New Survey Reveals iOS Remains Top Priority for Mobile Developers, but Android Seeing Broader Support

[MacRumors]

According to a new survey from research firm Forrester (via TechCrunch), Apple's iOS phone platform remains the highest priority for mobile software development teams, followed by the Android phone platform and the iOS tablet platform in second and third place respectively. The survey was done by asking 765 software developers creating mobile applications, and addressed not only iOS and Android but also platforms such as Windows Phone and Blackberry 10.

But while the survey shows that the iPhone remains the highest priority for developers, it also shows that more developers target Android phones somewhere in their plans, with 84% of developers planning Android phone support compared to the iPhone at 77%. A similar split is seen in tablets, with iOS being rated as the top priority by the most developers but Android more developers overall planning to support Android.

Despite iOS getting this first app mover advantage, more developers target Android phones overall than target iPhones (84% rank Android phones as a priority vs 77% for iPhones). This is to be expected, with Android being on so many smartphones at multiple price-points vs Apple's limited iPhone portfolio. However the iPad does help to expand Apple's developer mojo, with 27% of respondents ranking the iPad as their second priority device vs around a fifth putting the same level of importance on Android tablets. By contrast Windows RT tablets are being largely ignored by developers, according to Forrester's data.

Apple is set to release iOS 7, the next version of its mobile operating system, in the next couple of months, likely fairly soon after the company's September 10 media event.

Article Link: New Survey Reveals iOS Remains Top Priority for Mobile Developers, but Android Seeing Broader Support

 

[Rudy69]

Having both an iOS and Android version of my game I can tell you iOS is by FAR my biggest priority. The Android version never broke even.

 

[auero]

Some people would never believe you if you told them blackberry was number one at one point.

 

[asthamapheo]

too bad windows phone is still behind tablets. it's a good OS
btw, i thought the samsung BADA was dead.

 

[Ventilatedbrain]

I've found most of the apps I used on iOS on the play store ... However while the app is there ... The functionality and the overall performance of the apps are way behind .. Mostly In appearance

 

[CarpalMac]

...

 

[Millah]

The number of the developers isn't what favors iOS, its the QUALITY of the developers.

You see more innovative apps conceived and deployed on iOS first because of this. More sophisticated development environment and tools, more sophisticated APIs and CoreOS technologies, and brighter minds utilizing these tools is always going to favor Apple so long as Apple continues to make more sophisticated products and platforms. iOS 7 will continue to widen this gap, with all the innovative new APIs and technology empowering curious developers to create new things.

This was the same story on the Mac. The Mac developer community birthed all kinds of modern staples that eventually found its way to Windows. Apple products have always attracted brighter minds. Whether or not iOS remains the "top priority" for the ENTIRE developer community is irrelevant if the majority of them are your average run-of-the-mill developer.

 

[Klosefabrinio]

doesn't matter if android has broader support, app store has all the apps i need.

 

[Sensamic]

In 2 or 3 years iOS will be in serious trouble.

Everyone is starting to jump ships to Android.

 

[CodeBreaker]

In 2 or 3 years iOS will be in serious trouble.
...

Yeah, if Apple decides to halt all iOS development.

 

[nagromme]

In 2 or 3 years iOS will be in serious trouble.

Everyone is starting to jump ships to Android.

The glorious dream of Apple's doom, and the glorious dream of Apple's competition becoming just as good... hovering 2-3 years just out of reach since the 80s. How frustrating!

 

[PracticalMac]

Just like Windows.

Even though its harder to develop and support apps for Android, developers still go for numbers.

Apple must stop the slide, or in a few years it will become like the Mac was, distant second to Windows.

----------

The glorious dream of Apple's doom,

I have heard that for, what 30 years now?

----------

The number of the developers isn't what favors iOS, its the QUALITY of the developers.

You see more innovative apps conceived and deployed on iOS first because of this. More sophisticated development environment and tools, more sophisticated APIs and CoreOS technologies, and brighter minds utilizing these tools is always going to favor Apple so long as Apple continues to make more sophisticated products and platforms. iOS 7 will continue to widen this gap, with all the innovative new APIs and technology empowering curious developers to create new things.

This was the same story on the Mac. The Mac developer community birthed all kinds of modern staples that eventually found its way to Windows. Apple products have always attracted brighter minds. Whether or not iOS remains the "top priority" for the ENTIRE developer community is irrelevant if the majority of them are your average run-of-the-mill developer.

If that is true, why the shift and attention to Android?

If the best and newest apps are on iOS, why is everyone moving to Android?

If quality is what iOS is all about, how come people are buying "sub par" stuff?

 

[CausticPuppy]

If the best and newest apps are on iOS, why is everyone moving to Android?

Because more and more cheap, crappy phones are running Android. But the people who get the cheapest, junkiest phone they can find aren't the types to be spending money on apps, so we shouldn't expect it to affect the iOS app market at all.

 

[PracticalMac]

Because more and more cheap, crappy phones are running Android. But the people who get the cheapest, junkiest phone they can find aren't the types to be spending money on apps, so we shouldn't expect it to affect the iOS app market at all.

Sure they are crappy, but cheap is what people get in.

And although its junk, one people get into the OS, they are very likely to stay with it.


Smartphones are no longer luxury items, they are commodities, and history shows you either move that direction (lower prices to match the average price drop), or get out that segment.

But its seems the 5C is a response to it.