Android & iOS App Store Summary

When it comes to major apps, the line between Android and iOS is starting to blur rapidly. Choosing a smartphone or tablet platform should be a well-considered decision because switching from iOS to Android or vice versa will require you to buy apps again in the Google Play (or Apple app) store. Android is now the world’s most commonly used smartphone platform and is used by many different phone manufacturers. iOS is only used on Apple devices, such as the iPhone.
iOS and Android both use touch interfaces that have a lot in common - swiping, tapping and pinch-and-zoom. Both operating systems boot to a home screen, which is similar to a computer desktop. While an iOS home screen only contains rows of app icons, Android allows the use of widgets, which display auto-updating information such as weather and email. The iOS user interface features a dock where users can pin their most frequently used applications. A status bar runs across the top on both iOS and Android, offering information such the time, Wi-Fi or cell signal, and battery life; on Android the status bar also shows the number of newly received emails or messages.
The bottom line when comparing Google and Apple's app stores is that most popular apps are available for both platforms. But for tablets, there are more apps designed specifically for the iPad while Android tablet apps are often scaled up versions of Android smartphone apps. Developers at startups often focus on one platform (usually iOS) when they first launch their smartphone app because they do not have resources to serve multiple platforms from the get go. For example, the popular Instagram app started with iOS and their Android app came much later.