Even though an iOS app is performing well in AppStore, many developers want to port it to Android. Yes, it can be possible. But, people might be curious how? Porting an iOS app to Android is a simple process and developers can perform it without facing any difficulty.
Android free applications are outnumbered than that of iOS and people always love free applications. But, it does not mean that iOS paid applications are bad. Both categories (free and paid) have an equal level of popularity in the application market. The main purpose behind porting iOS applications to Android is to create the same user experience. Developers can improve the iOS features by porting it to Android which is not really good at the first glance.
For example, video processing applications. Video processing applications are limited in App Store. But, Android Play Store has plenty of them. So iPhone application development services can port such applications to Android. Developers can pick some unique features and implement them in iOS app. By putting some extra efforts, ported iOS app can be productive at an affordable cost.
But, while porting applications developers should think whether to keep iOS UI or create new Android UI. It matters more as developers can lessen the additional work of creating the application. One more thing developers need to ensure is device support. It is very important to port the application according to device types like tablets and iPads.
Why To Port iOS Applications To Android?
The first reason is very obvious which is Android users. A large number of people are interested in Android smartphones. This will help iPhone applications to gain more users for their platform. Android itself is open source platform and its market completely relies on free applications. Thus, it would be ideal for iOS platform to concentrate more on the in-app purchase and freemium applications.
Also, Google has flexible terms and policies for deploying the apps in Play Store. Whenever there is a problem with an application, updates are immediate this means more user satisfaction. And most importantly, developers can also deploy Android applications outside the Play Store.
Important Factors To Consider Before Porting Application
Developers have to do some important modifications at the time of porting an iOS application to Android. Professional developers always recommend not to utilize design tools that are intended for a specific platform. For example, templates provided by iOS design tool might not fit into Android UI. Because there are many contradictory features between Android and iOS like tabs, buttons, lists, widgets and more. Following are some important things that should be considered carefully while porting an iOS application:
1. Fragmentation
Fragmentation factor is related to different types of screen resolutions. Developers should look carefully how the application graphic and data will be displayed on both large and small screens of Android devices. Vertical and horizontal layouts are the most crucial elements. Latest Android SDKs support nearly about 20 resolutions and this can be a very challenging thing in porting an iOS application to Android. But, developers can focus more on resolutions of latest Android versions (Android 6.0 and 7.0).
2. Code Porting
It is impossible to get Objective-C or Swift code and recompile it On Android. Because both languages have different compilers. Android uses Java to build the source code. It is possible to reuse the code for Android if an iOS app uses Vanilla C (plain C language). This is so beneficial as developers can port complex libraries like image processing into Java language.
3. UI Design
The changing Google algorithm changes the internal architecture of smartphone/tablet layouts. Fortunately, Google has offered a compatibility library so that latest UI components can run on old and new Android device without changing the feel and look of the applications. Google suggests Material Design UI language for developers. This language contains UI components those are common and have good support with other platforms.
Time Required To Port Application
Though porting an application is a straightforward process, it is not quick. It completely depends on the complexity of applications and selection of supporting device. Because different devices use different hardware. It generally take extra time to confirm the compatibility of the application with OS and hardware components of the device. In general, it won’t take a lot of time to port iOS app to Android.
Conclusion
There are many app developers who are experienced in porting iOS applications to Android. Porting an app might be an easier process but it consists a lot of challenges. iPhone app development services need to proper planning, effective coding practices, UI/UX testing to bring amazing results.
Ritesh
