So why should you develop an iPhone app? Perhaps the most compelling reason is dollars and cents. While iOS is the smaller of the two major app markets, Apple’s App Store makes more money than the Google Play store: $34 billion and $10 billion in 2016, respectively. While there are a number of potential reasons for this, the most important is likely that iPhones dominate in the most developed, lucrative geographic markets: iOS apps reign supreme in the US, greater North America, and Europe. This means that, on average, iPhone app consumers have more money and are more willing to spend it than Android app users.
Still, there are drawbacks to building a mobile app only for iOS. Chief among these is that Apple gets the final say on what goes on the App Store: every iPhone app on the market has to be approved by Apple, Inc., and while it’s normally not an issue, this can be a setback for some companies. Recently, Apple disallowed an app that tracked net neutrality violations because it presented no “benefit to users” (although, after public pressure, Apple allowed the app).
Another issue with iPhone app development is that changes take much longer to publish. On the App Store, the review period for a new app can last anywhere from a few days to two weeks – which can impede launch plans if you aren’t prepared. This applies to updates to the app as well, which makes the process of iterating based on user data slower and less flexible.
Still, you can’t argue with the cash flow. iPhone app users are the most lucrative mobile app consumers on the market and building an iOS app is a great way to generate a return. Of course, best practices and great code are vital to achieving that goal – and at Rootstrap, we have a wealth of experience in building stable, fast mobile apps for iOS and iPhone.