CockenADoodleDoo

"Android is suddenly in a lot of trouble"

First, read the linked article.

Okay, good. So this probably isn’t news to anyone, but recently I made the switch from agency-side (What’s up, Wonderfactory!), to product-side (What’s up, Fitocracy!). It’s been a hugely enjoyable move, but that’s for a later post. One thing has been consistent across both: development always starts for iOS before Android.

“But Android has a bigger marketshare than iOS!!” We hear that a lot at Fitocracy, and we love Android (more than half the team has Android devices). So, why iOS first?

I never understood why you ‘couldn’t’ like the Rolling Stones and The Beatles. Blur and Oasis. It always comes down to economics. If you’re an 11 year old kid whose saved up all their pennies from mowing lawns to buy one album, you’re going to spend some time evaluating both records.

The reality is a little more complex than simple activation numbers on devices (The metric that gets thrown round a lot in favour of Android). Back at The Wonderfactory we built apps for some of the biggest brands in the world. Our clients weren’t stupid (quite the opposite). They weren’t randomly deciding to develop for iOS because they were ‘fanbois’ . Every budget decision they make is based on calculated data. Site metrics. Testing. If they mess up, it’s on their shoulders and will be bad for their career and fortune of the company (same thing goes at Fitocracy). Obviously, people aren’t that cavalier. Informed decisions are made from data that suggests that people aren’t as willing to spend money on the Android platform as they are on iOS and that a large number of Android users might just be using their device as a replacement, non-smart, phone.

Hopefully, I don’t need to repeat all of the other reasons cited in the linked article. Businesses have limited budgets; you have to make decisions based on projected returns.

In short: you get to the other platforms as soon as it makes viable business sense.