Ask HN: Develop on Android or iPhone?

#1

Post by riso » Sun, Jul 19, 2009, 6:02 PM UTC

I would like to start doing some mobile development, but am stuck between the two SDKs mentioned. I have been playing around with both Android and the iPhone, and find there are things that I like and dislike about each of them.

My back-end language experience includes mostly c# and Ruby, but I didn't have any issues getting familiar objective-C, learning new languages is usually fairly enjoyable.

Does anyone have advice for which one to choose based off personal experiences?

Update: I should add that the two biggest deciding points for me are development enjoyment and speed of development.

I am not overly concerned with user base since it is possible that Android could gain a lot of ground in the next couple years.

Re: Ask HN: Develop on Android or iPhone?

#2

Post by Oompa » Sun, Jul 19, 2009, 6:04 PM UTC

Based on market size, I'd go for the iPhone.

Re: Ask HN: Develop on Android or iPhone?

#3

Post by cgherb911 » Sun, Jul 19, 2009, 6:26 PM UTC

I-phone has a much bigger market share at ~11% of the smart phone market. You should also look into developing for the Blackberry. (~34% of smart phone market!!)

Re: Ask HN: Develop on Android or iPhone?

#4

Post by cesare » Sun, Jul 19, 2009, 7:31 PM UTC

>Update: I should add that the two biggest deciding points for me are development enjoyment and speed of development.

This is subjective. Try both of them for a while.

If you need to decide first to buy the hardware keep in mind that the iPod Touch ($229) is essentially an iPhone without the phone/gps capabilities. So you can use it for testing if you're not going to use the phone functionalities.

You have to add $100 (it's a yearly fee) to apply to the developer program in order to upload your code on the device and to make your app available (even if for free).

The iPhone developement tools are pretty good, too. Haven't tried to develop on Android, yet.

Re: Ask HN: Develop on Android or iPhone?

#5

Post by ujjwalg » Sun, Jul 19, 2009, 8:24 PM UTC

I am not a developer so cannot tell you which platform is more fun to develop for. I have heard that developing for iPhone is relatively simple and easy.

But, I can tell you that I have 2 same apps on android and iPhone and the number of downloads differ by a factor of 500.

Re: Ask HN: Develop on Android or iPhone?

#6

Post by riso » Sun, Jul 19, 2009, 8:25 PM UTC

cesare wrote: post #4

>Update: I should add that the two biggest deciding points for me are development enjoyment and speed of development. This is subjective. Try both of them for a while. If you need to decide first to buy the hardware keep in mind that the iPod Touch ($229) is essentially an iPhone without the phone/gps capabilities. So you can use it for testing if you're not going to use the phone functionalities. You have to add $10…

> Try both of them for a while. That is what I am doing now. I have an iTouch as well as a mac book so the only purchase that has to be made is the yearly fee.

Re: Ask HN: Develop on Android or iPhone?

#7

Post by csbartus » Sun, Jul 19, 2009, 9:14 PM UTC

It depends on what's your final goal. Many HN posts saying you can't get rich with an iPhone app ( anymore ). Maybe o good idea is not yet implemented on Android.

I've planned to build something for my iPhone but many things stopped me: a MacBook, AppStore freakness and now I'm just hearing that 100$ entry fee.

Now I'm rather building a mobile interface to my web app than sticking to a new platform

Re: Ask HN: Develop on Android or iPhone?

#8

Post by csbartus » Sun, Jul 19, 2009, 9:14 PM UTC

It depends on what's your final goal. Many HN posts saying you can't get rich with an iPhone app ( anymore ). Maybe o good idea is not yet implemented on Android.

I've planned to build something for my iPhone but many things stopped me: a MacBook, AppStore freakness and now I'm just hearing that 100$ entry fee.

Now I'm rather building a mobile interface to my web app than sticking to a new platform

Re: Ask HN: Develop on Android or iPhone?

#9

Post by dannyr » Sun, Jul 19, 2009, 9:18 PM UTC

If you have a good idea for an app, go with Android and enter ADC 2.

http://code.google.com/android/adc/

Re: Ask HN: Develop on Android or iPhone?

#10

Post by riso » Sun, Jul 19, 2009, 11:24 PM UTC

csbartus wrote: post #7

It depends on what's your final goal. Many HN posts saying you can't get rich with an iPhone app ( anymore ). Maybe o good idea is not yet implemented on Android. I've planned to build something for my iPhone but many things stopped me: a MacBook, AppStore freakness and now I'm just hearing that 100$ entry fee. Now I'm rather building a mobile interface to my web app than sticking to a new platform

I am not chasing a million dollar dream, but rather looking to the acquire skills that are marketable and satisfy the curiosity itch.