It's 2017 and I have a great mobile app idea. Start with Android or iOS? • Hacker News Board

Re: It's 2017 and I have a great mobile app idea. Start with Android or iOS?

#21

Post by m_mueller » Thu, Jan 19, 2017, 8:57 AM UTC

wapz wrote: post #18

m_mueller wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I have to disagree on Android being easier to get into. The standard libraries and tooling (especially emulators and profilers) are dumpster fires compared to Apple's offering. Just some examples: Non-Web Javascript integration is a third party library. HTTP requests are a third party library. Everything that needs native resources in the JVM goes through an interface called JNI that has a 512 entries limit in the re…

I think it really depends on what the op is looking to make. I made the generalization mostly based on the OS and languages (most universities starting from at least 15 years ago taught Java in at least a few classes whereas objective-c and swift are only iOS specific). I haven't had to deal with your specific examples but I suppose in your case iOS might be easier. I still believe overall Android is easier to get in…

IMO, for the average person, doing iOS with Swift will be easier, except, and only for some simple usecases, if that person is already experienced with Java.

Re: It's 2017 and I have a great mobile app idea. Start with Android or iOS?

#22

Post by pawadu » Thu, Jan 19, 2017, 8:57 AM UTC

al2o3cr wrote: post #5

The report summarized here (for Q2-2016): http://bgr.com/2016/07/20/ios-vs-android-developers-profits-... shows the Android store with twice as many downloads but half as much revenue. The importance of this is going to vary depending on specifics about your application - does it need a strong network effect to deliver value, or is it valuable for a solo user?

Note that this data is by no means undisputed. It does not come from Apple and Google but from various analytics services with unclear coverage:

1. Do these numbers include ad revenue?

2. Do these numbers include music, magazine and movie sales?

3. Do the Android number include Amazon and the Chinese stores?

4. Do the Apple numbers include desktop apps?

5. Do the Google numbers include chrome extensions?

6. Do Google numbers include third party services such as spotify and netflix? (from the article, the Apple numbers seem to do that)

7. Do Google numbers include hardware sales (via the Play store)?

With that said, both stores are showing extreme growth so neither is a dead end and you will be happy which ever you choose:

http://www.gsmarena.com/google_play_app_revenue_up_82_in_q4_...

Re: It's 2017 and I have a great mobile app idea. Start with Android or iOS?

#23

Post by pawadu » Thu, Jan 19, 2017, 9:02 AM UTC

beacham wrote: post #16

jklein11 wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

For the sake of discussion could you elaborate on why native code will be more efficient/productive? Is it the additional layer of abstraction? Or is it an issue of the uncanny valley? I understand that you may not want to discuss anything proprietary to your app, but I'm interested in understanding your thought process.

Absolutely. Although, I'd like to say that most of the time people get into discussions like these, it ends in an "agree to disagree" conclusion because, in my opinion, the truth of the matter is it all comes down to tradeoffs and opinions. I need to keep this short due to wife so I probably won't be able to get my full opinion across. From my experience, I believe that the additional layer of abstraction provides a…

I fully agree with what eonil wrote, but remember that environments like Unity also come with a lot of tools and samples to simplify your development.

Re: It's 2017 and I have a great mobile app idea. Start with Android or iOS?

#24

Post by LifeQuestioner » Thu, Jan 19, 2017, 9:20 AM UTC

marcus_holmes wrote: post #10

I'm going to be that guy. Sorry. Are you sure it's a new idea? Have you really searched the 2million+ apps out there to be sure? Truly new and original ideas are rare, most things you can do on a mobile have been tried at some point in the last 10 years. Check again, and learn from what others have done. Have you validated the idea? I don't mean asked your mates if they like it. I mean have you got someone to give yo…

It doesn't have to be an old idea...i.e loads of apps already doing it out there.

It just needs to be better than what's out there :)

Re: It's 2017 and I have a great mobile app idea. Start with Android or iOS?

#25

Post by GeneralMaximus » Thu, Jan 19, 2017, 10:20 AM UTC

I build for the web so I'm obviously biased, but have you considered building a web application?

If your app doesn't use device features that are not exposed to the browser, building a progressive web app (https://developers.google.com/web/progressive-web-apps/) will save you a lot of effort, help you get to market faster, and spend far less money on user acquisition than a native app. On iOS, PWAs look and feel no different from regular websites. On Android, you get access to native-like features, including support for loading the app offline, push notifications, the ability to install the app to the homescreen, a separate entry in the task switcher, etc.

I wouldn't build something like Snapchat or Instagram as a webapp, simply because building those experiences in the browser and getting them just right is still kinda hard. However, most applications aren't Snapchat or Instagram, and a prototype certainly doesn't need that level of spit and polish.

You might still choose to build a native app somewhere down the line, but starting with a webapp gives you a chance to evaluate your idea and get something working in the hands of your users very quickly.

Re: It's 2017 and I have a great mobile app idea. Start with Android or iOS?

#26

Post by misha67 » Thu, Jan 19, 2017, 4:26 PM UTC

I'm in the same boat. Planning to go iOS first, since I'm an iOS developer and don't know Android. Go with what you are most comfortable developing.

React Native might also be a good choice. I was pretty impressed with what it could do on iOS, but I had challenges getting it to work on Android.

Re: It's 2017 and I have a great mobile app idea. Start with Android or iOS?

#27

Post by pattrn » Thu, Jan 19, 2017, 9:40 PM UTC

As a sole developer who recently released my first mobile app, I can't comment on your specific use case or generalize about the market as a whole, since I don't have significant experience. That said, I chose to use React Native and release to both iOS and Android. After three months without doing any serious spending on marketing, my iOS version had an order of magnitude higher installs than my Android version. I suspect this may derive from differences between Apple and Google's search ranking algorithms. It's a moot point for me, since React Native supports both platforms, but the single data point may help you.

Re: It's 2017 and I have a great mobile app idea. Start with Android or iOS?

#28

Post by webmaven » Thu, Jan 19, 2017, 10:35 PM UTC

So, I don't have direct experience, but folks talk to me, so I have anectdata. ;-)

If your revenue model is app sales, go IOS.

If your revenue model is mobile advertising, you probably want to go Android.

Beyond that, it gets complicated, but I think the following are valid (though your specific user segment might flip the other way on each of these):

Freemium models (ie. a free app that you can upgrade to a paid version) should probably go Android first.

Free with in-app purchases (eg. F2P games) should also probably go Android first, but it is not as clear-cut.

If your revenue model is transactional (eg. flash sales), go iOS first.

No matter what, list your assumptions (that users have the problem your app will solve, that you know the language they use to think about and describe their problem, that they are actively looking for a solution, that they will be willing to pay to solve their problem, that they will be interested in your solution, that they will be willing to pay for your solution, any assumptions about their price sensitivity, your assumptions about reaching potential customers to make them aware of your solution, your effectiveness at turning "lookers" into "buyers"), and aggressively validate and de-risk all those assumptions.

Good luck!