Facebook Inc (NASDAQ:FB) is observing a trend in Europe that more and more app developers are going “Android-First.” This transformation holds significance in the light of the fact that over the years app developers have preferred to launch their app on Apple’s iOS operating system first.
Changing trends
Generally, it has been seen that after garnering success on iOS, then developers go ahead with their plans to launch the app for Android. Until recently, Android users wouldn’t see apps until some months or years after it was launched on iOS, and sometimes they were not even ported at all, says a report from Business Insider.
This is the basic reason why Android Apps come in second when compared to iOS. Android holds nearly 80% of the market and iOS garners just 10% of the users, which triggers a question about the mindset of the developers who go for Apple first rather than Android.
However, it has been recently observed that some software development companies in Europe are inclining towards Android first, according to Facebook Inc (NASDAQ:FB)’s Europe, Middle East and Africa platform director, Julien Codorniou. Developers are now realizing more users use the Android OS than the Apple iOS, and that they are losing money by working on a smaller platform first.
Facebook (FB) promoting itself among developers
Until now, Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) was the top priority of most developers. The iPhone maker caters to the higher income group and offers a more lucrative opportunity to app advertisers via in-app payments and shopping. Additionally, Apple offers a simpler platform for the developers as there is only one version of the operating system running at a time, and the majority of the Apple users upgrade to the latest version.
Android, on the other hand, is fragmented into various versions available on hundreds of different phones, making it a tedious task for the developers to customize the app.
However, Codorniou said that Facebook Inc (NASDAQ:FB) has a team of evangelists encouraging Android developers to use Facebook for building and promoting their apps. “As of today, I have four guys from my team in Paris talking to Android developers about the greatness of Parse, Facebook login, app links, app events. It’s a very important bet for us.”
Codorniou added that people are concerned with the numbers and the count of downloads and installs. They are aware of the fact that monetization is growing on Android. On the basis of monetization, right now iOS can still be said to be the better app, but it is easier to update an app on Android.
