Why and how to port an iOS App into an Android App?

Mobile phones are no more want in today's world, but it's a need today. The use of mobile phones has significantly increased, and so is demand. As of now, Android and iOS are the two prevalent & extensively used mobile operating systems. Interestingly, both these operating systems are a great competitor of each other and account higher than 99% of whole smartphone sales all over the globe. Now, when it comes to mobile applications, be it Android apps or iOS apps both platforms are obtaining immense popularity. Having competent knowledge of developing the app on both the platforms simultaneously is very significant acknowledging the fact that the competition level has grown much higher than before for a mobile app development company and, its focus is on native Android app development as it's much economical than cross-platform app development.

Nonetheless, proceeding towards which platform is to be considered better, we can apparently say that in terms of profits iOS seems to be the best platform as it generates enormous earnings, and at the same time Android has the vaster market share (81% in regard to 18% of the iOS) so in this prospect Android is a better platform.

Now the real challenge is what were the circumstances in which the requirement to port an iOS app to an Android app befell. Let’s have a comprehensive study on why the need arise.

Android apps offer greater ability to customize

Android offers a far greater degree of customization than that of iOS apps. Android permits users to use third-party browsers which are not possible with iOS.

Android is more open source than iOS

A factor that matter is that Android introduces it as a partly open-source component whereas iOS is a closed-source component. This can be a big reason to opt for the Android platform over iOS.

Easy file transfer in Android than iOS

Transferring files with ease is an essential feature. People prefer the Android platform because it facilitates the transfer of files easily whereas iOS offers limited options.

More devices for Android than iOS

As discussed earlier, Android holds a larger share in the market worldwide, so it's clearly conceded that a lot more devices use Android over iOS. 

More number of features

Android offers some specific features that you can use to enhance customer engagement. You can provide users with various opportunities that have been added by Google.

• The Physical Back Button
• Android Intents
• Widgets and Push Notifications
• Android Wear

UI design approaches are different between Android and iOS

Android employs the ‘Material design’ approach, whereas iOS uses the ‘Flat design’ approach which is minimalist, so it doesn't use 3D effects of graphics. Moving forward, now let's discuss the relevant steps of porting an iOS app into an Android app. Is it easy to port your iOS app into Android? When it comes to technical terrain, it's easy, but takes ample time to complete the process of conversion. However, a certain number of tasks comprising app porting are to be carried out. Once you've completed with these steps, your app is ready to go live in a few days. Moreover, both the platforms have different languages, so all you need is a deft team of Swift programmers and Java/Kotlin programmers.

Step 1: Perform analysis and accordingly make a plan

The very first and foremost step is to perform a profound analysis and make a plan accordingly in which you must focus on your current iOS app, its features & design, workflow, characteristics, etc is to be analyzed. You can also study the possible errors and problems that may arise in the porting phase, and how to deal with those issues. Optimize the Android app version as per your convenience, along with a deep compatibility check on back-end individualities, tools, and frameworks to obtain desired outcomes.

Step 2: Valuation and execution of the framed plan

All you need is to evaluate all the technical issues related to codes, libraries, and third-party services, and choosing the right technology stack to make app porting accurate is a crucial aspect to make an application with exceptional functionalities. Porting time completely depends upon the type of app, you want to port, porting an iOS app to Android will be quite similar to developing a single android app so you may expect that your app will be ready in a week.

Step 3: Testing the app and launching

Quality of the app must be given utmost preference. Like any app development process, quality must be checked to make sure that the app is successfully ported as per your plan. You can use real Android devices or emulation tools to assure the quality of your app. Apart from this, you may also go for different kinds of mobile app testing techniques, including load testing, validation, user acceptance testing, and beta testing. Once, you get satisfactory results, your app is ready for submission to the Google Play Store.

Wrapping up:

The above stated are the reasons why and how to port an iOS app into an Android app. Now, the fact is that for a professional Android app development company, it's not a tough task to port the iOS-based application to an Android app. By following these customized steps you can get your app ported into Android. But all you need is the right team of Android & iOS app developers apt with the understanding of platform adaption, business logic for the app, along with programming and testing to acquire an appropriate solution as per your requirement.