Best Ways to Convert iOS App to Android and Vice Versa

By William Spencer

This is not the usual tug-of-war between two tech behemoths, considering the global smartphone market rests on a duopoly between iOS and Android. However, in terms of volume, Android leads the market with a massive 87% share, whereas iOS comes to a remote second with a meager 12% share.

While the latter is a forerunner in developing economies such as Asia and Africa, the former dominates the developed markets in US, Australia, and Europe. This is irrespective of the fact that Android manifests higher amount of device fragmentation, something not applicable to iOS which has lesser number of models.

The phenomenal number of users by default becomes a huge market for any application development company. Since Android falls under the affordable category, many of the potential customers already own a device that runs on this OS. Hence, it’s a matter of time that your iOS app should be available on Google Play, a significant enough reason to Convert iOS app to Android.

Android OS is more flexible than iOS in terms of enabling users to customize apps suiting their requirements. Though developers want to create identical user experience while Porting iOS app to Android, the ported app can actually outshine the original version when it comes to certain benefits. If you have the right approach in place, features which appeared unfavorable before may turn out to be great revenue spinners.

Though Android users are wary of paying for apps, some stunning features can actually make them spend money. Consequently, the ported app needs to be one of kind!

Contrary to Apple App Store, Google Play Store has a wider reach and the norms are easy enough for developers to adhere to. Sales can happen faster, thereby touching optimal points of profits since there is hardly any waiting time for approvals. Also, Android apps can have as many updates as necessary. The same app can be published on the company website facilitating direct download.

In spite of the gap in a number of downloads, Apple fetches increased income than Google Play Store for its owner. But with the growth in the quality and quantity of Android devices especially in the Asian markets, the sales growth looks promising too. Reason enough for any startup to port iOS app to Android.

Convert iOS app to Android is easier than creating an application from scratch. The reason being, the complex part is already accomplished by the development team. What remains is porting the already developed product. Porting an iOS app to Android is not that much of a hassle.

Here are a few factors that you need to keep in mind while completing the process:

New coding is necessary as Android apps are coded in Java (instead of Swift or Objective-C) and the iOS application’s UI needs to adapt to Google’s Material Design language.
Try to create a standard app that performs on all Android devices. It is better to test on the devices that exist in your target market.
Post the Android application launch, engage the analytics and crash reporting tools to guide you on extra testing mechanisms.
Focus on device fragmentation. You should not confine your research to only the top Android devices in your target market. Try looking at specific sectors such as healthcare or age bracket such as teenagers if you want to tap the niche segment.
The target market will determine the Android version(s) you chose to support.
The Android application should be able to support various screen sizes. This is possible with the layout tool provided by Google.
It is recommended by Google to refer and use its design and UI interface called Material Design. This will reduce the turnaround time and offer an enhanced user experience.

Usually, Convert iOS app to Android might require more time than usual. An end-to-end iOS app under normal circumstances will take a 12 to 18-week development cycle. An Android application takes more time for test and debugs fixing. So, 30-50% additional time allocation will be required. In fact, the timeline is directly proportional to the device number and OS version.

However, on the HokuApps low-code platform, Convert iOS app to Android takes between 6-8 weeks as the process applies a drag and drop module to create high-quality mobile apps.