[PatNY]

Originally Posted by murraypaul

Not all developers are commercial developers.
A greater number of apps available doesn't mean a greater number of developers, or a greater number of developers whose primary motivation is profit. I think there would be a massively larger hobby coder population for Android than iOS. [a) it is free, b) it is easier to release, c) there are many more opportunities for tweaks and customisations, d) it better fits the general hobby coder philosophy

Do you have anything to back up that contention? That there are a lot of developers doing this for free and as a hobby? I have a hard time believing that.

Also, AFAIK, the developers of iOS apps don't have to pay for the iOS to experiment on either. So your point "a" seems to not make any sense. And while it may be easier to release on Android, in some cases it may be harder to code for, because of all the permutations of tablets and OS overlays out there. You really haven't set forth logical reasons for why developers appear to be opting for Android over iOS. So it has to be money.

If you are giving the app away for free, then you are less likely to bother submitting to the tight requirements and approval process of the Apple App Store.

Even if these apps are free, they are generating revenue for developers with in-app advertising. So since it's harder to code for Android, there is no incentive to do so unless the promise of overall revenues were greater.

A recent IDC report shows (of those developers that IDC surveyed), iOS was still the platform of choice, although not by a massive margin.
The original Forbes article was here: http://www.forbes.com/sites/darcytra...s-dont-matter/
Forbes do seem to have a rather pro-iOS, anti-Android spin on things.

This is what the Forbes article said: "At last measure, Apple offers 550K apps for the iPhone and iPad, and 25B have been downloaded. Google, by comparison, offers 440K and 10B have been downloaded." Do you know how outdated that data is? Google today has twice that many apps and exceeds Apple. So that report is based on outdated data.

As for the IDC report, it's just a survey. The fact is, these developers are going for the android platform over iOS. Also, the chart breaks out "Kindle Fire" and "Google Nexus" separately. But they are also the Android platform. So if you add up the numbers given for those two devices PLUS the numbers given for "Android Phones" and "Android Tablets" it appears that the Android platform has more overall interest.

Numbers don't lie, but they can be misrepresented. A having more apps that B doesn't mean that A has more developers than B, or that those developers are making more money.

A having more apps than B certainly does mean that A has more developers. Of course it does. And because developers are free to code for either A or B, the only reason they'd choose A over B is because of potential profit. All the other reasons you gave don't hold water. Especially since it's often more difficult to code for A than B.

--Pat