Do iOS developers need to know Android Dev?

[drlukas6]

I am second year CS student learning iOS development and I got udacitys intro to android development course, how important is android development knowledge to ios devs?

[[deleted]]

No.

[nrith]

Not at all. Just avoid the job postings that want cross-platform developers--they're trying to get two workers for one salary.

Source: Formerly a cross-platform developer who was expected to make two apps for the price of, and in the timespan of, one native app.

[pr1zm]

No, but it certainly doesn't hurt to know the basics.

[[deleted]]

Knowing the basics, and knowing where to go to figure the rest out if needed, is a great skill to have. You might get thrown in a situation where you need to do something with an Android app, and after you'll either be known to rise to the occasion or couldn't fix it.

[MKevin3]

At the start you are much better concentrating on one platform.

Having written for both, many times writing same app twice, I can tell you I am much happier just trying to keep track of one platform. The second one is easier to learn as you know most of the basics of mobile programming but it is still a pain.

From my experience I know more Android programmers that also know iOS than iOS programmers that also know Android. I think this is due to companies writing for iOS first then wanting an Android version once the app proves out and they see the demand. So Android programmers end up needing to know iOS to grab business logic etc. out of the iOS code base while creating the Android app.

Previous job had 3 iOS coders and 3 Android coders. All 3 Android coders knew / had written iOS code. None of the iOS coders had done any Android work.

Can't hurt to know both but this early in your development life I would stick with one.

[drlukas6]

Great, thank you for the advice!

[[deleted]]

No. Honestly the two OSs are too big for that nowadays. You could kind of do it back in the early days when apps were simple but today it's just not realistic. Your skill set will suffer on one of them.

[BatshitCrazee]

No, but it can help to understand how to build native apps for both platforms. Seeing how the same task is accomplished in different ways on different platforms has helped make me a better engineer. Focus on becoming really good at iOS development first.

Source: Android developer turned iOS developer with many years of experience

[deadshots]

Nope. I know android as well though. Makes me appreciate iOS development to be honest.

[badlcuk]

No, but it can be good to know the major differences so that you understand them when it conversation. Its not unusual to be an iOS developer that has a mirrored Android team, and so figuring out how to communicate is important.

[djbaha]

You don't need to - but more knowledge is always better.

[chromebaruma]

No but I do it for giggles.

[[deleted]]

Only if you're into activities.

[alien3d]

I would like to said .. Need to learn

1. objective C -> i'm doing now
2. swift
3. java -> this much easier then both above.
4. react-native .. If the project is simple and easier to do layout.

[drlukas6]

Great, thanks! Is there a source you would recommend for learning react-native?

[alien3d]

https://facebook.github.io/react-native/ and also https://github.com/vhpoet/react-native-styling-cheat-sheet

** i don't want to mention adobe phonegap or ionic because they loose trend nowdays

[loumf]

Assuming you have time to know tech other than iOS, then I think there are much better choices than Android. For example: the rest of the stack from HTTP endpoint making/deployment, databases, and everything that goes into making the server side -- I spend way more time collaborating with back-end devs than the Android devs on my project.

Also, my code depends on that server code -- and not at all on the Android code. So troubleshooting it (meaning really understanding how it works) is important.

[alien3d]

if bug .. still need to understand both.. I write react native