There is nothing like the rush of creating product or creating heroes among users of your product. But in that rush you can make the mistake of ignoring ROI in porting that iphone app to android. Let my start-up mistakes guide you in making the right ROI choice in deciding the right time to port that iphone app to android.
Development Costs
Start-ups are different in that the ROI is measured in that next funding round as the return on development costs. So obviously, the start-up should have enough seed-capital-runway to cover both operating costs during the seek additional funding period and the costs of porting the iphone to android. Usually, the development costs for an android app is about $60,000. But, what if the sart-up is seed capital poor?
Seed Capital Poor
Than you will not be able to gain any increase in numbers as you do not have the resources to port to android and thus you have another option. Buckle-down and take that app analytics that you are collecting, you were bright enough to let the developers install analytics in the iphone app right, and refactor the app work-flow and UI to a stronger app that increases the downloads and the MAUs. If not seed capital poor than proceed further into my essay.
Downloads and MAUs
But, what is the number that triggers that next funding round?
Its not the immediate high number of downloads that triggers the next funding round in a start-up. It is the steep-ness of the new user download curve and the monthly-active-users(MAUs) curve. If you plot the curve it looks like a hockey-stick. The next funding round occurs in the vertical part of that curve. However, you will have to get use to change as that static iphone app and android port will now change to influence the steep-ness of both curves.
Accept Change
Typically, the android developer such as myself develops the application infrastructure code first and puts the first wireframes of UI into code so that the UI can be refactored into a better UI based upon feedback from app analytics and A/B testing. Why the change?
Future and Immediate Intents
Okay, a little background. Remember, the web? All those applications are designed for future intents, ie what we plan in the future as far as an activity. In mobile we do not design applications for future intents but immediate intents in the form of immediate activities.
And those activties fall into two groups; those with environment data such as location, etc and those activities that may involve
user preference data. I do collecting of app analytical data and UI A/B testing so that I can see what is a better fit in app work-flow and UI to get the higher downloads and MAUs. Because everyone is in the future mind-set of web apps infuseed on their brains, including me, I use app analytics and A/B Testing to remind myself of the mobile immediate intent mindset.
And the nice thing about android is that due to allowing an easy side-loading solution of applications we can sue several platforms to obtain quality alpha and beta testers to make the A/B UI testing a breeze to compete.
Are You A Hero?
Shouldn't you and your end users become heroes of the your story?
I think you should and that is why I insist on a port of an iphone app to android that you accept change and accept that the product has to evolve from the state you have it to something that your end users cannot live without.
The right time to port your iphone app to android is when you have the seed-capital-runway to cover development costs and the character of mind to accept the changes in app workflow and UI to get that higher number of downloads and MAUs.
