Google's Eric Schmidt famously said that mobile is no longer winning, it has already won.
If you still find yourself using "mobile first" as a buzzword to shift everyone in your company to mobile, you need to remember it is no longer 2013.
Many companies have already experienced their mobile moment in which mobile traffic or revenue surpasses desktop. Almost 80% of Facebook's daily users access the site via mobile. Twitter's mobile usage is 75% of monthly users and LinkedIn will surpass 50% of weekly users this year. Other companies such as Google, Amazon, Yelp, Groupon, and ESPN are already dominantly mobile or pacing quickly towards their inevitable mobile moment.
How to get ahead? The best companies have already moved on to focus on OS centric design, specifically Android and iOS. They realized that these operating systems are intrinsically different and require unique user experiences. Designing the same product for both platforms means that you are leaving a lot of value on the table, and hence falling behind the competition.
When comparing iOS with Android, there are many known differences: demographics, device fragmentation, screen size, price point, geographical distribution, payments, and so on. In this post, I'd like to focus on three key differences that can make or break your product:
1. App Permissions - Opt in vs. Opt out
Simply put, Android resembles an opt-out experience, while iOS is opt-in. Upon app installation, Android asks users to approve a long list of app permissions. 99% of those users neither read nor understand the permissions and end up accepting all. Unlike Android, iOS makes sure the user accepts each permission only when the app requires it, making the consent contextually relevant and simpler to understand.
Putting aside which OS design is best (there are pros and cons in each), the end result is a potential game changer. Upon install, Android apps can get access to users’ location, contacts, phone calls, email addresses, and almost every piece of information that resides on the phone. If handled with respect to user’s privacy (don’t abuse your power!), Android apps can offer a more delightful, frictionless and personalized experience to the user, right from the first screen. Every app developer knows that the first 5 minutes are critical for retention and Android allows for immediate gratification. For example:
- Social apps can start by showing users a list of their contacts who use the app and their activity. They can fine tune the experience to be even more relevant based on location and knowledge of users’ personal information.
- Registration is no longer required. Using your email address or phone number, apps can already create your account, validate it by “listening” to your SMS and email, and log you right in. The infamous sign up flow is no longer needed.
Conclusion: In mobile, it takes seconds for users to make a decision about your product. Make sure you leverage user information to create a killer first impression.
2. Organic vs. Transactional Behavior
There are two main ways to engage with apps:
- Organic - By tapping on the app icon.
- Transactional - Through a push notification or email to perform a certain action (e.g. reading a message).
While both iOS and Android support push notifications, users engagement in iOS tends to be more organic and less transactional than Android.
Why does it matter? Organic sessions are more exploratory as users browse the app to find value. Transactional sessions are usually triggered by a notification that lands the user on very specific content (e.g tapping on "Joe invited you to connect" will land on Joe's profile). As a result, transactional sessions tend to be shorter in time spent and shallower in activity (up to 50-90% less) than organic sessions.
So, why is iOS so different than Android if they both support push notifications?Simple answer: Call-to-Action. iOS relies on the app badge to indicate that there is new activity to act on. To clear the badge, users open the app by tapping on the app icon and hence, start an organic session. Unlike iOS, Android uses the top bar indicators to drive users to open the notification tray. In addition, Android notifications are richer and more flexible than iOS, which makes the notification tray the most-used widget on Android.
Conclusion: Invest in your transactional flows. Designing an app is like designing a house. Make sure your architectural plan supports transactional use cases. Imagine your app has a main entrance (app icon → organic) and many side entrances (app notifications → transactional). Make sure every entrance is engaging enough to drive visitors to explore the whole house.
3. Walled Garden vs. Open Playground
When you de
velop your app on iOS, you don’t get access to many of the features that Apple apps have. iOS’ walled-garden approach cripples your ability to provide the best experience to your users. Android is much less restrictive. It allows developers to design an experience that goes “beyond their app” by integrating their product into Android’s own default apps.
velop your app on iOS, you don’t get access to many of the features that Apple apps have. iOS’ walled-garden approach cripples your ability to provide the best experience to your users. Android is much less restrictive. It allows developers to design an experience that goes “beyond their app” by integrating their product into Android’s own default apps.
Why is that powerful? The best products are contextually relevant; they work where the user works and don’t require acquiring new habits. Mobile users use certain apps everyday, all day. Professionals spend 28% of their work time reading and answering e-mail. Research shows that typical users check their phones 150 times per day, their calendar five times per day, and their alarm clock eight times per day. An elegant integration into email, or any frequently used apps, can create the exposure and awareness your product needs.
Android also allows you to “replace” the default apps. For example:
- Messaging and calling apps, such as WhatsApp, WeChat, Messenger, and Viber, can substitute the default apps to enable free and rich communication.
- Facebook Home replaces the phone lock screen to always show the news feed. Users can browse and like updates without even going into the Facebook app.
Conclusion: Think outside the box and go beyond your app boundaries. Look for contextually relevant and valuable insights that can create an intuitive experience within Android’s open platform.
Leveraging the above three key differences can transform your product. Use them to drive growth, engagement, and monetization. Develop a "platform first" approach to make sure you offer the best experience for your users and stay ahead of the competition.
What do you think? Have you noticed any other killer differences between iOS and Android? Do you have other tips for companies who are looking to invest heavily on mobile?
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