Why companies are still deploying iOS apps first
A lot of people in the tech world yesterday were talking about Twitter's new app, indeed, its new music initiative, called Twitter #Music. But interestingly enough, Twitter's foray into the world of online music only happened on one ecosystem -- iOS. That means that, for now, Twitter is excluding over half of the smartphone users in the world by choosing to only release for iOS. Why? Sarah Perez at TechCrunch has an interesting piece explaining why Twitter went with iOS only, for now, and explains why many devs still choose to deploy on iOS first.
As Perez writes:
Apple device owners tend to do more mobile web browsing, as has been widely known for awhile. But they're also increasingly likely to stay with apps over time – reports have shown that iOS users are more loyal to the apps they download, for instance.
But perhaps most importantly is the fact that some number of Android owners aren't downloading mobile applications at all. Google tacitly acknowledged this fact earlier this month, when it made a change to the way it measures Android version adoption on its Developers site. The company explained that, going forward, it would only show data reflecting those devices that had visited the Google Play Store.
Or in other words, there are enough Android devices out there which are not visiting the Google Play Store to affect the data that developers most care about – people who might download their apps.
But it's not just the lack of user engagement on Google's Play story that encourages devs to deploy on iOS first. There's also the fact that iOS developers make 3x as much money on their iOS apps as they do on their Android apps. Perez also quotes Flipboard co-founder Evan Doll explaining another reason devs may choose to deploy on iOS first: "iOS devices are more predictable in terms of screen sizes and capabilities, which is helpful when you're building new functionality."
