Key Takeaways: 1. When making apps, (probably) go Android first (instead of "iOS first") since Android clearly leads the smartphone market 2. Respect iOS and Android specific UI/UX paradigms when crafting apps ("Tab Bar vs. Navigation Drawer") 3. When designing, think atomic/responsive and when developing, leverage default UI components as much as possible Side Notes: The easiest apps are made for single or only a few use cases at a time (Instagram). Popular existing apps are even splitting up into single use case apps to make things easier for users and marketeers (Facebook Messenger, Swarm). Mobile apps for everyday use (Mail, Gmail) require professional software engineering tools to provide rock-solid experiences. Best-rated apps respect platform standards and best practices while making use of device and platform features to provide extra value over their desktop or web alternatives.

1. Andreas Kwiatkowski — kwiat@rheinfabrik.de — @kwiat
iOS vs.
Android

2. BOTH APPLE AND GOOGLE (PARTNERS) ARE
SELLING MORE AND MORE SMARTPHONES,
BUT ANDROID IS ALREADY FAR AHEAD.
Q2/2013
Q2/2014
iOS Android
+4M devices (40M total per quarter)
+64M devices (250M total per quarter)
0 % 15 % 30 % 45 % 60 % 75 % 90 %
http://www.businessinsider.com/android-ios-market-share-data-and-apples-iphone-6-2014-8

3. ESPECIALLY FOR ANDROID, FRAGMENTATION
IS AN ISSUE SLOWING DOWN PROGRESS AND
ADOPTION OF NEW FEATURES AND APPS.
iOS 7 iOS 6 iOS 5
Other
KitKat Jelly Bean
Ice Cream Sandwich Gingerbread
Other
21 %
https://developer.android.com/about/dashboards/index.html?utm_source=ausdroid.net
https://mixpanel.com/trends/#report/ios_frag/from_date:-365,to_date:0
13 %21 % %
84 %
14 %1 %
11 %
53 %

4. GOOGLE PLAY (AND OTHER ANDROID
MARKETS) IS CATCHING UP IN TERMS
OF AUDIENCE AND REVENUE.
App Store Google Play
Apps 1,2M 1,3M
Downloads
(all time) 75B 50B
Revenue
($ 2013) 10B 1,5B

5. IOS AND ANDROID ARE DIFFERENT
WHILE CLEARLY HAVING INFLUENCED
EACH OTHER OVER TIME.

6. BUT: PAY RESPECT TO INDIVIDUAL STYLES
AND PATTERNS PER PLATFORM TO MAKE
YOUR CUSTOMERS FEEL RIGHT AT HOME.

7. Andreas Kwiatkowski — kwiat@rheinfabrik.de — @kwiat
App
Design

8. TODAY, GREAT APPS FOCUS ON
VERY FEW USE CASES AND SIMPLICITY,
RUN SMOOTHLY AND INTEGRATE WELL.
Ease of use Performance Integration

9. AS MOBILE PLATFORMS AND APPS MATURE,
APPLE AND GOOGLE ESTABLISH DISTINCT
USER INTERFACE GUIDELINES.
iOS before 7 iOS 7/8 Android before Holo Holo Material Design

10. GOOGLE’S MATERIAL DESIGN IS A STANDARD
FOR VISUAL, MOTION, AND INTERACTION DESIGN
THAT ADAPTS ACROSS DIFFERENT DEVICES.

11. IN A WORLD OF CROSS-DEVICE/CROSS-PLATFORM
USER FLOWS AND FRAGMENTATION,
PIXEL PERFECT PHOTOSHOP DESIGNS FAIL.

12. INSTEAD, THINK ATOMIC/RESPONSIVE,
TRUST IN VECTORS AND SERIOUSLY TAKE
ADVANTAGE OF UI/UX SDK DEFAULTS.
Brad Frost
patternlab.io
Bohemian Coding
Sketch

13. Andreas Kwiatkowski — kwiat@rheinfabrik.de — @kwiat
Thank
you