Hi! Thank you for coming here to get a portion of some useful information. If you still associate the word „Android” only with phones like Xiaomi or, for example, Samsung, and the word „iOS” with Apple iPhones – let xme be the one who will tell you what’s that exactly in simple language. Read on to find about the guide to convert an Android App.
Google’s Android and Apple’s iOS are operating systems like Windows, but for mobile platforms. 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, still it doesn’t make it less popular.
As the topic of today’s post is about how to convert an Android app to iOS, let me shortly show you the differences between two platforms concerning this direction.
- Android applications are developed with the help of such programming languages as C, C++ and Java. Apps for iOS are programmed using Objective-C, Objective-C++ or Swift.
- Most of the apps for Android are free; besides users can download apps from outside the official Google Play store, which is contrary to iOS apps.
- To publish their apps, Android developers have to pay a one-time 25$ fee; iOS developers must pay 99$ every year to possess the right to have their product in the Apple store.
Using both of the platforms can enormously widen the opportunities and the ways of development of your business. So, if you feel the need to expand the number of users, this is the relatively easy step by step guide to convert an Android app to iOS.
Table of Contents
Step №1 – Analysis of functionality of the application
Converting an Android app to iOS is a quite complicated process because of the differences between operating systems. Analysis of the existing app’s functions is an important step that has to include the functional specifications, design of the app and the source code. It is possible that in the process of converting you will have to add some new features, change particular technical components etc. I strongly recommend you to use the services of such specialists as business analysts and software architects in order to minimize the possible cracks.
Step №2 – Development of the design according to the needs of iOS
There is a huge amount of people who believe that copying the whole interface from one app version to the other without making the necessary changes is a good idea. When they do so, their app ends up, as a rule, looking strange and being uncomfortable for using.
So, the second thing to do is to realize that the design patterns of Android and Apple are totally different. The most obvious thing is that Android devices usually have three navigation buttons, in the meantime Apple gadgets have one. While transferring the design to the iOS system consider the following points:
- general design
- navigation bar
- main navigation
- form of notifications
- icon
- search tool
- font (Android uses San Francisco and iOS uses Roboto)
Step №3 – Converting
There are several approaches to convert an Android app to iOS, but I am going to describe the simplest one, from my point of view. The best option is to use a MechDome convertor that requires no iOS coding knowledge. How does it work?
- Compile your Android app, take this compiled file and upload it to MechDome.
- Select whether you will create an iOS app for a simulator or a real device.
- The process of converting is automatic. It will then convert your Android app to an iOS app very quickly. MechDome also optimizes it for your selected device.
Of course it can’t convert complicated applications without bugs or errors. Therefore, for this aim you have to gain more technical skills and experience. Also MechDome informs customers that they don‘t support certain Android packages and features. To be specific, there are no equivalent functionalities for widgets, root access, wallpapers etc.
What about the cost of creating an app, well, with a basic plan that costs $1599/month, you can convert one app 3 times, what I consider to be quite good.
Step №4 – Testing the app and launching it in the Apple store
Only thorough testing of the application may stand a chance to be successful throughout the Apple market. Follow this list of required tests that you have to include into the process of checking:
- functional testing
- security and access
- control testing
- usability testing
- validation testing
- user acceptance
Conclusion
Converting an app from Android to iOS takes a lot of time, which is almost equal to creating an app from the very beginning. Having an app on both operating systems is a good decision for the interests of your business, just consider every detail in order to make everything work in a proper way.
I hope that this step by step guide was helpful for you. Thank you for showing your interest in this topic, so come back for more information. Stay safe!
