For an ordinary person, both iOS and Android app development looks very much similar. But when observe closely, there is significant difference between these two very renowned platforms. Android and iOS has its own features and peculiarities. Thus the application development process differs and entirely rely on the operating system developers choose. The Android and iPhone app development company hence need dedicated application developers to design any particular application.
However, the application development lifecycle involves following basic phases:-
1.Application planning and strategy
2.User requirements analysis
3.UI design
4.Application coding
5.Testing and
6.Deployment of application
Besides these phases, development process might involve extra phases like promotion and marketing, budget planning, prototype designing etc. Following are some major differences between the Android and iOS application development:
Structure Of Project
Android application development completely depends on complex structure. In Android project structure, the nomenclature of the file, resource, and folder should be proper and specific as Android app development follows a well-organized process.
On the other hand, iOS application has a free structure within the XCode. The important file and folders can be created at any time during application development. This makes the structure of iOS application development more dynamic. Like Android applications, iOS also follows strict rules of nomenclatures.
App Testing
Testing is an important phase in overall application development lifecycle. It ensures the crash-free and error-free performance of an application. Testing is mandatory before deploying an application in the app market. Because it will help to determine whether a final product works perfectly on the particular device or not. Android emulator and iOS simulator are two tools that are used to test Android and iOS applications respectively.
Most of the times, these tools fail to provide the exact results. Hence, app development companies conduct testing on actual mobile devices in order to understand the flow of the application. Testing application with real device and users help to identify more issues related to the performance of the application. Testing team collect all the performance related data and make the respective changes in the application.
Programming Language And Frameworks
Most distinctive features of Android and iOS applications depend on the programming language. The iOS applications are generally developed with Objective-C. But, Apple has recently launched new programming language called Swift to make iOS application development more effective and simple. Whenever things come to iOS application development, it is difficult for developers which language to select Objective-C or Swift? While Android applications are solely developed with Java.
iPhone applications are developed using XCode IDE with the help of iOS SDK. Swift and Objective-C both are well compatible with XCode framework. While Android uses Android Studio along with Android SDK. Android development uses IDEs such as NetBeans and Eclipse. Use of Java language makes Android app development robust, simple and efficient.
Development Cost
In terms of application development cost, Android application development is more affordable than iOS. Because most of development and testing frameworks are open source and free. Developers can start developing Android applications with no investment. While for iOS application development, developers need to purchase official Apple frameworks and tools which might incur more cost for developers.
Application Design
Developers can reuse the source code to develop the application for different platforms. For example Ionic and Xamarin frameworks. Developers can use Android application logic to design brand new iOS application. But, developers can not reuse the UI design components as there is a huge difference in UI elements of Android and iOS applications. Thus one can not take the iOS application and simply put it into Android platform. Developers should have to deal with numerous UI design considerations.
Identical to Android, iOS also started using flatter UI design rather than skeuomorphic shadows. iOS designs are less clearly defined as it involves large images, transitions, and numerous translucent elements. In terms of iOS navigation, the back button on the upper left corner can be a little bit difficult as Android devices have it lower left corner which is easy to access.
Both platforms have their own application style logic. Thus it is always recommended to develop application UI design with the help of professional app developers.
Application Store
Well, once the application is ready the developers have to deploy it in the application store. The application store optimization is different for Android and iOS apps. Both platforms have different keywords and variables to make application more SEO-friendly.
It is relatively easy to launch an Android application in Google Play Store. As soon as developers upload APK, it will take a couple of hours to make application live in Play Store. But, Apple has the strict set of rules to deploy the application in App Store. It might take 3-4 days to become application live in App Store. Also, iPhone app development company needs to pay an annual fee of $99 for the application submission.
Conclusion
Visually and technically the application development process of Android and iOS is different. It is important for application development companies to choose platform wisely based on the requirements. Android and iOS, both follow different methods and strategies to make the application more effective and performance centric.
Ritesh Patil is the co-founder of Mobisoft Infotech that helps startups and enterprises in mobile technology. He loves technology, especially mobile technology. He’s an avid blogger and writes on mobile application. He works in a leading android development company with skilled android app developers that has developed innovative mobile applications across various fields such as Finance, Insurance, Health, Entertainment, Productivity, Social Causes, Education and many more and has bagged numerous awards for the same.