Dynamics in play that make iOS the most preferred platform for developers

There has been a huge tug of war brewing between mobile platforms to garner support of developer community. The two big names of iOS and Android have been up in arms with each other to woo developers over to their platform. It is a known fact that popularity of a mobile OS is dependent upon the quality and quantity of applications in its market place. With more than 800,000 applications in the Apple app store, iOS has been at forefront ever since it launched in 2007. But over the years Android has been giving it a close competition, with nearly 700,000 applications in the Google Play store.

Although many are of the view that the pace at which the market trend is going, Android would soon surpass iOS in the application department, but there are various dynamics in play that still make iOS a preferred platform as far as developers are concerned. There is no denying the fact that iPhone brought a revolution that is visible in the current smartphone market. It provides a feature-rich platform to the developers and other users with several technical opportunities.

With the recent launch of BB10, iOS has officially become the oldest mobile platform in use and has been criticized by many for its static user interface. Widgets and gesture support is the need of the hour for the users, but that has not stopped iPhone apps developer to support and create applications for the platform.

Intuitiveness of iOS: Although it is an era of open source and customization, iOS is still considered to be the most intuitive mobile OS. Apple has kept its ecosystem as closed as possible allowing no room for its users to customize the overall UI. But this has not proved to be much of a concern for iPhone users due to the fact that the overall fluidic design garnered by iOS is far superior to its competition.

Rich quality of applications: Apple has been always known for its rich application base. There is no denying the fact that applications on iDevices have always been far superior than its counterparts. Apple provides its developers with highly impeccable development tools along with iOS SDK (system development kit). Development in C, C++ is always known to be superior as compared to JAVA development. 

 

iOS is not prone to fragmentation: One of the biggest advantages that iOS has over its main competitor is a non-fragmented platform. Apple has always ensured timely updates to its range of devices. On the other hand Android has been always known to be prone to fragmentation. This creates a lot of hassle for developers as this can break the compatibility of their application.

Malware free App store: Security has always been the number one priority of Apple. Due to the fact that Apple has kept its app store as closed as possible with a range of stringent regulations for developers, it can be termed as malware-free. On the other hand the open nature of Android has made it susceptible to Trojans and spyware.

Innovative nature of Apple: The Cupertino company has always been known to employ one of the most innovative thinkers in the industry. With a range of products on the hardware as well as software front, Apple has changed the overall socioeconomic paradigm of market. This has resulted in extensive iPhone development solutions, which has made iOS the most preferred platform for iPhone app developers. 

 

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Apple Locks Down App Screenshot Upon Approval To Halt Scamming

It seems Apple is making its application ecosystem more stringent with new set of rules that prohibits iOS apps developer to change the screenshot of iOS application after it has been approved. This move has been made by the Cupertino company in order to prevent scammers from replacing the screenshots with fake ones and tricking people into buying fake applications.

Earlier iOS app developers were able to change the screenshots at their ease after they have been published on the app store. In this way, some developers combined names that were identical to the titles of some popular applications, hence tricking users in buying their application. Although this will come as a bad news and will affect some legitimate iPhone application development, it will make sure than there are no bogus applications in the app store.

There have been many cases of fake iPhone games development with publishers naming their games identical to some popular iOS games. Some of the examples include various applications named HALO 4 which actually were simple racing or chess games. Another example of this also included a game name “Mooncraft” that had screenshots similar to popular game “Minecraft” and tricked users into buying the application. Once the applications were submitted, the developers used to change the title as well as the screenshot to trick people. Now Apple has taken cognizance of it and laid forward these rules to ensure such practice does not happen again.

There are many iPhone apps programmer that now feel that they will have a difficult time as they wont be able to update their screenshot portraying the new added features with every iteration of their application. But Apple has come around and said that the iOS apps developers would be able to change the screenshot, when they give the binary for approval on each application update.

Over the years, Apple has come with many regulations as well as tools to ensure that the application ecosystem of iOS is secure and there are no malicious applications in its app store. But at times these regulations have taken a hit on the iPhone application development, with developers having to alter the way they implement their applications. However, Apple has been at forefront with its iPhone development solutions to ensure that high quality applications are created for its OS.

There is no doubt that this new feature will prove a bit frustrating for some developers, who have legitimate applications, but if it is able to stop the scamming on the app store, then it is a welcome change brought forward by Apple.