iPhone and Android have essentially polarized the world of mobile apps. Players like Blackberry and Windows phone do exist, but they are far from closing in.
The Android-iPhone apps conflict,
quite like the Google-Microsoft war, is fierce, the ultimate winner being-- user perspective.
That said, technology pundits and apps lovers still love pitting iPhone apps against Android. ‘Android or iPhone apps’ – this dilemma can still bring about sleepless nights for many business houses, mobile application developers, and anyone torn between a iPhone and Android app.
So, who wins the war of apps? More importantly, is there a clear winner?
Let’s get down to it: the most common reason to buy a phone these days is ‘apps’. And no matter what, Apple remains the hot-spot for new apps. Angry Birds, Tiny Wings, Plants VS Zombies…what’s their common point of origin? Apple of course!
Cross-platform versions did crop up, but in the apps world, being around first matters. This also explains why Apple houses the largest app repository, bustling with apps and games.
Over the years, critics often flayed Apple for being extremely rigid of the App store. Sometimes even to extent of being arbitrary and harsh. But strict surveillance helped Apple close out App Store for malware-infected, tainted applications. Today, iPhone apps are known as much for versatility as legitimacy—a big advantage over the susceptible Android market.
The evolution of iPhone majorly centres on the evolution of the iOS. Manufacturing upgrades have morphed the basic iPhone into the current iPhone 4S, but the overall form factor isn’t changed radically. You know when someone’s talking about iPhone, they basically mean iOS.
Android is too fragmented a term to deal with. If someone mentions Android, it could mean either a reference to Google’s mobile OS, or any device running the OS, or to Verizon’s Droid—a term only used by a small fraction of Android users.
This brings about a lot of consistency into iPhone app development. Developers can get around iPhone development better for there is no fragmentation (unlike Android) to deal with.
From a business point of view, iPhone apps edge out Android, in terms of overall downloads. Android boasts of a bigger user-base, but iPhone apps see higher number of downloads, overall. If you are entering the app market, you know where the money lies.
Who scores big, finally?
iPhone and
Android apps, both will see huge growth in the future. Each has it’s own niche market. Whether to go with an Android or iPhone app always remains a matter of personal choice
