I develop for iOS first because I want to. It's the platform I choose to use. I, personally, don't care for Android. The ONLY reason for me to develop for it is money. That's a recipe for shitty work. Does it have to be more complicated than that? If I'm making a mistake, so be it. What do you care?!
iOS first – a flawed strategy that startups have used for years
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Re: iOS first – a flawed strategy that startups have used for years
#12So in an article mainly criticizing the historical decision of developers to release on iOS first, this guy publishes a graph showing that historically considerably more than double the money has been spent on iOS apps than Android apps. Then he calls developer's tendency to release on iOS first over that period irrational.
OK
Re: iOS first – a flawed strategy that startups have used for years
#13One of the most important things you learn when you're launching a startup is that the product has to match the market, and the market is never "everyone". You don't have that sort of marketing reach on a startup budget. Startups can get the word out through social media (people the founders know), people the founders and investors network with, through startup and early-adopter technology news (TC, HN, BetaList, Pro…
These situations are hard to evaluate before and cheap to evaluate after a failure.
There are too many parameters to keep in mind in order to make such decisions, but it's a good thing people share their experiences.
Re: iOS first – a flawed strategy that startups have used for years
#14So in an article mainly criticizing the historical decision of developers to release on iOS first, this guy publishes a graph showing that historically considerably more than double the money has been spent on iOS apps than Android apps. Then he calls developer's tendency to release on iOS first over that period irrational. OK
He isn't criticizing the "historical decision". He is criticizing decisions being taken now.
Re: iOS first – a flawed strategy that startups have used for years
#15[deleted]
Re: iOS first – a flawed strategy that startups have used for years
#16So in an article mainly criticizing the historical decision of developers to release on iOS first, this guy publishes a graph showing that historically considerably more than double the money has been spent on iOS apps than Android apps. Then he calls developer's tendency to release on iOS first over that period irrational. OK
Some say it is 4x not double: http://www.zdnet.com/the-problem-facing-android-users-dont-w...
The article is poor. Market share? How about spending some time trying to make sense of that market share. Or trying to understand, why web usage stats don't show the same numbers the market does. And in some countries you still can only distribute Android apps or free with no option to sell.
Re: iOS first – a flawed strategy that startups have used for years
#17I develop for iOS first because I want to. It's the platform I choose to use. I, personally, don't care for Android. The ONLY reason for me to develop for it is money. That's a recipe for shitty work. Does it have to be more complicated than that? If I'm making a mistake, so be it. What do you care?!
Some people would argue that "I" and "What do you care?!" is an example of inward focus, not looking outward towards the user.
Such people would say that ethical and good development should improve the overall human condition and that it should help people somehow. Some others would say at least by doing so it should increase profits for the company than being inward focused.
I think the article is saying that it is irrational not to be developing for Android - even if a developer doesn't like it, they should be making more money...
Re: iOS first – a flawed strategy that startups have used for years
#18I'd really want this article to be true and that developing for Android first would be an equally good strategy. However, the claim that IOS-first is irrational is just dishonest. While Android total money spent in apps is gaining, iOS has been a solid leader for its entire history. Every decision to go for Apple first has been a correct one.
This is perfectly summed up by the first comment on the page: "All I know is that my $3.99 iOS app outsells my $3.99 Android app 5-10:1"
Re: iOS first – a flawed strategy that startups have used for years
#19I'd really want this article to be true and that developing for Android first would be an equally good strategy. However, the claim that IOS-first is irrational is just dishonest. While Android total money spent in apps is gaining, iOS has been a solid leader for its entire history. Every decision to go for Apple first has been a correct one. This is perfectly summed up by the first comment on the page: "All I know i…
I suspect there is a big difference between independent developers, software houses, rapid growth startups and bigger corporations when it comes to making mobile apps.
The article addresses itself towards startups. I would imagine that growth is more important than selling an app for a price. For a small company selling apps, selling apps would be their income.
The article focuses on the money, but argues about the pain points and technology bubble, which isn't a compelling argument when $3.99 apps do sell better.
Re: iOS first – a flawed strategy that startups have used for years
#20Instagram is a counter-example though.
To what? The author is specifically talking about making money directly from your app, which Instagram didn't do until recently (well after they released an Android version). And even then, it looks like their monetization strategy is to sell what appears to be a very limited number of ads-as-posts.
Instagram's monetization strategy was selling the company. That effectively required an Android version to protect and maximize their network's value.
I wonder if Instagram would have gotten more money if they'd embraced Android sooner (like WhatsApp).