With billions of smartphone users generating hundredfold dollars in annual revenues and bazillions of applications- some immensely successful, others utter failures, the global app market remains- unpredictable and chaotic. There are applications with full-scale features, excellent UI/UX facing failures and then there are also applications that literally do nothing and sell for $400. The point being, there is no rulebook for having a successful mobile app. Yes, there are guidelines and best practices but they can take you only so far, after that, it is those individual choices you make at each step that finally converge to deliver various levels of success or failure for that matter.
For a startup, that process gets even trickier- partly due to their own inexperience and partly due to the said unpredictability. The best they can do is set their priorities straight and take the most feasible set of steps to achieve them. Now when we analyze each of those goals separately, it becomes evidently clear that Android as a platform is in a much better position to serve their needs than others. Of course, the “others” is essentially iOS because there isn’t exactly a third viable option. Dive in:
Lower cost
Unless there are VCs or deep-pocketed angel investors involved, the first goal of any startup is to minimize cost simply because they are chronically short on cash. Now they can either blow off their budget on enterprise-edition paid tools or they can resort to open-source free tools for the development.
The answer obviously is free tools. And with Android backed by tech behemoth Google, the deal gets even sweeter- most of the free tools offered by Android are not only free but are of the highest quality as well.
Quicker time to market
No matter what a startup does, there is a good chance that there is someone else doing it as well. In that case, the only factor that categories them as a disruptor or replicates it is the order in which they reach the market. Ask any developer and they will tell you all the potential that an Android app development has, in as much shorter time than iOS. So, it is only reasonable for startups looking to beat the competition to steer towards the Android platform.
More Exposure
For every iPhone that Apple sells, 9 Android phones are sold. That is, if you choose Android to be the platform for your new app, you have a potential audience, 9X the size of iOS. And since higher visibility is the first and foremost thing that a startup needs after deployment, it can turn out to be the pivotal factor in grand acceptance and cold rejection. Additionally, as Android has many third-party app stores, there is always the hidden potential to explore beyond official stores.
Diverse Feedback
Once a product is out in the market, it is the feedback that startups crave the most, which is also essential for their further refinement and course-correction. With iOS, there are around 3-4 models of iPhones running on 2-3 different versions of iOS anytime- which is very convenient to test an app but not a product. Startups need feedback from the widest possible spectrum- which Android app development with its reach to hundreds of devices is better placed to deliver.
Plus, the iOS user base is known to be a lot more homogenous than that of Android- those rich and pretend-to-be-rich types. But when you hire Android app developers to bring your ideas to life, your product reaches to all verticals of smartphone users- from those owing $50 phones to that $1000, each of whom can offer feedback from all possible insights.