“When the iPhone was introduced in 2007, and later when the iPhone SDK (now iOS SDK) was introduced in 2008, Apple explained how it was all based on a similar foundation to OS X, and even named the new frameworks Cocoa Touch, reflecting the Objective-C Cocoa frameworks of the Mac,” Rene Ritchie writes for iMore. “There were and are differences, to be sure, but that core similarity not only made the iPhone, and later the iPad, instantly familiar to existing Mac developers, it made it interesting.”
“The Mac, though its market share was never large, especially when compared to the well over 90% marketshare of Microsoft Windows-based PCs, had always attracted an incredibly talented, incredibly dedicated group of developers who cared deeply about things like design and user experience. OS X enjoyed not only the traditional Mac OS community, but the NeXT one as well,” Ritchie writes. “That talent share always felt disproportionate to the market share. Massively. And a lot of those developers, and new developers influenced by them, not only wanted iPhones and iPads, but wanted to create software for them.”
Ritchie writes, “iOS attracted non-Mac developers as well, to be sure, and game developers, and inspired a slew of brand new developers as well. However, when you take a look at some of the best and brightest apps on the App Store – Twitterrific and Tweetbot and Letterpress and Screens and Omni Focus and Fantastical and Vesper and on and on – they come from people with a background at Apple or on the Mac. And they come from people with no interest, at least thus far, in writing for any other platform. They come from people who self-identify, take pride in, and have considerable passion for being Apple developers. (And that doesn’t include any of the Apple-made apps, like iWork and iLife, which are among the best in mobile and, of course, iOS only.)”
Much more in the full article – highly recommended – here.
“Here’s to the crazy ones. The misfits. The rebels. The trouble-makers…”
I think what attracts developers is how extensive in terms of numbers sold and market penetration a platform is and how much money it pays them, although it is debatable whether developers are looking for money or name recognition in for example developing a free app like Twitter, Facebook and Waze. I think Waze maps are great for navigating around and it’s a pity that Apple lost out to Google in buying it. I think developers are still attracted by the platform both from immediate financial benefits and as potential takeover targets, e.g., Dropbox, Tumblr (since bought by Yahoo), and Instagram (since bought by Facebook).
It is important not to neglect the market penetration aspect of a platform and in this Apple would be remiss to concentrate purely on profits in terms of measuring how successful the iPhone is because the network effect that results from mass (market momentum if you will) is just as important in terms of receiving the best apps from the best developers.
One thing left out of the article is the cost of development is higher on Android with the need to support such a fragmented user base, and also the fact that the Android install base has proven much less willing to pay for apps.
30% of all Android owners will upgrade their OS as only 50% have the top Android OS now on their phone, whereas Apple has 93% of it’s customers on the current iOS Says it all.
What attracted me as a developer was simplicity. Means I didn’t have to develop for and test on the lowest common denominator of hundreds of devices.
iOS developer tries hand at Android version, discovers 99.7% piracy rate on Android for their well regarded indie game.
http://www.edge-online.com/news/lucky-frames-gentlemen-on-android-eight-sold-2462-pirated/
No wonder developers don’t want to develop for a platform where the customers not only don’t like to pay, but also love to pirate.
So tell me, where is the software development company who’s going to go head-to-head with Intuit on the Mac platform? It is surely a space that needs filling. I’ve tried every one of the pretenders on the Mac platform, and no one of them comes close to the degree of completeness of the Windows version of the Intuit software. Where is the competition in this arena? Is every Mac developer and user so right-brained as to believe that no one should want or need to use personal finance tracking software?
Xcode is marvelous! 😛
I recently had to go back to Visual Studio [C#] to do a project where I needed to look at some code. It was awful. I did find a few things that I had thought I missed about VS, but when I revisited them, I quickly came to realization that the XCode/Mac way of doing things was more well thought out. It seemed like feature-less a few years ago when I switched, but it was more feature-not needed, or worse, feature-could really muck things up. I have been on Macs for a few years and absolutely dread the PC [some family members have], Windows [especially 8], Android [and the dismal following it had created]. I will not program for Android if I can eat without doing so!!!
The difference between iOS and Android developers is one side makes a good living and the others make mostly free or stolen apps for Android.
And the reverse flow is still strengthening – developers for iOS who are now writing OS X software for the first time.
The transition for developers is relatively easy.
Both iPhone and Android developer developed various application which helpful to users. Both have capability to develop any kind of application with latest technology.
Apple iOS and Android are operating system developed for smart phones, pads and tablets by Apple and Google. Apple iOS was first released in US Market in June 2007.Apple iOS was originally developed for iPhones and now it’s being used in iPod, iPad and Apple TVs.Android is a Smartphone operating system developed by Android.Apple iOS 3 introduces attractive features like, Cut, Copy and Paste, Display address with drop PIN in maps, walking directions in map, more you tube features like login, commenting, rating videos, contact editable with recent calls, HD video recording. Android 2.2 Froyo was released in May 2010 and Android 2.3 the Gingerbread was released in the first week of December (6th Dec 2010). The new features include 3D transition, bookmark syncing, private browsing, pinned widgets – create your own widget for individuals in the contact list, video chat using Google Talk and auto-form fill. Get more info at : http://www.hypersonictechnologies.com/a-sneak-peek-into-the-key-differences-between-apple-ios-android/