MOBILE GAME
DEVELOPERS
PREFER IOS
BYANTHONYBEYER

MOBILE PHONE HISTORY
The history of the mobile phone
can be traced back to the 1970s,
when the first mobile phone
call was placed by Martin
Cooper, an engineer at
Motorola.
The phone ( a prototype) was
much larger than current
devices, was used just for calls,
and was equipped with about
30 mins of talk time.

MOBILE PHONE HISTORY
Still, itwasn'tuntiladecade
laterthatmobilephones
becameavailabletothepublic.
Andthesmartphone, IBM's
Simondevice, wouldbe
another10yearsintheworks,
makingitsdebutin1992. The
phonewastouchscreenand
entailedmorefeaturesthan
callingalone.

GAMING ON PHONES
Mobilephonegaming
launchedshortlyafterin94,
withthearcadefavorite, Tetris,
beingthefirsttomakean
appearance.
In1997, Nokiaintroduceda
gameoftheirown, Snake,
whichgainedpopularity, and
therestishistory.

IPHONE
The iPhone launched in 2007
and changed the smartphone
world entirely.
It expanded the idea of
applications, making them
central to the device, and
removed keyboard hardware,
providing more space onscreen
for all activities, including
gaming.
It became widely successful
and the model after which all
other competitors would create.

COMPETITION
Almost a year later, Google
launched its own device, the G1 on
T-Mobile, running a native
software similar to and in
competition with Apple's popular
iPhone.
The G1 didn't prove as successful,
but the company extended its
advanced software with other
devices and soon struck gold with
its Samsung partnership.

POPULARITY
Presently, 470millioniPhones
havebeensolditslaunchandits
popularitycontinuestorisewith
everynewrelease.
Comparatively, Samsung'smost
populardevice, theGalaxy, has
soldabout200millionphones
sinceitslaunchin2010and
outsellstheiPhoneattimes.

OPERATING SYSTEM
Nevertheless, when it comes to
mobile games, it's less about
the hardware and more about
how the system operates.
iPhone runs its own software
entitled iOS, while Google's
Android system is run not only
on Samsung but on an
incredible 1 Billion devices in
total, making it significantly
more popular than the iOS in
terms of market share.

PREFERENCE FOR IOS
Thatsaid, mostgame
developerspreferlaunchingon
iOS, despiteAndroidlargeuser
baseforthefollowingreasons:
It'seasiertoconductbeta
testingonthefewiPhones
whichruniOSvs. the
hundredsthatrunAndroid
AppdevelopmentforiOSis
about30% cheaperthan
Android
iOSusersspend4xasmuch
onappsandbuymoreoften

WHAT ABOUT ANDROID?
According to this article,
Android is not left out of the
equation entirely.
Game developers still want to
get their creations into the
hands of Android users, but
launching on iOS first can help
gauge success and determine
problems.
Subsequently, Android users
often experience a better,
tested version of a game for
free, though it may be premium
on iOS.

FINAL THOUGHTS
Android is more ubiquitous
with a greater reach than iOS.
However, revenue from mobile
gaming is significantly higher
on iOS and the cost of creating
the game is less, thusly, more
bang for the buck.
Nevertheless, mobile game
spending is growing on
Android, and if that trend
continues and the software
becomes more developer
friendly, preferences may
change.

FOR MORE INFO
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REFERENCE LIST
http://www.imore.com/history-iphone-original
http://thenextweb.com/mobile/2011/12/06/the-history-of-the-
smartphone/#gref
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Android_(operating_system)
http://www.knowyourmobile.com/nokia/nokia-
3310/19848/history-mobile-phones-1973-2008-handsets-
made-it-all-happen
http://www.polygon.com/2015/11/5/9675740/apple-gaming-
android-google-late-games
http://fortune.com/2014/06/27/apples-users-spend-4x-as-
much-as-googles/

FIN