Developing on Android vs iOS

If you're building mobile apps these days, you're probably watching the Android market closely if you're not already developing for it. With reports coming in weekly that Android activations are growing faster than ever, simple extrapolation will tell you that soon, there will be more Android devices on that planet than people. Many successful mobile devs, most of them currently focused on Apple's iOS platform, are seriously investigating the Android platform and starting to port their apps. A few adventurous developers have written some thoughtful articles describing their experience and comparing Android and iOS development.

Nick Farina of Spotlight Mobile describes his impressions of Android garnered while porting his Meridian app from iOS. He covers the good and the bad of each platform in technical detail, and it's a good read if you're a developer moving from iOS to Android or vice versa. Nick approaches Android with the open mind of a developer who has worked on many platforms—the first version of Meridian was launched on Windows Mobile. Nick sums up his philosophy:

We decided it was important to keep the native stuff native, and to respect each platform’s conventions as much as possible.
...
So, we rolled up our sleeves, downloaded the Android SDK, and got to work

Back in March, Geoffrey Goetz of GigaOM gave his comparison of development on the two platforms. Goetz gives a high level summary, including a somewhat shallow summary table highlighting the platform differences. This is probably most useful if you're an executive who manages mobile developers, but is worth a quick read if you're a developer who's new to one of the two platforms. Goetz mentions Apple's WWDC videos and the Stanford iOS development course on iTunesU as a big plus for the developer learning experience on iOS and I have to agree: both are excellent resources. Goetz fails to mention that videos of many Google IO sessions covering Android are also freely available, though I can't say if they have the same high quality as Apple's iTunesU offerings.

Samuel Sutch gives another iOS developer's perspective on Android in a post on Google+. He sums up his take on Android in the opening paragraph:

The Android API requires it's users be really good programmers. Android abstractions are much more in-depth, (drawn out, forced, and complicated) than the equivalent iOS abstractions. However "Intents" are great once you get them.

I also recommend the discussion of the post on Hacker News.

Finally, if you're thinking about jumping on the Android bandwagon, keep in mind Ben Duchac's post, Why My Mom Bought an Android, Returned It, and Got an iPhone. Android can be a challenging experience for non-technophiles. I suspect that because Apple has positioned the iPhone and iPad as premium devices, they've captured a large fraction of consumers who are interested and engaged in their mobile experience, and iOS app sales have benefitted from that. Conversely, non-techie Android owners are less interested in using their devices to the fullest and more sensitive to price.

If you want to make money on app sales, I wouldn't bet the farm on Android right now. If you're targeting a technophilic audience, you probably want to be on both Android and iOS. If you're pursuing app sales to a mass market, I would recommend iOS first and Android as an optional second right now. However, if you have an existing product or service with a supplemental mobile app, you should definitely be planning to offer it on both iOS and Android.