It may sound very close to the untrained eye to build applications for Android and for iOS, but the fact is that each of these two operating systems has its own peculiarities. There are several variations, both in the technological foundations of software creation and in the method of creating an application itself between Android and iOS.
And not only at the technological level of the development of Android and iOS, but also in terms of marketing strategies for development and application. In other words, the whole concept of an interface would depend on the operating system picked. The difference can be noticed by developers who switch from one operating system to another with a totally different programming language.
Owing to the use of technology, the smart phone continues to grow in popularity. In addition to the number of end-users, the market for applications that offer business solutions continues to rise rapidly. The number of cell phone subscribers at the global level is projected to reach 4.78 billion by 2020, according to a survey by Statista.
There are obviously two competitors who rule the industry as we dig at the operating systems of these smartphones: Android (Google) and iOS (Apple). There are differences between the two that specifically impact an application's production process. In other words, the whole process of creating mobile applications can differ according to the operating system chosen. We'll speak about the basic differences in making applications for iOS and Android in this post.
Let's take a look at certain dissimilarities that developers typically find during the process of developing Android and iOS mobile apps:
The operating systems for Android and iOS are each coded in various programming languages. This is precisely the main difference: iOS apps run on Objective-C / Swift, while Java runs on Android apps.
There are also variations between Android and iOS when it comes to the instruments that act as an atmosphere for development of back-end software. Eclipse, Android Studio, and IntelliJ are the most popular IDEs (Integrated Development Environments) for Android.
There are fewer options for creating iOS-based applications, but the most popular one is Xcode. This IDE allows the user interface (UI) to be prototyped without complicated coding and allows developers to create applications for all Apple devices. The Appcode is a wiser IDE. This smart programming environment enables programmers to conduct coding more easily by automating everyday activities and conducting code inspections for, among other things, Objective-C.
A tangible advantage is that the emulator for iOS is much smoother than its equivalent for Android. The Android emulator, however has the comparative benefit of being an efficient virtual machine, with a CPU, making it more practical than its iOS counterpart. In reality, the iOS simulator frequently fails to render Apple devices with correct and realistic representations.
The performance of iOS animations is higher than that of Android. Either through the preview of Android L and by creating an interface design theme known as Material Design, Google tried to fix this. In the meantime, by looking closely after its visuals and user interface, Apple has always focused on gentle, complex and effective animations. In the other hand, Google wanted to rely on the hardware rather than on these aspects.
In fact, because of the fact that the market for iOS apps is smaller than for Android apps, the iOS production phase is marginally costlier. In addition to this there are much higher standards for launching an application on iOS.
Compared to Android, Apple has tighter specifications in its rules. The mobile device is reviewed by Apple, without question, before the iOS app is released in the App Store. Not long ago, Apple's authentication process could take up to 3 or 4 weeks. Today, in 1-2 days, Apple will accept new applications.
In comparison, Android does not have any specific protocols for authentication. That is presumably why fake apps exist in the Google Play Store on a daily basis and are used to advertise inappropriate or deceptive content. However, owing to poor ratings and critical feedback, most of the bogus applications are revealed easily.
Just a few of the most popular variations in both operating systems are the examples given. There are other dissimilarities that should be taken into consideration when making an interface, either physically, in sections or in interactions. Paying attention to these information, though will help you learn how tasks are performed on each platform and this will impact the process of mobile growth.
Try designing it for Android if you're planning on making a viral application. You may want to use iOS too, depending on the target audience and targets. You would thereby cover the highest proportion of future users worldwide.