When choosing a platform for app building, it is essential to know what is your target audience. Who are they? How old are they? Where are they from? Which mobile platforms do they use? Also, to have an idea about app goals, strategy, functional, as well as time limits and costs for the development. Here are the main steps you should pass to choose the right mobile platform for the building of your app .
Collect scores at each step and sum up them at the end to see for which platform it is required to develop your project! If the difference between scores is insignificant, then you should think about building a cross-platform application.
1. Make the market share research
iOS and Android are the most popular mobile app platforms nowadays, that occupy near 15% and 85% of the market respectively. Nevertheless, the lower popularity of iOS doesn’t take it out of the running. Users from the US, UK, Australia, and Japan prefer this system while Android is popular in European, Asian and African countries. Consider those facts to reach the appropriate audience and make your application success.
1 point to iOS – if your product is oriented towards the US, UK, Canada, Australia, Japan, Netherland users?
1 point to Android – if your product is oriented towards European, Asian, African and Indian users?
1 point each – if your product is oriented towards the global market
2. Consider the demographic factor
According to statistics, adult and old people usually use Android devices. They are not only affordable for lower income group but also popular among tech people. iOS audience is a higher income group mostly consist of young people in managerial jobs. However, you should always remember about exceptions.
Whether if you realize that you need to cover a few audiences, it is the reason to think about a cross-platform app available on several platforms.
1 point to iOS – if your product is mostly focused on the audience up to 30 years old
1 point to Android – if your product is mostly focused on 30-40+ years old audience
1 point each – if your product is focused on users of all ages
3. Define content category
iOS and Android audiences are different, so their interests are also varied. iPhone users like to search App Store categories and download different apps, from games to productivity apps. Android users, on the contrary, are interested more in solely social apps.
1 point to iOS – if you have a game or productivity app
1 point to Android – if you have a social app
1 point each – for other app categories
4. Think about revenue
Most mobile apps are created to make money on sales or purchases, so you should know that iOS users are more willing to spend money on buying apps and making in-app purchases. Hence, they bring more income than the Android app.
1 point to iOS – if your app is paid or has in-app purchases
1 point to Android – if your app is free
1 point each – if your app makes money on in-app ads
5. Define the budget on the development
We all know that quality software development is not cheap, and costs on the building of iOS and Android apps may differ at times. Development of Android or cross-platform application takes more time on coding, so it may be 30% more expensive than iOS development. Nevertheless, many modern drag-and-drop app building platforms , as AppyPie, AppMachine and other, provide users with already featured basic functions for mobile apps which allow saving time and development costs.
1 point to iOS – if you have a small budget
1 point to Android – if you have a large budget
1 point each – if you have an unlimited budget
6. Consider app complexity
Not all applications with specific functionality can be running on iOS platforms. In this case, Android offers more opportunities to implement complex features and app customizations.
1 point to iOS – if you have a simple app
1 point to Android – if you have a complex app
7. Think about app launching
App Store applies both manual and automated testing for apps and requires every product to go through an exhaustive approval process, so you should be ready that your app can be rejected or sent for revision. Play Market uses only automated testing, and it is easier to launch app there, but if your application was rejected it would be difficult to know the reason why.
1 point to iOS – if you don’t have time limits for launching the app
1 point to Android – if you need to launch the app quickly.