Devs See Android Better Positioned than iOS for the Future

Google's Android operating system has seen impressive traction on the market since the first device powered by it, the T-Mobile G1, landed on shelves. The platform gained serious market share since a year ago, and most industry watchers and analysts suggest that it should become the second mobile OS on the market within the next couple of years, leaving behind Apple's popular iPhone. However, the platform's growth is not influenced only by its traction towards end users, but also by the number of developers building applications for it.

Currently, Apple's iOS is better positioned from this point of view, but things might change in the future. Many developers have already started to publish applications both for iOS and for the Android platform, a total of 1,412 app builders, to be exact. This represents 3 percent of the total developers for iOS, and 15 percent of the app devs for Android (via AppStoreHQ). Furthermore, it seems that a larger number of developers see Android rather than iOS as having the best long-term outlook, namely 54 percent versus 40 percent, respectively.

The data comes from a recent report from Mashable, which shows that application developers also praise Android for its capabilities as a mobile operating system, in addition to being attracted by the fact that it is “the most open mobile OS.” Google's solution offers increased flexibility and adaptability, providing developers with the possibility to deliver applications for a great deal of promising devices.

However, the Android platform is hit by fragmentation, and, although Google is working on solving this issue, developers find themselves in the position of choosing which platform version and which devices to target with their applications. Even so, the fact that many iOS developers are choosing to offer solutions for Google's Android operating system too suggests that Android might indeed be better positioned for the future than Apple's popular platform. Sooner or later, previsions might pan out, and Android would conquer the hearts of more developers than iOS.