HOW TO DIFFERENTIATE BETWEEN APP DEVELOPMENT FOR IOS AND ANDROID.

Ever wondered what is so unique or special to these two named entities?
iOS is said to be a closed-source mobile Operating System (OS), while Android is said to be an open-source mobile Operating System (OS).
What does open-sourced or close-sourced literally mean?
Open-sourced means the developer(s)/engineer(s) building tools or applications on such Operating System (OS) gets to modify/alter a large amount of the base code powering the OS to suit its use-case, unlike closed-source which doesn’t grant such flexibility to its developer(s)/engineer(s).

So, what are the differences to watch out for when developing for either of the Operating Systems?
· Development Machines — iOS has a proprietary machine (device) that you can use when developing applications targeting iOS devices (which is MacBook — that runs on the Mac OS), while its counterpart, Android can allow development from any machine running any OS — Windows, Mac OS, and Linux for development of applications targeting the Android OS.
· Development Tools — this ranges from the Integrated Development Environments (IDE), etc. For iOS, you can only use proprietary Apple’s XCode IDE for development of Apple’s iOS applications unlike Android OS where you can use various IDEs — Android Studio, Microsoft Visual Studio Code, etc. for development.
· Deployment Environments — Sequel to other differences we’ve listed earlier, to deploy an application developed to target Apple’s iOS devices, you can only use the proprietary Apple’s AppStore — for testing or production purposes. Apple’s AppStore comes with yearly subscription payment of approx. $99. For Android, there’s the Google Play Store that you can deploy your Android applications to — for testing and production purposes, and there are other third-party stores where you can publish/deploy applications to, that can be as effective as the Google Play Store also. The Google Play Store comes with a one-time payment of about $30 for usage, while most of the other stores come with a free usage charge.
· Programming Languages — The programming languages Objective-C and Swift are the two languages available and recommended to develop applications for iOS powered devices, while Java and Kotlin are the two recommended languages to develop applications for Android devices. Over time, many improvements have been made to each of these languages to improve application quality.
· Look-and-feel — For iOS applications, the User Interface design follows the Cupertino design guideline, which is unique across all iOS devices. Android applications, as much as it is powered by an open-source OS, follow the Google Material Design guideline to create a unique User Design across most Android devices.
As much as the differences between the two Operating Systems lies majorly on the proprietary feature on Apple’s iOS, developing applications for either of the Operating Systems encourages the basic principles of Software Development generally. Both Operating Systems target a wide variety of devices — ranging from TVs, Wearables, Phones, Tablets, etc.

How can we differentiate between android and iOS without diving into history?
Android operating system is a mobile operating system that was developed by Android Inc., Software Company before it was acquired by Google in 2005. It was primarily designed to be used for touchscreen devices, cell phones and tablets. Due to its effectiveness, it can be found on other digital devices like television, wrist watch etc.

September 2008, the first commercial Android device was launched and it was a success …… world wild mobile market share statistics showed that Android tools over digital market with 72.2 % leaving 26.99% for iOS and other operating systems such as Nokia and others shared the remaining percentage.

iOS (formerly iPhone OS) is a mobile operating system created and developed by Apple Inc. exclusively for its hardware. It is the operating system that powers many of the company’s mobile devices, including the iPhone and iPod Touch; the term also included the versions running on iPad until the name iPadOS was introduced with version 13 in 2019.
The biggest dissimilarities between Android and iOS development are the technical differences. Their platforms have different programming languages, testing approaches, and so on. The most common differences in iOS and Android app development on the technical differences are based on the following points:
● Licensing
● IDE
● Application Design
● User base

IDE
An IDE, or Integrated Development Environment, enables programmers to consolidate the different aspects of writing a computer program. IDEs increase programmer productivity by combining common activities of writing software into a single application: editing source code, building executables, and debugging. Examples are VScode, Android studio, Xcode, Pycharm etc.
However, Developers make personal preferences based on their individual habits and likes when choosing which IDE to work with. Exploring the differences between Android Studio and XCode, it is difficult to decide which one is better, rather every programmer weighs the pros and cons. Android Studio which is the official IDE to develop android helps to quickly generate multiple versions of your app for various devices and offers a flexible Gradle-based build system and it is also supported by other IDEs such as VScode.
Xcode, on the other hand, has a decent source editor and assistant editor, but it is only recommended when considering surface touch. Those who prefer XCode like it for its easy setup. Android Studio fans like it for an advanced code editor and layout designer, though sometimes it consumes too much memory.

LICENSE
License issues with Android and iOS are completely different. If you’re making an Application in iOS, it will cost you more than Android. iOS charges $99 per year to upload your application in the App Store. Where Android charges $30 for lifetime access to upload any Apps you want to upload in Google Playstore.
Besides, iOS is very precise when it comes to choosing an application to upload in the Apple store because they are very precise about the quality of application you’re uploading. Apple does not accept low-quality applications in their store and these conditions have helped them keep their standard high in the world.
iOS goes pixel-to-pixel to check your Application. It is far stricter in App development, checks memory leaks, and Graphics of Application unlike Android where it is much easier for any application to get selected to be on Google Playstore.
Lifetime usage with affordable rates makes Android a much preferable choice for everyone because not everyone can afford $99 every year unless their App runs successfully on iOS.
App Design
Android app development vs iOS is determined by design guideline systems that determine the look and feel of the apps. While designing for Android, you’ll have to adhere to Material Design, while the iOS’ developer guide book will be the Human Interface Guidelines.
For Apple, the content of the app has priority over design. As a result, clarity and the broad use of white space are advisable. The most common tools used by UI designers are shadows and gradients. All in all, the application’s design should convey a feeling of depth and be multi-layered. A prominent case where we made a design for an iOS app exclusively is Baby Sleep Coach.
Android designs come from real-world inspiration. As a result, color and motion are two defining factors. Android designers usually operate with a broader range of tools — light, motions and color changes. Needless to say, it’s up to a designer to choose a look-and-feel for the app. However, there are certain system-specific differences that influence the design of iOS and Android apps.
● Navigation bar placement
The navigation bar placement is a noteworthy detail. On iOS devices, it’s centered while, on Android phones, the bar is aligned to the left. App developers usually use the navigation bar to write the name of the screen.
● Widget support
Android devices extensively support widgets on its home screen (except for the lock screen). iOS is fairly new to the trend of widgets — as a result, it provides limited widget support. A user will only be able to access widgets in the Notification Center.

● Device fragmentation
We have already covered the implications of Android device fragmentation when it comes to testing and development. As a result, designers have to withhold from creating detailed application interfaces as they will be extremely slow on low-end Android devices. The difference in screen dimensions makes setting proportions and layout elements optimization more challenging and time-consuming as well.

User base
To identify your user, you should consider the planned features for the app first. However, there are also some inherent distinctions between iOS and Android users, and you can leverage them when making a decision.
Statistics show that developing apps for Android may be more successful if your target audience is mainly in technical or medical fields. iPhones are more popular among business professionals, managers, and sales experts. Also, on average, people who prefer iPhone tend to hold higher degrees, strive to keep up with the latest technology trends, and have a higher household income.