Survey shows that Developers prefer Apple over Android

The Q2 mobile developer survery, conducted by Appcelerator, the makers of Titanium platform for building mobile and desktop apps, shows that Developers are more interested in developing applications for Apple's iOS than Android. They do accept the fact that Android has a lot of potential but would prefer iOS because of its better app store and bigger market for mobile apps.

In the "very interested" section, Apple's iOS tops the chart with about 90 percent developers interested in developing applications for an iPhone and 81 percent for Android Phones. This is followed by Blackberry with 34 percent users, Windows Phone with 27 percent and the rest with even less figures. This clearly shows the dominance of iPhone and Android phones in the market.

The survey was based on developer's opinions on the top six mobile platforms available: Apple's  iOS, Google's Android, Palm's (now Hewlett-Packard's) WebOS, Microsoft's Phone 7, Nokia's Symbian/Meego, and RIM's BlackBerry.

This survery even presents some other interesting developers' opinions about the two dominating platforms.

Nearly 89 percent of the developers say that iPhone app store has more commercial capability than Android's. The main reason they give is the fragmented Android market. Development is fine, but testing it on different versions, running on different hardwares is very expensive and time consuming.

About 85 percent developers were interested in developing apps for Apple because of its bigger market for consumer apps. Only 10 percent considered the same for Android.

A good point in favour of Android is that developers agree that its a better OS and is highly adaptable. It could be used in set-top boxes, tablets, e-readers etc. Thats why nearly 54 percent consider it has a better long-term outlook. On the other hand, 79 percent said Apple has a better near-term outlook based upon its grip over the market.

However, devs. are not happy with Apple's controlling nature. Around 86 percent said that Android is the most open platform.

Its clear that Apple's iOS and Google's Android have a large developer base than any of their contenders. Blackberry and Windows Phone have to come up with new ways to attract developers. There are some expectations with the upcoming open platform Meego, by Intel and Nokia, but it has a lot of catching up to do.