[Cialug] iPhone vs Android

[Todd Walton]

It has long boggled my mind why it seems so common for some organization to
produce a phone app for iPhone but not Android. Close to home, the biggest
offender is the Des Moines Register. They made an app for iOS for RAGBRAI,
but not for Android, and the same for a new "things to do in Des Moines"
app. They promised an Android version Real Soon Now, but we're still
waiting.

What is so hard about making an app for Android? You'd think the least they
could do is write the thing in HTML5 and show a mobile website on both
platforms.

Android phones clearly outnumber iPhones in the U.S. and worldwide, and
it's not like Des Moines Register's audience (or the audience of any of the
other apps I've seen do this) are iPhone heavy. Why would a company limit
themselves by deliberately rolling out to a smaller audience and then
waiting years to go to Android? (Or never going, for some of them.)

I thought it might be that iPhone is where the money is. But there's info
on that here:

https://medium.com/its-an-app-world/march-2015-iphone-vs-android-monetization-capabilities-you-won-t-believe-who-won-7a02fde2dc2

# of phones worldwide:
iPhone: 600,000,000
Android: 1,700,000,000

Yearly Downloads:
iPhone: 22,000,000,000
Android: 51,000,000,000

In App Purchase Revenue:
iPhone: $10,000,000,000
Android: $6,000,000,000

In App Ad Impressions:
iPhone: 580,000,000,000
Android: 1,210,000,000,000

Ad Revenue:
iPhone: $3,300,000,000
Android: $4,500,000,000

That doesn't look like a clear case for iPhone being the money maker,
especially in the case of the Register, being driven by ads.

Anyone have any insight? What's so special about iPhone that so many people
choose to distribute there, and not on Android?

--
Todd