Ask HN: Should I worry about Android any more?
I'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'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's the only one which is going to matter on the long run, and do not even bother with React Native.
I'm not looking to start another religious war "Emacs vs vi" -- I'm looking for an evidence based advice.
I'd appreciate any comments, thoughts, suggestions.
17 comments
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.
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.
well said, thank you!
> 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."
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."
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.
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.
> 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.
What do you mean by this? My 5S device from 2013 will support iOS 12. The battery might be dying but it is replaceable.
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.
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.
http://gs.statcounter.com/os-market-share/mobile/united-stat...
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.
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.
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.
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.
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...
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.
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.
My opinion would be if you're going to focus on one, focus on android.
Outside of the bubble its everything.
Outside of the bubble its everything.
haha, I knew it ;)
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.
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.
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.
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.
If you wanna bet on something cross-platform, bet on the web and Javascript.
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.
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.
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.
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.