Iphone App Development Vs. Android App Development: A Brief Comparison

By Author: Yancy Marry
Total Articles: 184
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The market for mobile devices and mobile applications has experienced rapid changes after the launch of the iOS & Android operating systems. Both Google’s Android and Apple’s iOS are the most preferred OS platforms with mobile application developers today. While the iPhone OS is popular because it is the pioneer in the mobile app development industry, Android is known to be easily accessible since it is an open platform. Needless to say, iPhone & Android are the best operating systems used in smartphones available in the current mobile market.

Below is a brief comparison describing the pros and cons of app development on the most popular OS platforms – iPhone & Android.

1. Programming and Language – Objective C is the programming language used for the development of mobile applications on the iPhone OS. Based upon the C language, Objective C provides very few extensions to software designers with respect to object oriented work such as messaging, dynamic typing, inheritance, & classes. For mobile app development on the Android platform, a designer must possess knowledge of the Java programming ...
... language. This is an easy to learn intuitive tool for development, say mobile analysts. Coding also becomes easier with the Java language.

2. Documentation – The community of iPhone app development is very supportive & also well built. Apple provides detailed information, instructions, guidelines, and useful resources that assist even a new app developer to start using this OS platform for creating mobile apps. For software developers working on the Android OS, a huge database is available. The blogs often published by Google are extremely helpful resources for app building on the Android platform.

3. Platform Characteristics - The Android development platform is said to be straightforward & stable. The layout of the iPhone mobile app development platform is difficult to master. This is the reason why Android app development is easier than iPhone app development, especially for an inexperienced software designer. Also, while getting the source code for Android is very simple, for getting an iPhone source code, an app developer has to approach through Google.

4. Encoding Model – Though getting the source code is easier for the Android development platform, encoding is simpler for the iPhone development platform. The programming or encoding model of the iPhone platform is based on the MVC design pattern. The tools available under this pattern provide a developer access to a simple user interface. The codes in this UI are well organized & available directly from the source code. Also, the tools can later support multiple operations. The custom UI elements of Android, on the other hand, are based on the XML design pattern; this is not a very comprehensive option.

5. Market Scenario – The number of apps available in both the Android Market & the Apple App Store cover a wide range of categories from weather, entertainment, & gaming, to travel, education, utilities, etc. However, developers have to pay for their mobile apps to get featured on the App Store. Android, being an open platform, availability of free apps is more.

In this brief comparison of the two most popular OS platforms, it is impossible to decide the best between iPhone & Android operating systems. Research of the current market scenario points to the fact that while iPhone apps score on distinctive design, Android apps still rule the market due to their low prices & easy accessibility. Choice of the best development platform depends wholly on the app developer.

Copper Mobile is one of the leading mobile app development company in Delhi, India. The team of iPhone developers, BlackBerry, and Android developer has created more than 300 apps for clients.