Limitations on iPhone Application Development

iPhone is the second-largest selling smartphone brand, being superseded by Samsung in terms of sales. It continues to be one of the top contenders in terms of revenue generation. Apple sold 51 million iPhones and generated $13.1 billion in total during the 1^st quarter of 2014. Undoubtedly, customers of Apple are loyal to it and many of those do not use Apple devices crave to have one. The customer-centric and customer-oriented policies of the American incorporated company have played significant role its reputation. However, there is another side of the Apple that mainly frustrates iPhone app developers It may be a strategy of the company but it disappoints even the ardent Apple developer and user.

Apple has imposed certain restrictions on mobile application development for iOS. Anyone who signs the developer agreement with Apple is legally bound to meet the specifications.

Frustrating Restrictions

No simultaneously running applications – Apple does not allow 2 applications to run simultaneously. It may be the most non-comprehensible restriction of all for all but every iPhone and iPad app developer has to deal with it. It means that if users need to first close the application that they are working on to open another one, however interdependent the task may be. This restriction is applicable to internet surfing too. Thus, users get disconnected when they have to take an incoming call and have to sign-in again.

No third-party application in the background – A similar limitation is restriction on running third-party applications in the background. In other words, users chatting with someone are disconnected if they have to take an incoming call.

Other Limitations

s  Apple has necessitated that an application for a specific model of iPhone should support all lower versions of iOS. In other words, an application developed for iPhone 5C running iOS 6 should support all lower versions of iOS.

s  Apple prohibits use of code interpreter and downloading of code from the internet even though its own UIWebView includes JavaScript.

s  Apple is poor with Python, Perl, Flash and even java and JavaScript. So, application developers should try alternatives.

Additional advice

s  Developers should not access files outside application sandbox.

s  Developers should not link to private frameworks of Apple.

s  Developers should not reverse engineer iOS or the device.

While the restrictions and limitations may frustrate developers, they hardly seem to affect users as Apple continues to be a leading name in mobile device industry. Apple is the pioneer of smartphones and presently leads in the market in terms of revenue generated by sales of iPhones and iOS applications. It is not a hidden fact that iPhones are considered as a symbol of elite and luxury. Apple was supposed to be a hardware company and, as manufacturer iPhones, iPads and iPods, it is. However, many it competes in software front too. In fact, one of the reasons why exclusivity is associated with iPhones may be the fact that the hardware exclusively runs iOS. Apple’s strategy of being a hardware company but gaining benefits from both ends has been successful thus far.

Android OS Game Development Platform

Android has surpassed iOS to be the most popular mobile operating in the world. There are hundreds of millions of active Android devices and hundreds of thousands of Android devices are activated daily throughout the world. There is more than one reason behind the popularity of Android. First and the comprehensible factor is the open source nature of the operating system. However, there are deeper and more technical reasons. It is a notable factor in this context that gaming is the strongest and fastest growing niche in Android app development. While the Google mobile OS still lags behind iOS in some domains, it is clearly the top favorite of mobile game developers.

The open source nature of Android has certainly helped in its expansion and offered the flexibility that the dormant community of potential developers needed. From skilled and experienced Android application developers to amateurs who try their talent for the first time, the platform accommodates all. A fact of the matter is that even free Android applications have potential to generate greater revenue than what paid applications generate. That hardly leaves any doubt which platform is the most suitable for beginner-level development. That is why the disparity between iOS and Android is not as much in higher levels of application development that it is in the start-up level.

The user-interface of Android is developed using Java, which is an open source programming language. The open sources make development easy and feasible for developers who contemplate starting their earning through mobile application development The Google platform has a great application framework that facilitates replacement and reuse of components. Its custom 2D graphics library and open GLES 1.0 3D graphics specifications have optimised the quality of graphics offered by the mobile OS. Graphics is highly regarded by gamers and that is another reason why game developers prefer Android to other mobile OS. While high-investment games can be and are made for various mobile platforms, games for mindless fun and entertainment are predominantly found on Android. It is because the developers can relate to the investment that they have to make and the potential of earning, which keeps the account rolling and enables individual developers or companies to start larger projects.

Android supports various audio, video and image formats such as GIF, PNG, JPG, AMR, AAC, MP3, H.264 and MPEG4. Such extensive support is what any Android game developer appreciates. Some of the most common categories of games that are developed on Android platform are mind games, puzzles, Hollywood-related games, card games and different race sports. Action games are also in good concentration at Google Play.

People with an idea can hire Android developers to get the application or game according to their specification. Freelance developers as well as companies provide development services and people can hire them for personal applications as well as commercial projects. Though there is no shortage of developers in the open market, hirers need to verify whether they have worked on diverse projects and can deliver the product on time.

iOS Application Development - Inhouse & Outsource

 Why develop applications for iOS? 

Smartphones and other smart mobile devices have become integral part of people’s life. The pioneer of smartphones – Apple leads in the industry in terms of quality and customer satisfaction. iOS is one of the best smart operating systems for mobile devices in the market, though Android of Google has significantly caught up and Microsoft Windows Phone is gaining steady popularity too.

The distinction that iOS enjoys is that it users are known to download and install applications more than users of any other mobile OS. There is vast difference between demand for applications and the development output. It is an apparent fact that mobile application development is a prosperous business, provided the producers can strike the right chords. Uncertainty and confusion commonly precede the decision on in-house versus outsource application development. In reality, there is not a rule book addressing the issue. Rather, there are various consideration that help in making the decision.

Advantages of in-house application development

s  Producers have greater control over the entire process of development and the transparency is quite high in every stage of the development lifecycle.

s  The progress of the development is typically according to schedule and there is fair degree of certainty regarding the time of completion and to market.

s  The decision to hire the best iPhone app developers rests totally upon the producers. Thus, chances of compromising in the skill-level are largely eliminated.

s  Project management is easier as the transparency and control is immediate due to in-house nature of operations.

Disadvantages of in-house application development

s  Mobile application development needs advanced technological infrastructure, the cost of which is significantly high for start-up or small enterprises.

s  Various certificates and licenses that are mandatory have to be obtained by producers to allow their development team use certain software, codes and team that are required for development.

s  The charge of a skilled iOS app developer is typically in six figures.

Advantages of outsourced application development

s  The overall cost of development is considerably low. Moreover, the input costs are nearly fixed and predictable.

s  Renowned development companies assure greater possibility of success as they have ready developers and advanced tools and technology at their disposal.

s  Producers can one-directionally focus on management functions.

s  The quality of the applications is nearly always satisfactory and meet expectation as the outsourced development providers need to build confidence and gain business.

Disadvantages of outsourcing

s  Transparency is the process and control over it is very low.

s  The development time and the quality of products may vary from one iOS app developer to another as well as of a company too.

s  The developed applications may not be satisfactory and may go through iterations to meet the expectation of the producers.

Conclusion

Outsourcing is the feasible route for start-ups, small companies and individual producers. Depending upon the availability of talent and technology, small enterprises can initially outsource development and bring the management and service of the developed application in-house. For large organizations that priorities quality above all, in-house development is the best choice.