

Starting as an app developer: iPhone or Android? Which one to choose? - g-garron
http://garron.me/blog/starting-as-developer-android-or-ios.html

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Turing_Machine
If you're not sure, why not start with something like Appcelerator Titanium?
It's cross-platform (iOS, Android, preliminary support for Blackberry and even
desktop apps) to a very large degree (some UI tweaks may be needed to make it
look right) and you can write your code in Javascript -- which is a very
useful thing to know even if you don't stick with mobile apps. There are other
similar packages (PhoneGap, etc.) but from what I've seen Titanium is much
more performant.

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g-garron
did not know about that. I'm so happy I posted here my question

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n9com
To be honest, you'd be better off with making Mac apps. The competition is
much lower in that market and it's a lot easier to get visibility for your app
on the Mac App Store.

The dynamics of the iOS and Android store have changed a lot in the last 2
years and now the majority of high ranking apps are from companies that have
built up a huge cross promotion network.

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g-garron
You know what? I've thinking about it. For the reasons you just explained.

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hinto_ize
Given that (at least for now) you're in it for fun, and that you already have
Mac hardware, seems to me iOS is a good place to start. With the combination
of the iPhone simulator and your iPod Touch you have what you'll need to dive
in.

One thing other posters haven't brought up is the abysmal condition of the
Android emulator. Unless you have an Android device on hand, you're in for a
world of pain trying to develop apps using the emulator. It's snail slow, with
a long boot-up time & very poor graphics performance. (It's something the
Android dev tools team at Google is working hard on fixing, but it's a ways
out, from my understanding.)

Finally, if you're the type who likes a structured approach to learning
there's a great course that Stanford University offers covering introductory
iOS development (<http://goo.gl/SouE>) to help get you started.

Good luck to you, my friend!

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g-garron
thank you very much for taking your time to help me. have a nice weekend.

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bignoggins
What's your background? C/C++ then go with iPhone. Java then go with Android.

What's your goal? If you want the path of least resistance to meaningful
revenue go iPhone. If you want to integrate deeply with the OS in a way Apple
would never allow go Android.

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g-garron
thanks.

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Caballera
My friend and I are starting as Android developers. Neither of us have
previous experience on either platforms. He's got SAS experience and SQL, me I
do more web design. So far it's going good, specially for him as he's learning
fast. We choose Android as it's only $25 bucks to become a registered
developer, plus he has a HP Laptop, no Mac (i have a mac) and he currently
doesn't have a job. We do intend to try iOS development if we get Android
development working.

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g-garron
The 99 $us per year, and the Mac can be prohibitive for lots of people. Wish
you luck with your projects.

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darylteo
Personally? It depends on your goal/model.

If you're in it for the money (passive side income etc.) I would go for
iPhone. There are people who have made considerable income from ads on
Android, but as usual this differs between apps and situation.

If you're just doing it for fun, either works.

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libria
> If you're in it for the money (passive side income etc.) I would go for
> iPhone.

I wonder why this is. The culture of those who would buy Apple, would by apps?
$100/y dev fee ensures greater quality apps than Androids 1-time $25? iPhone
maturity?

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sneak
In a nutshell? Macs and iPhones and iPod Touches and iPads are expensive.
Their owners have more disposable income, which is why they end up with a $650
iPad instead of a $250 netbook. It's also why they buy more apps.

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nesbot
You might be interested in this recent hacker news posting,
<http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=2929612>

You can look at the results but looks iPhone is paying more for now, but I
think that will flip in the coming months.

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MobileHill
Wow yeah, sort of uncanny how that post gives such a detailed answer to your
question. The guy says the Android market made about 75% of the Appstore
revenue. Fortunately (Or perhaps unfortunately since you would have to develop
2) both markets seem to be worth the effort.

Good luck.

~~~
g-garron
As I said in the original post. 75% + of the income, well worth porting the
app, instead of creating a new one for the iPhone.

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daniel_solano
If you're in it for the money, one question is whether or not you have a Mac
and iPhone. iOs may gross more revenue, but if you have to spend $1000 just to
get the necessary hardware to develop, then that's going to cut into your net
revenue deeply.

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cageface
If $1000 seems like too much to get started, then this is a hobby, not a
serious attempt at starting a business.

I've been doing iOS exclusively for the last year but I think at this point
I'd steer a beginner towards Android. The learning curve is shallower and the
market is less saturated with quality apps. The two platforms are really not
so different in many ways so much of what you learn on Android you can
transfer later.

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freddy
I would go for iPhone. Mostly because the tooling is easier, interface builder
is cleaner. Android is great too but a litle more involved to get the same
result. At least that is my 2 cents.

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g-garron
Valuable 2 cents indeed. Thanks.

