Convert Your iPhone App to Android

Convert Your iPhone App to Android:

Do you already have an iPhone app that you’re looking to convert to Android? That’s great news, and here’s why.
All Apple phones are made by Apple, and no one else. Apple makes and sells the hardware and Apple makes and sells the operating system, and you just can’t buy an iPhone made by anyone other than Apple.
On the other hand…
Google has a very different business model that has been helping Android gain ground on Apple (and even Blackberry) since 2008. Google actually gives the Android software away to phone manufacturers. Google works on it, and upgrades it, and improves it constantly, and never charges a nickel for it. They will even give you a license to modify it yourself, to your heart’s content.
As a result, phone manufacturers are building phones to work with Android, and never have to pay for it. That means they can offer a better phone and never charge you for the operating software. Just as importantly, Android phones can be manufactured by anyone, and so with more manufacturers each providing their own version of “the perfect mobile phone”, there is more competition in the market.
And let’s not forget the fact that up until recently, you had to be an AT&T customer in order to get an iPhone. That means if you were on Verizon, T-mobile or Sprint, and you wanted a smart phone, you had to get either an Android or Blackberry.
The bottom line is that more phones on more carriers can appeal to more people.
And that’s why, as you can see on this graph that was published by Nielsen in October 2010, Android sales are outpacing both iPhone and Blackberry sales for the first time.

At this point, there are still more iPhone apps than Android apps, so there’s a lot of opportunity to hit it big with the next great Android App.
There are, however, a few issues with duplicating your iPhone app to the Android platform. Redeveloping the app on Android isn’t a simple matter of just copying the software over. It’s much more than that, and here’s why.

• The screen sizes on iPhones are consistent. The screen sizes on Android vary greatly.

• The language that iPhone apps are developed in is “Objective C”. The language that Android apps are developed in is Java.

• The controls on an Android phone are different. iPhones have a single home button, and whatever soft-keys that you like. Android phones have physical buttons for Select, Menu, Home, Back, and often a few others.

• iPhones only have on-screen keyboards. Android phones often have physical keyboards (with varying layouts).

• Android phones support “Widgets”. iPhones do not.

• Coverflow — a way of flipping through albums or pictures on an iPhone, is proprietary to Apple. You have to do something different on Android.

• Apple has “push” notifications, but Android does not have a native “push” (although there are other ways to “push” messages to Android phones.)

There are, of course, many other differences, but please don’t let me talk you out of converting your iPhone app to Android. It can be a huge opportunity for you and your business.
The project just has to be handled correctly.
With our front-loaded discovery, design and documentation process, we’ll discover and meet every challenge your existing iPhone app presents, and we’ll make sure it runs perfectly on Android.
But we won’t know until we meet each other and talk a bit. That’s why you should schedule a Free Mobile App Feasibility Consultation with us. Let’s talk about your mobile app plans, and you can pepper us with questions and challenges about your project. Even if we don’t decide to work together, you’ll at least end up knowing far more about porting your app to Android than you do right now.
(Note: If you don’t yet have an iPhone app, and want to develop your new iPhone and Android Apps concurrently, read this page: Android and iPhone App Developer)