
Ask HN: Should I worry about Android any more? - dmitryame
I&#x27;m currently working on a mobile app, and, naturally, I want to reach out to as big crowd as possible. However, this is a one person effort for now, and I do not have capacity (nor much desire) to maintain 2 completely different platforms all by my self (IOS swift, and Android Java), it&#x27;s simply is not practical (although I have created a prototype for both). 
I was seriously considering investing into becoming proficient in React Native to be able to create really cool UX for both platforms. And recently I found out that AirBNB just ditched their React Native in favor of Native (good that they can afford it). 
I also have a millennial son, who is an IOS coder, and he tells me that all kids in college have iPhone these days. My other son in high school says the same, every kid in his class has an Apple device. So, my son who is an IOS developer says not to worry about Android and to become proficient in IOS only, because that&#x27;s the only one which is going to matter on the long run, and do not even bother with React Native. 
I&#x27;m not looking to start another religious war &quot;Emacs vs vi&quot; -- I&#x27;m looking for an evidence based advice.
I&#x27;d appreciate any comments, thoughts, suggestions.
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pedalpete
You haven't said what app you are building and who the target market is, so
that is the place to start.

Forget about what your sons tell you, unless they are representative of your
target market.

From there, you can then make an informed decision of what platform your
target market is using, and what is the correct platform to build for.

You can also use this information to inform you if React Native would be
acceptable for your target market and use case.

You are not airbnb, you can't afford to build and maintain two different
platforms. You mention creating "really cool UX", but is that something you
want? Or something your target market needs? I've been bitten by the bug of
creating really cool UX that nobody cared about, so consider that as part of
your market need.

I'm not saying don't ever create cool UX or don't ever build native, but from
an MVP or lean perspective, you want to penetrate as deep into the market as
quickly as you can. If React Native can get you more breadth and more
discovery early, you can always decide later if you need to invest in doing
native, or can continue improving on what you have.

~~~
dmitryame
well said, thank you!

------
ardy42
> also have a millennial son, who is an IOS coder, and he tells me that all
> kids in college have iPhone these days. My other son in high school says the
> same, every kid in his class has an Apple device. So, my son who is an IOS
> developer says not to worry about Android and to become proficient in IOS
> only, because that's the only one which is going to matter on the long run

I'd be highly skeptical of claims that Apple's platform is going to be the
only one that matters in the future, especially based on the subjective
opinions of two people who may travel in unrepresentative social circles. It's
sort of like that quote "How could Nixon have won? Nobody I know voted for
him."

------
CyberFonic
Within my family and circle of friends, many of us are abandoning Apple
iPhones due to their forced obsolescence and upgrading to Android phones. In
most cases we end up saving quite a lot of money as well. So if your target
demographic isn't the cool kids and people who will pay over $1000 for the
latest iPhone, then you might want to consider Android first business model.

Being a one person software team having a good share of only one market is
going to be more profitable than a tiny share of two markets with the
attendant costs and effort of supporting two environments.

@jerrac's comments are worth taking heed of.

~~~
wingerlang
> forced obsolescence

What do you mean by this? My 5S device from 2013 will support iOS 12. The
battery might be dying but it is replaceable.

~~~
CyberFonic
I have an original iPad (v1?) and a iPhone 3GS, neither of which can be
upgraded and yet in both cases the battery is fine and they work Ok but with
very out of date software which in turn means that I can't access even
relatively benign web sites effectively.

------
thorin
In the UK I'd say the people who have money to spend on their phones and are
actively making a choice are buying about their device are buying 50/50
Android/Apple. If you are short on cash it's likely you're going to go for
Android as it's at least 25% cheaper. For people who are easily influenced by
peer pressure (kids!) but low on technical knowledge it's clear that Apple
will be the winner.

------
nereid
[http://gs.statcounter.com/os-market-share/mobile/united-
stat...](http://gs.statcounter.com/os-market-share/mobile/united-states-of-
america)

Half of the market in USA. In my country Spain is 80% Android VS. 20% iOS.

If your are going to focus on the milenials on your high school kids, may be
you could Ignore Android but have a look to the stats.

------
willio58
If you are truly trying to reach as big a crowd as possible then yes you still
have to worry about Android.

That being said, you don't have to develop for Android to reach a potentially
huge audience. That really comes down to your product at the end of the day.
If you decide to develop for iOS and the app gets popular, you'll probably end
up with the money to build an Android version.

------
dangerface
Your son is wrong. Android is currently way more popular than iphone according
to a quick google search: [https://www.statista.com/statistics/266136/global-
market-sha...](https://www.statista.com/statistics/266136/global-market-share-
held-by-smartphone-operating-systems/)

The numbers are even better for android in the third world (because its
cheaper), important as its an emerging market.

Trying to call android or iphone now, is like calling the landline the future
of communications in the 1980's. In the long run it wont be android or iphone,
it will be some yet to be invented tech. This is the tech your high school son
needs to learn, not iphone apps.

Base your predictions on statistics not speculation.

------
billylindeman
My opinion would be if you're going to focus on one, focus on android.

Outside of the bubble its everything.

~~~
dmitryame
haha, I knew it ;)

------
jerrac
Have you found any researched reports on Android vs. iOS market share? That's
where I'd start if I were you.

I, personally, would never choose to only focus on iOS. Apple's walled garden
seems extremely hostile to me. If you ever got banned for some reason, what
would you do?

At least with Android you can distribute .apk files via a website, even if you
wouldn't get the visibility being in an app store might give you.

You also might want to consider which platform is easiest for you to develop
on. Since you're just a one person show, that might be the most important
aspect.

~~~
dmitryame
I actually do not like either platform's layout system and programming model,
nor languages. React Native is actually quite nice IMO comparing to the other
two.

------
mabynogy
In the long run, Android and iOS aren't important. We don't know yet if Google
will keep Java for Fushia. My theory is they will remove it because despite
all their efforts Java is still the overhead that makes Android less
performant as iPhones.

If you wanna bet on something cross-platform, bet on the web and Javascript.

------
cimmanom
1) Find your target audience and see which phone dominates among them.

2) Is your app itself your money maker, or is it an alternative client for a
web app or other service? Apparently, iOS users spend a lot more on apps and
in-app purchases than Android users.

------
smt88
Airbnb ditched an effort to gradually migrate their codebase to React Native.

They (and others) have said using React Native works much better if you start
out using it from the beginning.

Also, use Kotlin for Android, not Java.

