Flurry shows Android dev ratio still low

Despite increases in device share, iOS app development is still three times larger, Flurry said Monday. New app starts on Android had actually declined in ratio from the start of 2011 to the end, shrinking from 37 percent to 27 percent in a fall estimate. iOS development had grown by an equal number of points and was now up to 73 of starts.

A truism that iOS apps make more money than on Android was also deemed accurate. For every dollar that an app made on iOS, the same app would make just 24 cents on Android. Some of the gap may have come from Google's approach to payment, Flurry speculated: Google Checkout is both optional and infrequently used, while Apple requires that users start off by attaching some kind payment method to their accounts. Merging Google Wallet and Checkout would help.

The ratio cast doubt on Google chairman Eric Schdmidt's belief that developers might prefer Android in half a year's time due to share. Despite Android having roughly twice as much unit share, developers are still mostly starting iOS apps and will still be releasing on Apple's platform first into 2012.

Flurry's data accounts for about 25 percent of all the apps on Android Market and the App Store together and could be reflective of the wider market as a whole.

By Electronista Staff

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iPhone, industry, developer, Google, Android, App Store, mobile phones, Apple, Android Market, Google Wallet, Google Checkout