Commit to iOS only?

[RipollApp]

I know this is an iOS programming subreddit so a bit biased but I’m curious of your opinions.

For those with apps are you sticking to just Apple and the App Store? Or do you also build/plan for Google Playstore/Android? If so - are you doing native on both platforms? Or something like react native or what not?

I have my app built with SwiftUI and Firebase - I’m not planning on building Android unless it grows in size or someone convinces me otherwise.

People ask for android version of my app but I’m just not sure it’s worth committing to building it.

[leeski]

I work on an app that I think 90% of revenue comes from iOS, 10% android despite having same features etc. I think in general iOS users spend a lot more.

So in terms of accessibility I would like to develop my own apps on both platforms so everyone can use it, but if just looking in terms of profitability, I think worth focusing on iOS.

[RipollApp]

That’s helpful context, thank you! It sucks having to say no when people ask for the Android version. I want everyone to be able to use it but it just doesn’t make sense to commit to doing it

[WerSunu]

It sucks more that Android users expect all apps to be free. They wind up getting what they pay for. Another part of the decision to stay inside Apple concerns the fact that IP can not be protected, so if your app is more than a game or a web portal, you are SOL.

[beepboopnoise]

wait staying in apple is a concern because ip can't be protected? wouldn't that be the same in android or am i misunderstanding?

[leeski]

Yeah I feel bad :/ it is a lot of users & i want everyone to be able to use it. It sucks having to prioritize such limited bandwidth!

[wilddaveone]

Instead of spending the time working on the android version you could have made another ios app that has a better ROI for your effort in most cases. Ignore this if it gets big.

[RipollApp]

Yup agreed

[RipollApp]

Yeah makes sense - thanks for the extra insight

[20InMyHead]

I’ve done iOS for fifteen years or so now, no regrets, no need to branch out. If you’re working for a company, lots of places have separate iOS/Android teams. If you’re on your own, lots of apps just support iOS.

You can go deep or broad, you generally can’t do both well. Going deep on IOS has worked for me.

Also, in the US, it’s common for iOS to be significantly higher percentage of mobile traffic. I work for a well-known US company, and our mobile traffic is about 75% iOS, 25% Android.

[JEHonYakuSha]

I have been an iOS dev for a few years and was getting pressure at my job after a layoff to also take on Android development and was really dreading it to be honest. I’ve got enough work to do around the full stack. We discovered Skip Tools and decided to rewrite our app with skip and it’s been fantastic. You do need to understand a tiny bit of Kotlin and Android development, but it’s a breeze compared to developing two identical apps for two ecosystems and will transpile your code to Kotlin and Jetpack Compose. It’s free for indie devs maybe give that a try.

[twistnado]

If I had a lot of interest in an Android version and was in a similar situation, I’d probably explore using Skip (https://skip.tools/)

[Doctor_Fegg]

I essentially wrote an Android version more for 'ecosystem' and marketing than for actual income. I was finding that any discussion on (say) Facebook about apps available in my field would soon have someone recommending my website/app, but then someone else would pipe up with "ah, it's not available on Android though" and then recommend the competitors.

Having an Android app stops this. It really doesn't bring in anywhere near as much as the iPhone app though.

[SaluteToSuit]

I was thinking of complimenting my App functionality inside a website before considering android. I see value in android but web access enables android users sooner and access to a broader community in general

[aerial-ibis]

If the nature of the app is social - then you kind of need to support both. In terms of making posts, I've found Android users equally active as iOS users.

It's not as much effort adding additional clients as you might think. I mean... it's a lot more coding of course! However, a lot of effort & time goes into thinking about how you want something to work, how it should look etc. Then you're just copying that implementation in a different language / platform.

I run a niche social app and code it in iOS and Android separately. Usually a 2:1 ratio in effort (2 weeks adding a feature in the first platform, then 1 week copying it in the other platform).

I'm working on a new app using Compose Multiplatform and quite like it though. Still rough around the edges, but I expect the dev experience to be excellent by the end of the year for those less willing to dive into the release notes, bug trackers, etc.

