iOS Gaming vs Android Gaming

What’s the difference between iOS gaming and Android gaming? So far, the number of apps and the release dates.

Anyone looking into an online computer science masters should be aware that iOS gaming is still ahead of Android gaming in terms of variety, types of game play, and amount of money earned.

For 2012, iOS games still lead Android games by a wide margin in terms of the amount of money gamers spent. Games in the iOS App Store still outsold Google Play store games by a factor of 3.5. But starting in the third quarter of 2012, Android games started to grow at a rapid pace. With iOS games still so far ahead, it’s not likely apps offered in the Android marketplace are going to overtake iOS games in total number of games and sales figures, but the gap is closing.

Android phones now have the biggest market share in terms of new devices shipped and sold worldwide (68.3% according to BGR Mobile news portal). That’s is some seriously successful mobile advertising. So why are there still a lot fewer Android games than iOS games?

One reason can be found in user studies and market research. iPhone and iPad users seem to use their devices a lot more than the typical Android user. Some studies show they use the phones up to 5 times as much as Android users, and this includes surfing the web, watching media, listening to music, and playing games. As long as these trends continue, there probably will be more iOS games than Android games at least through 2016, industry experts predict.

Only one game that launched on Android, Jetpack Joyride, made most of the 2012 “Best of the Year” lists for tech publications. All other games selected for most of the Year’s Best lists launched on iOS before Android.

An online computer science masters involves many different skills and disciplines. You may not design iOS games right away, but it’s important to be aware that iOS game developers still prefer the iOS platform to Android, because iOS games are three times as profitable as Android games. A 2011 developer survey from ModMYi showed that a game on Android earned 12 cents compared to 50 cents earned by the same game on the iOS App Store.
The classic example of an iOS game that launched first on iOS and much later on Android is 2009’s industry-changing Angry Birds. Rovio’s Angry Birds launched a worldwide craze and game/merchandising empire, but it took nearly a year for the game to show up on Android phones in October, 2010.

When you get an online computer science masters, you’ll learn about market surveys in the industry.

Who Will Pay for Which Apps?

A 2012 survey conducted by Swiftkey found that 25 percent of iPhone and iPad users had more than 20 paid apps, while only 18 percent of Android users were at that level. Swiftkey notes that the gap between paid and non-paid users is closing between iOS and Android users.

User feedback shows that these trends are likely to change. Android users are increasingly willing to pay for quality apps, although the upper price limit is $2.99 for most apps, with any charging more seen as “hyper premium” apps. For now, Android phones, primarily Samsung products, dominate the smartphone market, but iOS games dominate the mobile gaming app market.