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I think it depends on the kind of startup. If your startup is trying to grow an audience around a service with a free app, Android is a good place to start, if

by arpit 15y ago

I think it depends on the kind of startup. If your startup is trying to grow an audience around a service with a free app, Android is a good place to start, if you are dependent on sales of the app for revenue, I'd go with iOS.

Skroob 15y ago
I don't see the compelling reason to start with Android in the free-app-as-front-end-to-web-service case. Is it because Android phones (briefly) outsold iPhones? Last I heard, iOS still has something like a 60% lead in install base, and the latest data says iPhone sales are outpacing Android phone sales again.
- nextparadigms 15y ago
  iPhone sales don't outpace Android. Android has a 50% market share in new sales last quarter in US, and iPhones have I believe 28-29%. The news was that Android dropped from 53% to 50% when the Verizon iPhone was launched, not about iPhones outpacing Android in market share. They tried to make a big deal out of it, trying to show that it could be a downward trend, but it's nonsense. Android sales keep growing worldwide, and I'm sure it will rise above 50% in US by the time iPhone 5 launches (and take a hit again for a few months, and then rise again).
- cageface 15y ago
  http://blog.nielsen.com/nielsenwire/?p=28237 http://blog.nielsen.com/nielsenwire/?p=28237 Android has 38% install base vs 27% for iPhone.
  - cageface 15y ago
    Hacker News, where the facts count for a downvote.
Roritharr 15y ago
That was my thinking initially. I went to Android to create the first fundraising app for my competitive fundraising platform because i figured after some research that it would be easier to get people to try it out. The app was never intended to be paid so making a free app with the ability to use a proprietary in-app payment mechanism (PayPal) was what lead to a really easy decision (PayPals Android Developer Challenge was another nudge into the Android direction). The next step will be a webapp to which i'll redirect the iPhone customers. I didn't start with it initially because from the little research i've done, "wizard of oz"-style, people didn't find iPhone webapps stable and trustworthy enough to Donate Money via them.

by arpit 15y ago

Skroob 15y ago

I don't see the compelling reason to start with Android in the free-app-as-front-end-to-web-service case. Is it because Android phones (briefly) outsold iPhones? Last I heard, iOS still has something like a 60% lead in install base, and the latest data says iPhone sales are outpacing Android phone sales again.

nextparadigms 15y ago
iPhone sales don't outpace Android. Android has a 50% market share in new sales last quarter in US, and iPhones have I believe 28-29%. The news was that Android dropped from 53% to 50% when the Verizon iPhone was launched, not about iPhones outpacing Android in market share. They tried to make a big deal out of it, trying to show that it could be a downward trend, but it's nonsense. Android sales keep growing worldwide, and I'm sure it will rise above 50% in US by the time iPhone 5 launches (and take a hit again for a few months, and then rise again).
cageface 15y ago
http://blog.nielsen.com/nielsenwire/?p=28237 http://blog.nielsen.com/nielsenwire/?p=28237 Android has 38% install base vs 27% for iPhone.
- cageface 15y ago
  Hacker News, where the facts count for a downvote.

Roritharr 15y ago

That was my thinking initially. I went to Android to create the first fundraising app for my competitive fundraising platform because i figured after some research that it would be easier to get people to try it out. The app was never intended to be paid so making a free app with the ability to use a proprietary in-app payment mechanism (PayPal) was what lead to a really easy decision (PayPals Android Developer Challenge was another nudge into the Android direction). The next step will be a webapp to which i'll redirect the iPhone customers. I didn't start with it initially because from the little research i've done, "wizard of oz"-style, people didn't find iPhone webapps stable and trustworthy enough to Donate Money via them.