Android vs iOS – The Platform Supremacy Fight continues!

The world is certainly divided into a new type of two—iOS users and Android users. Which one do you belong to? The answer may be immaterial for a layman, but from a business perspective, your answer holds the key to many opportunities for growth and enterprise mobility. Simply because most of the entrepreneurs and business organizations face this question of "Which platform to be considered first for building your business app!"

To begin with, Google's Android and Apple's iOS are operating systems that are being used in the mobile technology of smartphones and tablets today. Technically speaking, Android is Linux-based and partly open source, while iOS is less customizable but termed more user-friendly. There are many aspects in which iOS and Android differ considerably; let us compare the two for your convenience, and then you can take the decision accordingly.

1. Reach and Penetration—Android, without any doubt, has a wider reach and commands. Market data points out that 81.5% of smartphones globally in 2014 are Android-based. iOS had only 14.8% share of smartphones globally in the same year. But when it comes to tablets, iOS commands 22.8% of tablets globally and leads in comparison to Android in this genre. So if you want to address a wider population, going ahead with an Android app would be a better idea.

2. User Demographic—There is no denying the fact that Apple’s iPhones and iPads are considered upmarket. All Apple products come in an expensive bracket; that’s why Apple’s typical user demographic consists of high-incomeand middle- to high-income groups. Android, however, has been able to penetrate the lower-income market segment as well. So if your brand is targeting people with higher income, higher education levels, more engagement, and more spending capacity per app, iOS is the platform to consider.

3. Developing Apps for Android vs. iOS— Android apps take more time to be built and floated in the Google Play Store, while iOS apps get built faster. The reason behind this is the slow development tools and process of the Android platform. So thinking critically, an iOS app will be the faster one to reach the market or hit the App Store; however, Android apps are the ones that allow users to update them more swiftly.

4. Costing of Android Apps vs iOS Apps – Just because iPhones and iPads are costly doesn’t mean that developing apps for iOS is also more costly than Android apps. Factually speaking, the cost of developing an app depends on the time. And since we already explained that developing an Android app takes longer, it turns out to be a costly affair to develop an Android app. Similarly, iOS apps are more successful in their revenue-generating model, as shown by the market research.

5. User Experience—The ultimate aim of building an app is to ensure smooth functionality and impact user experience. Based on user ratings, iOS apps emerge as more user-friendly and better than Android on cognitive load and user friction. Moreover, iOS apps are programmed in the Objective-C language, which has been accepted worldwide as the most user-friendly language.

The debate of Android vs. iOS can continue forever, but let us not forget that currently 6.5 lakh apps are available on the Google Play Store and nearly 7 lakh on the Apple App Store; both figures are almost the same. So whatever platform you choose may not matter as much as the team you choose to build your mobile app. Choosing the best company for developing a mobile app will help you get the maximum out of your mobile app irrespective of the platform, time taken, and cost incurred. To know more on how you can control the cost of developing a mobile app and launch the app faster, send us an email at contactus@naxtre.com