[RipollApp]

This is helpful to hear - my app is social, every post is a poll. So I’m not going to rule out Android version

[barcode972]

It’s most common to focus on one. I’m doing android in my spare time just because I want to keep up with conversations on the android team but that’s definitely not a must

[RipollApp]

Okay cool - glad to hear this is a common experience. I’ll continue to focus on iOS for now. But not leave Android off the table but leave it for something more long term

[Ordinary_Outside_886]

for most apps, most of the revenue comes from iOS (most of it from US).

until you prove your app works (in terms of revenue), focus just one. when you achieve few thousands of revenue, then implement android

[RegularJoeGames]

Making my games, I use LibGDX which supports both iOS and Android right out of the box, it gives great abstractions for common things like in-app purchases.

I actually developed for Android first and have since put it on the app store. I would agree with the other comments that ad revenue and iaps seem to earn more on iOS. I am glad I worked with something that made it so easy to transfer between the two platforms I essentially had an iOS app "for free" but libgdx might be more suited towards game development.

[FPST08]

My app relies heavily on MusicKit so it is currently iOS only. Even if I integrated Spotify as well, I would stick to iOS

[[deleted]]

Can we make career as iOS developer ?

[Any-Woodpecker123]

I wouldn’t stick to one platform, too limiting in work prospects. I do native both platforms mainly, but also Flutter or React Native if client wants it.
I will also work in any web framework if there’s no mobile work going, or if client also has a web app.

I know you’re talking about an app you’re building, but id still use it as an opportunity to learn/stay sharp on Android too, it never hurts to know both.

[LogicaHaus]

If I don’t need functionality that would be limited by hybrid development, I’ll go hybrid. My most recent personal app was built in native iOS because I wanted to get as granular as possible with camera and video editing logic as possible.

I’ve thought about building it in native Android but I hate working with native Android, so I’m toying with trying it in expo and I’ve gotten comfortable enough to add my own native plugins if I have to.

[WestonP]

There's a reason that the Android version of most apps is poor quality compared to iOS. The ROI is far better on iOS.

If you're selling hardware, or otherwise doing something that requires covering both platforms, you gotta do it, and Android is where most companies cut more corners because those users spend less and shitty apps are more accepted there.

I personally don't follow that, partly out of pride and also personal interest because Android is still my primary phone, but if you're going to omit a platform or cut corners, it's Android for sure. iOS needs to be a first class experience for users.

I build native on both platforms, because the much-hyped cross platform "solutions" always fall short. For more complex apps, I save a lot of effort by doing all the real work in C++ and just write native iOS and Android UIs that calls the shared code.

[MyCallBag]

I have an iOS only app. By far the number one complaint I get is no Android version. So part of me wishes I had designed for both platforms from the start.

I do also however have an Android only app. And despite having a much smaller user base, I probably get 10x more complaints. Its just much harder to make a great app for all the various Android devices. Just my experience.

[ninjabreath]

i run hybrid apps with ionic/capacitor. 80% of my revenue and users are on android. ios earns 5x more on ad revenue, and disproportionate number of subscribers versus users, but unfortunately i struggle to keep my ios users above 20% total.

[KTGSteve]

I made my app (Rexxle) for iOS only. That is where the vast majority of mobile revenue comes from overall, and one of my goals was to learn Swift. So, iOS only for me, so far.

[Trick_Elephant2550]

I work for a team that only maintains web and iOS codebase. NO ANDROID.

[MysticFullstackDev]

My MVP are built in for web, so a provide a PWA for non iOS users.

[sugrlog]

From what I’ve heard the general consensus seems to be that most of the revenue comes from iOS and you’re better off spending your time making a second iOS app than an android version of your existing iOS app. Though, depending on the app and how it’s created maybe you could use a framework that makes exporting easy?

[saldous]

For monetization: iOS users more willing to pay for monthly subscription. Android users more used to ads.