When a business or an individual makes a conscious decision to pursue a mobile application strategy a common assumption is that an app needs to exist on as many platforms as possible. In an ideal world, time, money, and human resources would be of no concern and it would be possible to create a native app that leverages the very best features and capabilities of each targeted platform.
In reality, we are all constrained by time, money, and human resources and we are forced to make objective decisions that will maximize our return on investment.
Web Apps
If true platform independence is a primary goal for your app you may want to consider a mobile website (web app); however, platform independence is not without disadvantages. The new HTML 5 standard makes it possible to develop fantastic web apps that run on a majority of mobile devices. Unfortunately web-based apps generally are not able to take full advantage of the features and capabilities of the mobile device itself such as accelerometers, gyroscopes, GPS units, local data storage and integration, and even user interface interaction.
Technological advances in mobile device CPUs, graphics processors (GPUs), memory, and other components have little to no impact on a mobile website or web app leaving most of the potential virtually untapped. Furthermore, mobile websites may be rendered differently depending on the mobile device or web browser making it difficult to fully control the user experience.
These factors lead to a “lowest common denominator” approach to web app development which compromises the user experience and results in an app with limited functionality generalized to run in as many browsers on as many devices as possible.
Native Apps
Conversely, native apps facilitate the best possible user experience by fully leveraging all of the device capabilities; however, it can be cost prohibitive to custom develop and maintain an app for every major mobile platform.
This forces many clients to make an objective decision about which platforms to target for their native apps. When selecting a platform to support it is important to maximize your reach while minimizing cost to achieve the greatest ROI.
Apple vs Android
There are some significant platform differences between iOS and Android which impact the true reach, the cost of development & maintenance, product quality, and user experience.
For example, Apple Inc.’s proprietary sotfware development kit (SDK) ensures that with minimal effort an iOS app will run similarly on all iOS devices including iPhones, iPads, and iPod Touches.
The open source nature of Android’s operating system allows each mobile device manufacturer to create multiple devices with varying technical specifications and wireless carriers to customize the features of the operating system in order to achieve a competitive advantage. This creates a highly fragmented environment. Several different types of fragmentation should be considered.
Release Fragmentation
When Apple releases a new OS version all supported devices have immediate access to seamlessly update the device to the new version through iTunes. Recent benchmarks show that 50% of iOS devices run the current version of iOS 12 just weeks after the release.
With Android, updating the OS isn’t as seamless. The wireless carriers, not Google, have the primary responsibility for providing OS updates to devices. Since many carriers have customized and branded the standard Android release it may take a carrier months to update their custom branded version of Android, if they deem it worthy to do at all.
An unfortunate pattern has emerged in which carriers stop providing OS updates to users of low cost or older device models in an effort to migrate them to a newer device and/or sign a new contract. This renders many users “stuck” at a particular Android version until they purchase a newer device.
With nine major releases of Android this creates additional challenges. Less than 0.1% of Android devices are running the current version 9 (Pie). Less than 20% of the devices run the previous version Oreo (8.0 or 8.1) and roughly 30% of devices run Nougat (7.0 or 7.1). Doing some quick math we can see that you need to go back two years and two major releases to target the largest audience.
From a development perspective this forces us to choose which set of users to target: the majority or the current version. This may dramatically reduce your reach, increase your development and maintenance costs, and/or sacrifice user experience.
Hardware Fragmentation
Apple has designed the iOS software to operate specifically on the device in which it is running. However, Android’s open source approach allows it to run on many different devices. Different devices mean different CPUs, memory, screen sizes and resolutions, form factors, etc.
These differences combined with the number of different device offerings make it extremely difficult and very costly to properly design, develop, and test apps on all supported devices thus sacrificing user experience and quality.
Distribution Channel Fragmentation
Apps designed to be consumed by the public face multiple distribution channels. Google’s Play is not the only Android “app store” in town. There are dozens of secondary Android marketplaces to contend with.
Having additional distribution channels further reduces reach and increases costs. All of these markets will have their own submission processes, DRM and licensing schemes, development agreements, support requirements, etc. Managing and submitting app updates to multiple stores will be no easy task for developers.
For users, shopping from multiple stores will require multiple accounts and payment methods. Users may be completely shut out of some stores while left favoring the perceived top two or three stores.
User Experience Fragmentation
With each new Android device, OS version, or marketplace the user experience is further diluted making it more and more difficult to reach as many people as possible and for as low cost as possible. The various versions of the operating system and plethora of hardware devices with differing technical specifications make it a daunting challenge for developers to produce and maintain a quality software product.
The ability of each device manufacturer and wireless carrier to alter the user experience through hardware or software differences results in an inconsistent user experience when using the same app across multiple devices.
Security
Androids various app distribution channels can be seen as both a blessing and a curse. Dozens of marketplaces with varying degrees of submission security checks increases the risk of malware embedded applications ending up on the device. Not to say that Apple hasn't had a few malicious apps appear but the volume is dramatically less with iOS. Furthermore, as Android devices typically run older versions of the operating system it becomes much easier for hackers to exploit known security vulnerabilities across a larger audience.
We now live in a GDPR world where privacy breaches must be made public and will have both direct and indirect costs associated with security mishaps. Deploying devices that in the near future will be stranded on an older version with no security updates possible presents a nightmare for IT and GDPR compliance.
Conclusion
Considering all things, including hardware, performance, reliability, security, and adoption rate, Apple iOS is clearly the best mobile device platform for use in the enterprise.
