Everything to Everyone - The Mobile Landscape

So you want to build an App? With all of the smart devices on the market you may find yourself asking, what platform do I develop for? Do I go with the appeal of Apple the penetration of Android or the familiarity of Windows?

The answer is yes to all.  Developing an application for each of the devices has their challenges as they each have a unique set of rules and guidelines for development that can leave you scratching your head. Providing you manage to fulfill the technical and creative guidelines set forth across the major 3 platforms, you now have to support 3 different apps.

With the anticipated launch of  IE10, early this this year, the web will finally be moving to a standard of HTML5.

HTML5, contains canvas element for images and animation drawings, support video and audio embedding, and includes storage database for offline web applications. Most important of all, you don't need a plugin to get all these features.

Many features of HTML5 have been built with the consideration of being able to run on low-powered devices such as smartphones and tablets HTML5 is the clear choice for cross-platform mobile applications.

If you are looking to monetize your application by avoiding the online giants you save 30% by collecting payments through an mobile payment solution which will range from 3%-5% which leaves you almost 25% to invest in marketing. 

If you are producing a free app for brand awareness why not be everywhere? 

Yes being in a major market place like iTunes does get you exposure to a vast audience but within 1 week you will be buried by the next wave of apps.

While it make take a little more planning in the beginning in the long run you will be able to concentrate on making your product the best it can be and you can control your own destiny.