Why app development for Apple is the best

Blog Post 7: Why App Development for Apple is the best

Well, this is the first time I am doing a blog on Blogger from the start. Before I was migrating posts from Infinite Square Root. Anyway, today I will talk about why Apple has the single best experience for App Development. Note that this is not an endorsement for Apple, they just really did do the best job.

Apple had a certain angle for iOS, one of those was to get lots of apps. Even today, in order to compete with Google, iTunes needs to stay ahead not only in amount of apps (As Google is catching up), but in the quality of apps. This is just true. I just got a Nexus 4, and I have to say, although there are still over 700,000 apps, there really aren't a lot I'm interested in. Why? Because the lack of nice apps is lacking. For examples of nice apps, I will suggest these.

• Flipboard
• Pandora
• Dropbox
• Evernote (Although it is not as good as the new iOS version
• TextMe
• Riptide GP
• Asphalt 7
• Temple Run

Those are some apps I downloaded that are very nice apps, and compete pretty equally with their iOS version.

Now, why is Apple doing the best here. I could argue it is because of their ridiculously strict policy. However, that is not the biggest reason. It is because of their careful coordination for their developers.

Objective-C, bundled with the Cocoa and Cocoa Touch API's and Xcode, make development for Apple not only the easiest, but also the most enjoyable. The API's are very well documented, the language itself is quite advanced and does a lot for you (See ARC management). The best of course, is Xcode, Apple's Cocoa IDE. It is hands down, the best program I use. It makes app development very, very easy. Because of this, I actually only create apps on the Apple platform, as going to Android is quite a difficult experience. (I have wrote about the differences between the development process in another post. 

Because of Apple's use of making developers happy, you can see the time and energy completely going into the apps, not the developer's amount of coffee. Not only that, but Apple does a better job at making the UI elements always look nice. Android apps just don't look as good as iOS apps, it is just a fact. Android just isn't a streamlined as iOS, and that leads to a worse app experience. 

Of course, just the development tools don't make Apple's apps the best, but also their strict policy. They make you pay $100 just to get a Developer Certificate, which although annoying, you can understand it's uses. People aren't willing to pay that to make some horrible app. Apple really keeps "Hello World" type apps off the store. 

Google is getting better, the Google Play store is a more controlled experienced, and developer tools are getting improved, but for now, Apple reigns kind in their amount of good developers.