iOS vs Android gaming: development issues and platforms comparison for better game development performance

No operating system is totally better than the other one. Both iOS and Android have advantages and limitations.

The topic of which one is better for gaming has a variety of opinions. Most of them are largely subjective. That is why, in this blog, you can find facts and figures supported by the opinions of the developers about iOS vs Android gaming development issues.

Discussing an issue of iOS vs Android game development, it’s not enough just to consider the statistics of the users’ number. As of July 2021, 70% of all mobile devices were running Android, and there were over one billion iPhone users. By the way, Android hit this benchmark in 2017.

Comparing iOS and Android game development, it’s good to shed some light on other aspects: hardware, marketplace, principles of monetization models performance, and users’ expectations. In the future of gaming, these factors will influence the process of games publishing and monetization. That is why in this blog we decided to share substantial information for your better top titles releases.

For publishing top titles, it can help to know the differences in the development process of some types of gambling games and the peculiar features of the business side. To know these trends, Innovecs recommends:

• learning and comparing the developers’ experience;
• counting on working monetization models; and
• learning more about development challenges for 2022.

Simon Joslin, the developer in the Voxel Agents, stated that hardware matters. He stressed that the iOS ecosystem had “excellent devices, operating system users keep up to date and a marketplace with the buyers willing to pay for the better gaming experience.” Considering the fact Apple devices are relatively homogeneous, publishers do not face so many bugs and the huge necessity of post-release fixes.

This developer noted that hardware consistency let him concentrate more on producing a perfect user experience rather than continuously fixing the bugs making the game compatible with more devices. But not all developers feel the same. For example, Chris Murphy of Pub Games noted that iOS hardware was standardized, but the tech was quite rigid. This was frustrating for high-end game development.

It seems before choosing the marketplace you should not look for a better or a worse one, but just know these peculiar features of iOS vs Android gaming and devices for wiser decision-making.

Very much in-game monetization and game publishing, revenue depends on the iOS and Android target audience profile and their expectations. iPhone users are more prone to pay for a brighter gaming experience. Moreover, due to Apple’s weekly hand-curated showcase, more titles are easier to find and download. The users of iOS-based devices experience less adware because of the App Store entry fee for the developers.

The above-mentioned facts make the Android store lack certain titles, which are more profitable to be provided for iOS users. But the medal has another side: this leaves more potential for Android developers as well.

Mobile gaming went the development way from pixelated graphics to high-grade graphics granting excellent user experience. Slots or online casino software, sports betting, or iLotteries are introduced for two platforms: Android and iOS. Among the users, each platform has its haters and admirers.

But let’s follow scientific factors influencing game performance on iPhones and Android devices to compare which one is more suitable for your new top title release. Game availability in Google Play and App Store differs. App Store has more than a million apps, gaming pieces among which comprise 25%. The Android platform has more game titles, but the average spending per user is higher in App Store.

If you treat these numbers like just numbers, we propose to dive deeper into hardware issues comparison to better evaluate which devices are more powerful concerning better user experience, and, hence, more downloads as well as more wish to spend money in gaming.

For example, iPhone and Android FPS benchmarks (frames per second) influence user experience greatly. The number of frames per second makes your video gaming either a poor or standard quality game experience or boosts the imagination with bright pics.

User experience starts with a high-quality, bright picture and continues with the gameplay convenience. And it continues with the game storage, GPU, processor, speed, battery, and customizability factors.

Some games demand a substantial place for storage. And here Android devices have a huge advantage: they are customizable and give the possibility for the user to manage storage amounts. Battery life matters, too. Heavy gaming needs more powerful batteries. The iPhone has less battery life. But Apple can squeeze decent battery life via hardware and soft optimization.

Gameplay can suffer from lags and slow responses, especially if the game code is heavy or experience a lack of testing. Concerning this GPU and processor matter. Issuing its new models, Apple paid a lot of attention to processor characteristics: changing its Apple’s A10 fusion processor on iPhone 7, made it 40% faster and 50% more powerful GPU performance compared to A9. It’s just an example to be aware that issuing a game you may pay attention to the hardware characteristics as well.

Most game developers search for one platform to start with in game publishing. Mainly because there’s a lack of budget, especially for QA on Android due to the variety of devices on the market. And investing money in new title publishing, game development teams strive for more information about the possibilities of release, monetization, and user attraction of each platform.

In the blog, we considered the most substantial iOS and Android features for you:

• Users in App Store are more willing to spend money for a better gaming experience;
• iOS and Android hardware differs: iPhone FPS benchmarks make video quality higher and more attractive for the users;
• Piracy issue is more burning in Google Play with its mostly freemium game publishing model;
• The development process often starts for one platform, especially considering the fact Android devices demand more substantial QA due to the vast number of models; and
• GPU, processor, battery matter in user experience quality (some developers note iOS devices are more consistent, some of them state Apple tech is rigidly interfering with high-end game developing).

Comparing Android with iOS, we come across a lot of tricky development issues. We can treat each issue as a positive or negative factor for game development. For example, the Apple ecosystem is more homogeneous, and this stability leaves less work for game developers in iterating, bugs fixing, and QA. At the same time, the audience of iOS devices is not as vast as the Android one, which means less space for product promotion.

If, after reading the blog, you still have a number of questions about which platform, either iOS or Android, is more powerful for your gaming releases, come to us for consultation. And our super-talented team of artists and developers will assist in bringing your outstanding ideas to life.