If you have an iOS mobile app representing your business brand, you have chosen the perfect platform for a great start. On the other hand, you just cannot miss the Android platform since 80% of the mobile devices in the market belong to this platform.

Are you still not convinced about making an Android version of your good old iOS app? Well, let us explain the key reasons.

  • You enjoy a better reach among the consumers that account for 80% of the mobile devices in the market.
  • With an iOS and Android app you can cover the entire spectrum of mobile users for optimum outreach. You can hire iPhone app developers that gain instant traction and follow it up with a great Android app.
  • Android offering several monetisation avenues helps you take advantage of increasing app earnings in multiple ways.
  • With Android you can give your app the boost of a whole set of features coming out of the Google lab. For example, Dark Mode was first launched by Android and was then followed by iOS.

Key Considerations When Switching Your iOS App To Android

Obviously, both are completely different platforms with their respective strengths and weaknesses. Naturally, when switching your app resources to a whole new platform, you need to take cognisance of the key aspects and considerations. Here we explain the most important ones among them.

  • Defining App Architecture

An ideal Android app should be fully compatible with the basic technology requirements of the platform. Since Android devices are segregated across multitude of operating system versions released over the years, you need to check for the best compatible version that covers most Android devices in the market. As of now, you need to choose Android 4.4 KitKat or newer versions to remain compatible across the majority of devices.

The app architecture and all the features and functionalities of the app must go through a complete review process to deal with all compatibility issues. This step is required so that the differences between iOS and Android platforms don’t cause a problem with your new Android app.

As per these differences, a few platform specific properties should be changed a little or the app should be developed with completely new features and functions. Thus will ensure the new Android app offers an engaging native Android experience.

  • The Design Considerations

Since both iOS and android offer two distinct environments, their designs are different and come with respective advantages and disadvantages. This is why you should make a deeper consideration on whether making a replica of the existing iOS app will work well with Android. If you hire an iphone app development company India in the first case, you should also go to the experts with Android experience.

Consider design compatibility issues while purging the design from one platform to another. Keep the design centric differences of both platforms and accordingly choose the specific design changes that are suitable for the Android version.

  • Considering The Technology Stack

The same technology stack that works well with an iOS app may not work well with an Android app at all. This is why while choosing the technology stack, consider the tools, frameworks and libraries that are ideal for Android development.

The technical issue called dissemblance is common to projects porting an iOS app to the Android platform. It happens because the Swift or Objective C code of iOS cannot be directly used in Android where Kotlin or Java is used for programming.

Key Steps To Convert an iOS App to Android

Now let’s get into the process of switching to an Android app. To reply to your usual curiosity,  there are no ready to use tools or app converters that allow you to switch an iOS app to Android.

It is advisable to rely on a reputed Android app development company for the development job. Here are the key steps for switching an iOS app to Android.

  • Go For a Detailed Analysis and Plan

At first you need to make a detailed analysis of the new app features, design, workflow, and key user experience attributes. At the same time you should also consider the possible issues that can arise in the process and the ways to address them.

  • Evaluate and Carry Out the Plan

At this stage you need to review all the technical aspects and challenges with the code, libraries, frameworks, third-party APIs and tools. Considering these aspects you have to choose the right tech stack for building the desired app with less resources and in less time.

  • App Testing and Release

In the end you need to ensure a good quality assurance mechanism for your new Android app. For testing it is advisable to use real Android devices or most reliable emulation tools and follow the industry-best practices for the app conversion.

The app must go through multiple types of testing such as beta testing, load testing, validation, user acceptance testing, etc. Only when the app comes out as a credible and highly competitive app product ready to take on the market, it should be submitted in the Play Store.

All the above-mentioned steps are highly customised to help professional Android development companies to switch the iOS app to Android. Furthermore, you should always discuss the project in detail with the development company and consider all possible options before choosing the one that suits your project best.

Key Challenges to Convert an iOS App to an Android App

Switching an app from iOS to Android with a fresh new development effort is not easy. The process involves a mutitude of challenges of various nature. Here we will take a look at some of these key  challenges.

  • The biggest and most formidable challenge is to address the diverse device screen types and measurements in the Android ecosystem. The app must fit to the screen sizes of different dimensions unlike the iOS app that only needs to fit into a handful of screen sizes.
  • Unique manufacturer specifications and design constraints of multitude of Android devices cause a serious problem. Android as the vast and widely multifaceted mobile OS market creates a bigger challenge for this conversion.
  • The Android ecosystem being the most diverse also offers a multitude of challenges for real device testing to ensure optimum output across all manufacturer brands.

The Cost Of Switching from iOS to Android

According to the above mentioned discussion, all the key choices in terms of technology stack, nature of the app and key app features make the biggest impact on the development cost of an app. Android app projects are considered a little more expensive than the iOS ones because of addressing a multitude of devices and different screen sizes,

Conclusion

Since the mobile market is divided between these two leading platforms, none of them can claim to enjoy a monopoly in any respect. As an enterprise, you must not rely on just an iOS app since Android app development is thriving.