The problem with this perspective is that iOS is where the money is. Almost ALL the money.
So if western B2C companies have to pick just one platform to start with, it will almost always be iOS. This lets them then port that initial app to Android once they are established with western audiences, so they can also serve the (much larger, much less profitable) rest of the world.
My problem with this is that it show's almost no forethought by those creating the app. If your goal is first an iOS app that you will develop into an Android app. Then why go this route? It doesn't solve any of the bigger cross platform problems, is a far less mature ecosystem, and will seemingly only paper over the basic needs - but in-depth development will become an issue. But if you're only porting an "initial app" and expecting the next iteration to be either native or cross platform, then start like that rather than waste 6-12 months on transposing the code to a different language.
To me this presents as something a business person with very little knowledge of app development will be drawn to. But the long term drawbacks of this approach far outweigh the short term gains from trying to quickly port an existing iOS app to Android.
Sure there's more money in the Western app ecosystem for iOS apps, but that doesn't mean your app should inherently cater for iOS first. In fact that's a very first world and reductive approach, when there's billion's of people that don't interact in the same way.
> Sure there's more money in the Western app ecosystem for iOS apps, but that doesn't mean your app should inherently cater for iOS first
That's exactly what it means. When I was at Twitter, the Android app generated 1/10th the revenue of iOS. If you care about building a business that generates revenue, you should definitely cater to iOS first.
> If you care about building a business that generates revenue
You missed the end of that sentence "... in the first world". The ignorance or arrogance to assume all businesses that are started are aiming for first world markets. You think entrepreneurs in Africa, South and Central America, Asia are all aiming to expand into Europe and the US? That Third World business problems don't exist and solely cater for Third World needs?
It never fails to amaze me at the absolute arrogance of these assumptions, as if the Global South isn't relevant in technology or entrepreneurship. Truly astounding.
This only applies to those applications whose role is to generate revenue directly (B2C), and in a specific market segment or region (high income and/or US/EU).
For other types of applications the need to service a wider audience can often trump this.
Think banking applications that are without any kinds of in-app purchasing or upfront cost of use.
Or state healthcare sponsored medical/health tech applications.
Or industrial applications that need to run on rugged devices.
> iOS is where the money is. Almost ALL* the money.
* All the money made through an app store.
For everyone and everything else, apps are utility helpers for physical goods and services paid for externally. You setup your router, the app for your door lock, the app to hold your Carrefour discount codes, the app setup your printer etc.
Nonsense. Google Play revenue 2023 34.30 billion. Additionally, Google Play isn't available in China, unlike the Apple App Store so if you're going to compare both stores keep that in mind because it isn't an apples-to-apples comparison.
So if western B2C companies have to pick just one platform to start with, it will almost always be iOS. This lets them then port that initial app to Android once they are established with western audiences, so they can also serve the (much larger, much less profitable) rest of the world.