of developers?

I think your first question already has an answer. Android holds a significant market presence and clearly surpasses iOS in that regard. At least in Smartphone numbers. If such showing doesn't entice developers to "suck it up" then how much higher does Android have to climb?

Also, Amazon can't solve some of Android problems such as piracy, fragmentation and diversity. Even if they were able to address those problems, what reason is there for it to become the darling for developers when Amazon would have obviously created a whole new fork of Android separated from the rest? To be more precise, it would have too low a market presence to even spark a light.

 

[Puppies04]

Does it really surprise anyone that devs will go after apple customers first? I know i would rather try to sell something to a customer base who have a large percentage of "i bought it because it says apple on it and it is expensive" while having to make sure my apps work on exactly one type of phone.

 

[MrX8503]

"i bought it because it says apple on it and it is expensive"

....and you know this how? Maybe, just maybe, there are people out there who buy apple products because they work for their needs.

 

[MagickMan]

....and you know this how? Maybe, just maybe, there are people out there who buy apple products because they work for their needs.

or because it's a good phone and it just f$%king works.

I like Android, but I prefer an iPhone for my everyday phone. My iP4 hasn't crashed, failed, or even sputtered since I bought it. It's been solid as a rock.

 

[Tristicus]

or because it's a good phone and it just f$%king works.

I like Android, but I prefer an iPhone for my everyday phone. My iP4 hasn't crashed, failed, or even sputtered since I bought it. It's been solid as a rock.

Well then you're one of the 10%. My friend's iPhone 4 has the same problems my Fascinate does, including shitty GPS apparently, and my phone is highly modded with an experimental rom.

 

[Suspicious-Teach8788]

Well then you're one of the 10%. My friend's iPhone 4 has the same problems my Fascinate does, including shitty GPS apparently, and my phone is highly modded with an experimental rom.

As a Nexus S user I'd have to say that with a fixed Samsung GPS, the iPhone 4 GPS seems to be better though. The SGS series just has a weak GPS overall. My Motorola Milestone steamrolls all of them.


Back to the original problem, the issue with developers going to iOS is that this is a mirror image of the software world for PCs and Macs.

On the Mac, you have terrible software. Microsoft Office is terribly ported. Even the 2011 version which claims parity is only barely there. It took how many years for Microsoft to put a decent version out? Even then 2010 smokes the Mac 2011 version. The same goes with other stuff like Zip utilities, media players, Mac just flat out sucks. Games too.

Well the opposite holds true for iOS vs Android development. I love my Android device, I really do, but everytime I see people use cool apps on their iPhone or iPad, I do get a bit jealous. I have no problem doing it on a web browser, but the fact that apps like Flipboard just makes content absorption so nice on the iPad makes me wonder WTF are Android developers doing?

I know people are modding and installing ROMs on their tablets, but at the end of the day a Tablet is meant for more media consumption than a smartphone. If the software isn't even there, then what the hell is the point?

 

[poofyhairguy]

Agreed, Flipboard is a PERFECT example of the types of "next generation" apps that iOS has.

And honestly I can't think of a single app (that meets iOS store guidelines) that is a AAA app that wasn't on iOS first. Seems like Android gets ports, which I am fine with.

 

[Pliablemoose]

Flipboard is amazing, I've turned a lot of people onto it...

And I know what you mean, I have a gen 4 iPod touch, and a couple of iPads, and have had an android phone since the G1 came out.

It took nearly a year for eTrade to port their app to Android, I think it's v4 or so now, and pretty decent, but the iOS app is still better.

It's like companies grudgingly make Android apps...

And delirium, you're right, software for the Mac is awful, it's like 2-10 year old Windows stuff.. I love my MBA, but only because it's primarily used as a Web browser.

 

[DT4K]

I don't think it has anything to do with "preferring" iOS over Android.

The majority of app developers are trying to make some money and from everything I've heard, there's a lot more money to be made on the Apple side. I've written a few simple apps for iOS and I can't imagine anyone picking objective C over Java if the money making potential was the same.

 

[Oyeve]

If it was 70% or more I would maybe actually care, but 57% is too close to half that, IMO, it doesnt matter.

 

[purbeast0]

as a dev on both platforms, i prefer iOS as well for a couple reasons.

1. only have 1 platform to worry about
2. GUI creation is better
3. the whole process is just more streamlined and everything just feels ssssoooo much more polished on iOS side.
4. more resources seem to be available if i need help.
5. have made more money off of it
6. apple app store > google market by a long shot

things i DON'T like about it
1. have to use xcode
2. objective c.

i do java at my actual job so i'm more familiar with java code, and still have to look up basic stuff on the objective c side of stuff, cause it has some funky syntax.

EDIT:

also, all of my apps started out as iOS apps and I ported them to Android afterwards. maybe if I had done it the other around my opinion would be different on some things.

EDIT2:

can't believe i left out the 1 platform thing as a huge reason why i like iOS better...

 

[cheezy321]

Does it really surprise anyone that devs will go after apple customers first? I know i would rather try to sell something to a customer base who have a large percentage of "i bought it because it says apple on it and it is expensive" while having to make sure my apps work on exactly one type of phone.

There is one of you in every single apple related thread. Give it a rest.

 

[cheezy321]

Its easier to milk people for larger sums of money on the Apple market. That will always have high appeal to people who like paychecks.

With Android people are a little used to pirating every app on their phone, so theres not as much incentive for a small or medium company to set up their business there.

Fixed for you.

 

[QueBert]

Does it really surprise anyone that devs will go after apple customers first? I know i would rather try to sell something to a customer base who have a large percentage of "i bought it because it says apple on it and it is expensive" while having to make sure my apps work on exactly one type of phone.

There are literally tens of thousands, if not hundreds of thousands of free iOS apps. While I did spend a lot on apps when I had my iPhone. There were plenty of free ones I used too. The bolded part is fail because iPhones aren't any more expensive than Android ones. I'd say Android has more free apps, but iOS has the much much much more polished apps. It's like Linux Vs Windows. There's a reason most Linux apps are free, they lack any sort of polish. Polish is worth money to a lot of us. I would gladly pay for all my favorite iOS apps for my EVO if I could.

 

[Dulanic]

Fixed for you.

Take your own advice from above, give it a rest. It isn't pirated when the majority just have free alternatives or free versions with ads.

 

[Anubis]

Take your own advice from above, give it a rest. It isn't pirated when the majority just have free alternatives or free versions with ads.

i was gonna post this.

Now there are people that get around paying for apps but the number is tiny. the vast majority of users dont even know there is an amazon store let alone how to sideload an app off XDA