I hear that the iPhone mini is coming next US fall with a 3.5 inch screen (runs and hides) ...
Ok, seriously: We all know that there are problems with worldwide vs say US stats. I would believe that most of our opinions are influenced by what we see in the US and other 'first world' markets. Those trends, from what I've seen, are thus:
Android is a rocket on anti-matter fuel (daily activations)
The problem with this stat is that Google can tell which countries these installs are coming from, what devices they are etc. Yet they do not even share the detail, even at an ambiguous level. So we can never know where the installs come from, whether they come from high-end devices (where people are more likely to spend money on apps) or from 'cheap phones' or even microwaves.
So as cool as the stats seem, they don't help in painting the Mona Lisa.
iOS users are big spending Kenny Kunene's
Yes, granted iOS users are more likely to spend money on apps. This has been mentioned in this thread that:
- if someone buys an Apple product they likely have more disposable income (or cut their retirement by a year), so it makes sense that they would be big spenders.
- Usability. Let's face it, iOS is
substantially all the same, has been since like forever. If you wanna attach multiple files to an e-mail, either good luck or you have to download an app that does that. Most of those apps cost money cos it's not an overnight thing as the devs spent a lot of time on it. (The concensus is that even though Android is more fragmented, it's still easier to develop for than iOS). Also, most people at work who use an iPad actually use it for work, so they are likely to download premium productivity apps.
- Apps in the App Store are more expensive than elsewhere (this could likely be due to basic economics), but there's also the status factor involved to an extent.
You're an idiot to develop first for Android
This should really be a regional argument, in the US the market is balanced, and there are more high-end Android devices that say South Africa. It might make sense there to start with iOS and then Android, but in SA???
I mean, it also depends on your app, but if you're building an app for a shopping center, no matter how classy that place is, I would bet first on the Berries (the only people who still really carry the 8520 are kids, decent Berries are roaming the market nowadays), or do them all together. The aim there would be to get as much info to as many people as possible.
Considering that most apps in SA are developed by 3rd parties for a business, I feel (and I'll prove this in a few months, working on an Android blog @ androidessence.com) that a lot of the businesses are blindly following the 'iOS first' movement, and then only jumping into Android, resulting in poor user experience. Waytag is the example I'm forever bashing
.
In SA, we don't pay attention to Android
Then we go crying about how it's an unattractive market.
Someone go to the Play store and look at a lot of the SA apps. Except for a few large companies and very few independents, most apps barely reach a thousand installs. Why? A whole host of reasons.
- lack of marketing, that doesn't mean you should go splash money on ads, but marketing in the sense of awareness of your product.
- the whole 'iPhone port' thing. As a rule of thumb, if an app looks like an Apple port, I don't install it. Not worth me having to struggle to use an app on my phone just because the devs didn't pay attention to Android guidelines.
- Android is no longer the ugly duckling that it used to be. If you have an app on the Play Store, keep the thing up to date, engage with your users etc.
- Android has better discovery than Apple. I don't own an Apple device, but I for example use the iTunes Store (or rather iTunesU), and regularly use friends' devices. My opinion's that it's way easier to get someone to install an Android app than an iOS app. When I see an app being reviewed, I just open its link, and click the install button. It automagically downloads to my device.
Android is fragmented
Yes, it is, but read up on what exactly is fragmented from a dev's perspective and from an user's perspective. Not the same thing.
- Dev: there's 3 versions of Android to support when you're in SA (2.2, 2.3, and 4.0+). It's easy to target the 4 screen types (ldpi, mdpi, hdpi, xhdpi). The API differences are covered by compat libraries. Even though hardware is different across devices, most is standard. Screen size does not mean 'fragment'. If so then there'd be say 20 versions of a single website for all screen sizes.
- User: I have a 4.0" device, you have a 5.5" one. That's what these research companies focus on. I know I'm overly simplifying this point, but I don't see its relevance on fragmentation.
To prove the above, developers barely go make mass updates of their apps when a new Android device hits the market. 90% of the apps already 'just work'. With the iPhone 5, iPhone 4 and lower devices were sandboxed. See what I mean?
Android might be 'winning' the war, maybe globally by total installs and active devices, but let's not forget that we're in SA, and we should let what is prevalent in SA guide our decisions and opinions.
