When the iPhone's Software Development Kit (SDK) was released back in 2008, there were several concerns from iPhone app developers that the platform severely limits what can and cannot be done on the device. Voice over internet protocol (VOIP), for example, allows users to bypass their cellular network and make international phone calls over the internet for a considerably lower price. Any cell phone carrier will do whatever it can to stop its phone owners from accessing a VOIP service from their phone because doing so would drastically cut down on that carrier's profits from potential long distance calls. We could have expected, then, that Apple would restrict any kind of access to a VOIP service through the 3G network along with any modification of the SIM card data. But there are other less expected restrictions that might have an impact on your development process. We will go over the big ones here and contrast them with the Android platform to give you a little extra perspective on what the best development choices for your new app might be.
To begin with, there is one crucial difference for iPhone app developers, between the iPhone Operating System and the one present on your desktop or laptop computer. When you're on your desktop machine, you can open multiple programs and websites at the same time. This widely accepted standard simply is not available on the iPhone. When you close an iPhone app, that is it. You can't minimize apps or leave them running in the background. This issue may improve or disappear over time as more users demand it, but for now, developers either have to change the scope of their apps or come up with some kind of workaround. It's unfortunate because many web apps work best when they run in the background collecting data and communicating with the internet while you do other tasks.
Aside from the elephant in the room, developers are also unable to modify data belonging to other applications. There is a great security benefit to running things this way as it puts the kibosh on any hackers attempting to find back doors to certain apps. However, it also stops applications from working closely with one another. Contrary to what President Obama says, the choice between freedom and security cannot be rejected as false in this case. Apple has made it, and they side with security.
iPhone app developers are also limited to only using Apple's published Application Program Interfaces (API) in the way that Apple has specified in the documentation. While this is great insofar as it standardizes the development process and provides stability, it can limit creativity. It also makes the iPhone application development process a little more painstaking as developers are required to learn Apple's way of making API calls.
Google's Android, in contrast, does allow multiple programs to run at the same time. And, because it is open source with a completely open app marketplace, Android developers need not worry about their applications being rejected due to private API calls. Developers can also modify the data in other applications to create a more integrated experience if need be. While this is certainly an improvement, the really exciting news about Android is Google's full commitment to allowing VOIP applications on any network. Imagine having an international conference call from anywhere in world and paying ridiculously low rates to do it. This is all possible with Android.
The decision to develop an application for the iPhone or Android will not be made by considering just one of the many factors. One big reason many people still prefer to develop iPhone apps in spite of the restrictions is the iPhone's dominant market share. At least for now, there simply is more money to be made in iPhone apps when compared to Android apps. This could change in coming years as some analysts expect Android's market share to increase and Apple's to decrease. But this is still speculation.
If you have an iPhone app idea and are on the fence regarding which platform to choose, Appiction's team of consultants, strategists, and marketers will help you make the choices that will result in a highly usable app capable of doing everything you want it to. The future of smartphones will see fewer restrictions. For the time being, we'll help you work around the ones still in place.
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