About the author: Shaun has a life-long passion for software engineering and has been an SAP developer for 20 years and an iOS developer for 10 years. Shaun previously owned both an SAP consulting company and an iOS app development company for business applications. Shaun is also a member of the SAP Apple Ambassador program.
In reality, we are all constrained by time, money, and human resources and we are forced to make objective decisions that will maximize our return on investment.
Web Apps
If true platform independence is a primary goal for your app you may want to consider a mobile website (web app); however, platform independence is not without disadvantages. The new HTML 5 standard makes it possible to develop fantastic web apps that run on a majority of mobile devices. Unfortunately web-based apps generally are not able to take full advantage of the features and capabilities of the mobile device itself such as accelerometers, gyroscopes, GPS units, local data storage and integration, and even user interface interaction.
Technological advances in mobile device CPUs, graphics processors (GPUs), memory, and other components have little to no impact on a mobile website or web app leaving most of the potential virtually untapped. Furthermore, mobile websites may be rendered differently depending on the mobile device or web browser making it difficult to fully control the user experience.
These factors lead to a “lowest common denominator” approach to web app development which compromises the user experience and results in an app with limited functionality generalized to run in as many browsers on as many devices as possible.
Native Apps
Conversely, native apps facilitate the best possible user experience by fully leveraging all of the device capabilities; however, it can be cost prohibitive to custom develop and maintain an app for every major mobile platform.
This forces many clients to make an objective decision about which platforms to target for their native apps. When selecting a platform to support it is important to maximize your reach while minimizing cost to achieve the greatest ROI.
Apple vs Android
There are some significant platform differences between iOS and Android which impact the true reach, the cost of development & maintenance, product quality, and user experience.
For example, Apple Inc.’s proprietary sotfware development kit (SDK) ensures that with minimal effort an iOS app will run similarly on all iOS devices including iPhones, iPads, and iPod Touches.
The open source nature of Android’s operating system allows each mobile device manufacturer to create multiple devices with varying technical specifications and wireless carriers to customize the features of the operating system in order to achieve a competitive advantage. This creates a highly fragmented environment. Several different types of fragmentation should be considered.
Release Fragmentation
When Apple releases a new OS version all supported devices have immediate access to seamlessly update the device to the new version through iTunes. Recent benchmarks show that 50% of iOS devices run the current version of iOS 12 just weeks after the release.
With Android, updating the OS isn’t as seamless. The wireless carriers, not Google, have the primary responsibility for providing OS updates to devices. Since many carriers have customized and branded the standard Android release it may take a carrier months to update their custom branded version of Android, if they deem it worthy to do at all.
An unfortunate pattern has emerged in which carriers stop providing OS updates to users of low cost or older device models in an effort to migrate them to a newer device and/or sign a new contract. This renders many users “stuck” at a particular Android version until they purchase a newer device.
With nine major releases of Android this creates additional challenges. Less than 0.1% of Android devices are running the current version 9 (Pie). Less than 20% of the devices run the previous version Oreo (8.0 or 8.1) and roughly 30% of devices run Nougat (7.0 or 7.1). Doing some quick math we can see that you need to go back two years and two major releases to target the largest audience.
From a development perspective this forces us to choose which set of users to target: the majority or the current version. This may dramatically reduce your reach, increase your development and maintenance costs, and/or sacrifice user experience.
Hardware Fragmentation
Apple has designed the iOS software to operate specifically on the device in which it is running. However, Android’s open source approach allows it to run on many different devices. Different devices mean different CPUs, memory, screen sizes and resolutions, form factors, etc.
These differences combined with the number of different device offerings make it extremely difficult and very costly to properly design, develop, and test apps on all supported devices thus sacrificing user experience and quality.
Distribution Channel Fragmentation
Apps designed to be consumed by the public face multiple distribution channels. Google’s Play is not the only Android “app store” in town. There are dozens of secondary Android marketplaces to contend with.
Having additional distribution channels further reduces reach and increases costs. All of these markets will have their own submission processes, DRM and licensing schemes, development agreements, support requirements, etc. Managing and submitting app updates to multiple stores will be no easy task for developers.
For users, shopping from multiple stores will require multiple accounts and payment methods. Users may be completely shut out of some stores while left favoring the perceived top two or three stores.
User Experience Fragmentation
With each new Android device, OS version, or marketplace the user experience is further diluted making it more and more difficult to reach as many people as possible and for as low cost as possible. The various versions of the operating system and plethora of hardware devices with differing technical specifications make it a daunting challenge for developers to produce and maintain a quality software product.
The ability of each device manufacturer and wireless carrier to alter the user experience through hardware or software differences results in an inconsistent user experience when using the same app across multiple devices.
Security
Androids various app distribution channels can be seen as both a blessing and a curse. Dozens of marketplaces with varying degrees of submission security checks increases the risk of malware embedded applications ending up on the device. Not to say that Apple hasn't had a few malicious apps appear but the volume is dramatically less with iOS. Furthermore, as Android devices typically run older versions of the operating system it becomes much easier for hackers to exploit known security vulnerabilities across a larger audience.
We now live in a GDPR world where privacy breaches must be made public and will have both direct and indirect costs associated with security mishaps. Deploying devices that in the near future will be stranded on an older version with no security updates possible presents a nightmare for IT and GDPR compliance.
Conclusion
Considering all things, including hardware, performance, reliability, security, and adoption rate, Apple iOS is clearly the best mobile device platform for use in the enterprise.
About the author: Shaun has a life-long passion for software engineering and has been an SAP developer for 20 years and an iOS developer for 10 years. Shaun previously owned both an SAP consulting company and an iOS app development company for business applications. Shaun is also a member of the SAP Apple Ambassador program.
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