With an estimated 2 billion smartphone users in 2016, it is safe to say that mobile apps will continue to grow and offer unprecedented opportunities for those willing to take advantage of it.
The average US adult spent around 3 hours of the day using his smartphone on nonvoice activities last year. That’s 45 days in a year, that is fought over by Android and iOS, who together control 90% of the mobile operating system market.
The question many clients face however is whether to list their app on Android, who holds the crown for the largest number of devices, or iOS, where users are more likely to spend money.
Like the answer to many questions, the answer depends on many factors.
Demographics
Mobile/Tablet Operating System Share via Netmarketshare
The average average price for iPhone is around 2.7 times more than Android devices, allowing the latter to possess a bigger market share, making it ideal if your end goal is to reach as many users as you can. One must, however, remember that customers who opt for affordable platforms favour free apps, in contrast to iOS users.
via Fortune
Revenue model
via App Annie
Research from App Annie, an analytics company discovered the revenue model of iOS to be generating more revenue than Android, who holds the crown for the biggest number of downloads.
So ponder on your monetisation strategy carefully. Will you be earning revenue through the number of users (ads), or from the users?
Loyalty
Two-Year research conducted by CIRP (Customer Intelligence Research Partners) in the US market discovered 80% of Android and iOS users to be loyal to their individual operating systems.
Customer Retention and Loss – Previous and Current Operating System for Customers Activating a New Mobile Phone, 2013-Q3 – 2015-Q2 via CIRP
It also discovered that Android was the prefered platform of choice for 60% of first-time smartphone buyers, while IOS was chosen by a paltry 24%.
Security and updating
Updates are important as they allow app developers to push new features and improve security.
Leading the pack in this area is iOS, known for triggering mass updates, which is why over 80% of its devices have the most recent OS update. Android, cannot claim the same as only 35% of devices have Android v. 21 (Lollipop) while v. 23 (Marshmallow) is only at 1.2%.
Android OS versions via Android
iOS versions via Apple
In a nutshell, apps aimed at IOS devices will require little testing while Android apps will require more to support the current and legacy operating systems.
Tablets
The tablet market must not be discounted as 15,6% of the global population were earmarked to be tablet users in 2016. 60% of this was projected to be commanded by Android while iOS owned 25%.
iOS tablets, however, appear to be more attractive to business users, while Android tablets were for the average consumer.
Conclusion
Picking the right app for your platform is no walk in the park. It takes careful evaluation of your idea, strategic objectives and budgets, which is why we urge you to pick a software house that will be able to guide you through it.
Need help picking a platform for your idea? Tell us more about it here and we will try to help you.