Question

I’d like to start developing for iPhone or Android in my spare time, as a chance to learn something new but also hoping make some extra income.

I’m not sure which is the best development for me to start developing on. I own an iPhone, but I don’t have a Mac (which I would need to use the SDK), plus with the iPhone I believe there’s an annual charge to develop for it.

As far as I understand Android, the SDK is free and can be used on Windows.

Professionally I develop using .net and C#, which sounds more similar to the Java based Android enviroment.

Another negative I perceive against iPhone is it has a much more crowded App Store, I would think apps get better exposure on Android?

Answer 1

Both can be good/bad for various reasons.

iPhone – good

• Great SDK & get to use Xcode which rocks
• Well documented online (many tutorials)
• Large deployed base of devices
• Well established app store
• Get to learn Objective (I find it a fun language)
• Most people tend to upgrade their iPhone OS so you can get away with only developing for the latest and greatest

iPhone – bad

• Crowded app store, very hard to break through (the “gold mine” is a myth)
• App Store apps need to be approved by Apple, with some often rejected for dubious reasons
• Have to buy a Mac (not necessarily a bad thing)
• Have to learn Objective C (can be a hassle)
• Have to pay $99/year to publish apps
• Can only multitask on iPhone 4.0+. Hardware restrictions will mean many devices will not be able to use this however

Android – good

• No restrictions on apps that you can develop/publish
• Wide deployment of devices and growing – set to overtake iPhone soon
• Can multitask on Android
• Get to code in Java which is widely known
• Some of the SDK tools integration with Eclipse is nice (although still needs a bit more work)
• Only have to pay $25 to publish apps (one off fee)
• Can develop on any platform (Mac/Windows/Linux)
• Great Android devices coming out this year – platform could really take off.
• Nice XML way of laying out views. While not as flash-looking as the iPhone Interface Builder, it is very powerful.
• Get to work in Eclipse (which some people think rocks)

Android – bad

• Have to support wide variety of screen sizes and devices
• Many people still using old versions of Android OS (1.5) so you’ll probably have to support those if you want to reach that market
• SDK is not as polished as iPhone SDK
• Android Market is not as popular as iPhone App Store – hit apps will not make as much $$$

All in all, starting with whichever is fine in my opinion, especially as now Android is gaining ground. Given your background I’d say you should go for Android.