Both Android and iOS are widely regarded as the most popular operating system platforms for mobile devices. Both platforms have witnessed a sort of meteoric rise in terms of dominating the market for mobile devices. Both platforms have slightly different setups when it comes to adding developments and it is important to have an understanding as to what these are.
The popularity of mobile devices and the ever-growing number of end-users has resulted in a massive expansion of app developers and demand for people with app development skills. When we talk about the art of app development, it has a lot of technical elements to it. In this article today, we will look at some of the differences between iOS and Android development. Our focus will be to try and give the readers an idea as to which platform will be better suited to build an application for your business.
Development Language
One of the major differences in app development between the two platforms is the programming language they use to run codes. Generally, Android-based apps use Java for their development. However the issues with Java is that it is a highly elaborate language. It would require developers to write a lot of code. Apart from Java you also have the option of using Kotlin language for Android which was designed as an enhancement to Java. Not only is it interoperable with Java, but it is also intuitive and very straightforward to read. In modern Android-powered applications moving forward, the Kotlin language is set to become a lot more popular and widely used.
iOS on the other hand uses a new and improved language called Swift. The time required to code on Swift is much less than that required to code using Java in general. This makes Swift a more efficient language to code in. Swift was first developed in 2014 and became an instant hit due to the comparatively smaller coding time requirements in the business of app development.
Philosophy on Design and Visuals
This is another major point of difference that should be considered while deliberating on the differences between iOS and Android development. There are a few major areas in the field of design where iOS and Android have adopted different standards. T
The first one is related to screen size. iOS-powered mobile devices have two different options when it comes to displaying design. iPad and iPhone come with different design setups. Apart from that both of the iOS devices have options for different resolutions. On the other hand, Android which runs through Google-based software gives the user a number of different resolution options.
Navigation buttons are put on the top left for Android devices whereas iOS platforms have shifted it to the top. Another thing that is different is that Android prefers to use more dynamic and powerful colors whereas iOS is limited to dark blue or black.
Another major point of difference between Android and iOS development in design is the layout of the menus. Whereas Google-backed Android uses a side or hamburger-style menu, iOS accords higher priority to its tap bar which is placed at the bottom of the screen and gives an opportunity for easier access to the menu. Furthermore,iOS does not have any dedicated back button as opposed to Android which does.
**Demography of Audience **
A lot can be understood regarding the plausibility of an application on a particular operating system platform when we look at the demography of its users. Android which is Google-backed holds the record for having the highest share of devices currently in use that make use of its OS. A big part as to why this is the case is based upon the concept of pricing. Android mobile devices are generally priced much more economically as supposed to their Apple counterparts which are quite costly for most people to be able to afford.
Stats show that Apple and iOS have a higher percentage of female users who are older than 35 and work in industries such as media or marketing. Most Android users are within the age bracket of 18-34 years which shows a younger demographic. Of Course, make sure to keep in mind that these are average numbers and there will be plenty of outliers.
**Cost and Speed of Development **
The two factors of cost and speed should be considered together as one of the other points of difference between iOS and Android apps. According to compiled data, Android-based applications take longer to develop and are generally considered more cumbersome to develop as well.
In terms of the question of cost, you need to get hold of a web developer and try to figure out a rough estimate of the cost. This varies based upon a number of different factors. As a general rule of thumb, we can say that the longer an app takes to develop, the higher is the cost so make sure to be aware of the time factor.
Conclusion
In this article today, we tried to enumerate some important points of difference between iOS and Android development. We started off with a brief intro where we described the evolution of these platforms and how they have grown to become two of the biggest OS platforms for mobile devices. After the above discussions, it should be clear that both platforms offer a lot of different perks and very few cons. Which one you choose to go with, becomes a matter of preference more than anything else. We hope the information found in this article proves to be useful for you and helps you to select the right platform for app development.
Janbask Digital Design has all the necessary experience required in this field and has helped countless businesses to set up user-friendly applications across both platforms. The company can act as your digital guardian angel and help you to find solutions to a whole host of business problems that you may encounter along your journey.