For which operating system is it better to build the mobile app first? (And why?)
I'm doing research on which OS is worth making an educational app for, and jotted down some pros/cons for both iOS and Android.
Android:
– It is known that there are more Android users, so you can potentially have a larger testing/user base.
– You don't pay any fee when publishing an app on the Play Store.
– The opposite is that Android is used by different devices, so optimisation can be difficult.
iOS:
– iOS users are more willing to pay (and I'm already used to iOS).
– The disadvantage is recurring payments in the App Store every year (about $100).
Several people have advised me, for example, the Ionic Framework or Flutter, which would allow for cross-platform development.
From your point of view, which platform is worth making an app for?
Do you know any good alternatives to Flutter and the Ionic Framework?
Replies
Good breakdown — you’re already thinking about the right trade-offs 👍
A few practical points from what we see in real projects:
Platform choice
If this is your first educational app, the real question isn’t iOS vs Android — it’s who your first 1,000 users are.
If you’re targeting schools, emerging markets, or broad accessibility → Android first often makes sense.
If you’re targeting professionals, paid learning, or premium content → iOS first can validate monetization faster.
The $100/year Apple fee usually becomes irrelevant if the product finds traction. Fragmentation on Android is real, but manageable if you don’t overdesign for edge cases early.
Cross-platform
Flutter is currently the most practical choice if:
You want one codebase
You accept some platform-specific work anyway (you always will)
You care about long-term maintainability
Ionic can work for content-heavy apps, but once you need performance, animations, offline logic, or device features, it shows its limits.
Alternatives worth considering
Kotlin Multiplatform (KMM) – shared business logic + native UI (great balance if quality matters)
React Native – mature ecosystem, but dependency churn is real
Native first (one platform) – still the fastest way to learn users, not frameworks
At Mobiwolf we’ve helped teams start native, go cross-platform later, and also rescue projects that picked a framework before validating the product. The pattern is consistent: users matter more than tech choice in v1.
If you’re still unsure, I’d recommend:
pick one platform
ship something small
learn fast
optimize tech later
That learning is worth more than any framework decision.
minimalist phone: creating folders
@karolex thank you, my goal is to create on both platforms, so I should probably try Flutter. Or?