Android OS Favored by Developers over iOS
While the Apple iOS has been the primary target for application developers, things are changing according to a recent survey from Appcelerator. Instead of creating apps for the iPhone and iPad, there has been an increased interest in other mobile platforms, specifically the Android OS. Appcelerator foresees that the Android platform has the best long-term outlook and that it will lead over iOS greatly.
Appcelerator’s developer survey focused on the Android OS versus the iOS. The June 2010 survey discovered that 54 percent of developers believe that Android has the best long-term outlook, whereas only 40.4 percent believe that Apple’s iOS does. A new survey was just taken to compare the results after the release of the iPhone 4. Surprisingly, 58.6 percent favor the Android OS and only 34.9 percent favor the iOS.
The Android OS has come a long way. Only a year ago, it was a small player in the game against the BlackBerry, iPhone and WebOS market. Now, Android smartphone devices have become more popular than ever and application developers are responding to that.
Appcelerator goes on by saying, “developers favor Android 72 percent to 25 percent over iOS as the platform ‘best positioned to power a large number and variety of connected devices in the future’…by a wide margin, Android is considered the most open platform, even after Apple’s recent changes to its developer agreement to provide additional clarity to its app approval process and open up iOS to other development tools/languages.”
Essentially, Android has more room for growth because of its open mobile platform. Apple’s iOS on the other hand is proprietary and closed, thereby limiting the growth and capabilities of its mobile market.
[Photo courtesy of branch.]
