Or… why not both? Today, cross-platform frameworks like our favorite, React Native, stand out as an optimal choice as it allows us to develop a native app for each platform using mostly (i.e. about 80%) of the same code. This gives you maximum exposure which is ideal for apps designed to generate revenue and businesses such as healthcare to ensure no one is left out. It will cost a bit more but it gives you two products in the end but it’s much less expensive when compared to developing two separate apps from the ground up using different frameworks.
With that said, there are some cases where there’s little to no reason to target both platforms. For example, you could be building an app like the barista app we built for Black Sheep Coffee which acts as a viewer for customer mobile orders – the idea was to run the app on inexpensive Android tablets which are more cost-effective for the organization than outfitting locations with iPads.
Now, if your goal is to create an app that targets an audience that’s most likely to casually spend money on a product or service, you may want to stick with just iOS app development, at least at first. The numbers show that iOS users are more likely to spend money in an app for virtually every market. This is ultimately more expensive than just building two from the start, but it gives you time to learn more about your audience to fine-tune your offering. Plus, if your app is doing well, there will be some anticipation which usually means the subsequent app will often perform well out the gate.