Application Platforms: Which is better?

Bangalore: Mobile application development is not only about developing an app. It also includes the designing part of it. With so many platforms available in the market today, developing an app can be frustrating although at times it can be a thrilling experience. Each platform has its own pros and cons with regards to the development of applications.

Srinivasan Viswanathan on pcquest.ciol.com analyzed the four major platforms- iOS, Android, Windows 8 and BlackBerry. Here we will be discussing on two major platforms, the iOS and Android.  

iOS
The iOS platform is available on the Apple iPhone, iPod Touch and the iPad. It is the world’s most advanced operating system available. Objective-C, a high-level programming language is used to develop iOS apps. A major drawback when it comes to the development of iOS apps is the availability of the Xcode IDE only on the Mac Operating System. Thus, making development impossible on the Windows operating system. An added advantage to Apple is its iPad which is dominating the tablet category. It is easy for developers to have their apps run on Apple’s tablet as both the iPhone and iPad are dependent on the iOS platform.

In order for a developer to publish his app to the app store, he/she needs to obtain a license which is at $99 per year. With this license, a developer can either release a paid app or a free app. If a developer releases a paid app, 30% of the revenue generated from the app goes Apple’s account while 70% to the developer’s account.
The Apple App Store has the widest audience coverage among all the other platforms with over 5000,000 apps online and over 400 million accounts.

Android
The android operating system is available on various smartphones and tablets. Applications are developed in Java using the Android SDK although other development tools also available. The greatest advantage when it comes to Android Apps is that developers can develop their apps on multiple platforms which include Windows, Mac or Linux. The android platform has become a favourite platform among the mobile app developers.

Developers in order to publish their apps on Google Play need to pay a one-time fee of $25 to open a publisher account. Developers can publish their app through the Google Play Developer Console. If a developer releases a paid app, 30% of the revenue generated from the app is for Google while 70% goes to the developer.
Google Play experienced over 25 billion app downloads as of September 2012 with more than 650,000 applications developed in this platform alone.