How profitable are Windows apps compared to Android or iOS apps?

[abel920]

I'm finally done college, now I have the rest of my life ahead of me. I have a whole summer of rest before heading out to find a full time job, so I want to take this opportunity to develop something. However, I'm in the limbo of which platform to choose. Obviously I love Windows, and I think Windows is the future, I believe the money is here in the long run.

But in the current time, which platform makes the most money out of the three? I want to learn programming so much, it's my passion, but at the same time.. I wanna make some money off it.. even if it's just $100 in the entire 4 months of summer.

Help me decide!

 

[owensdj]

A lot of this decision depends on what language(s) you know and what devices you have. If you have a Windows 10 desktop/laptop you have everything you need to get started with developing Universal Windows Platform applications that you can market in Microsoft's Windows Store. Visual Studio 2015 is free for independent developers like yourself. Just get the Community Edition.

To develop for Android you'd need an Android phone or tablet for testing it. To develop for iOS you'd actually need a MacOS machine, even with the now free multiplatform Xamarin.

Most UWP developers use C# and XAML, but you can also develop using C++ and other technologies.

 

[ohgood]

I'm finally done college, now I have the rest of my life ahead of me. I have a whole summer of rest before heading out to find a full time job, so I want to take this opportunity to develop something. However, I'm in the limbo of which platform to choose. Obviously I love Windows, and I think Windows is the future, I believe the money is here in the long run.

But in the current time, which platform makes the most money out of the three? I want to learn programming so much, it's my passion, but at the same time.. I wanna make some money off it.. even if it's just $100 in the entire 4 months of summer.

Help me decide!

platform is not the deciding factor for making money with an application. the number of users that will BUY the app is. just because there are more Android users does not mean they need your app enough to post for it. pick the platform that will have the most potential customers FOR YOUR APP, not just the most.

 

[xandros9]

I imagine its a real hit-and-miss thing for apps. There's no shortage, discovery is a pain, it has to offer enough value to offset its cost to the buyer or get lucky and be another Flappy Bird. I'd learn something that can adapt to different platforms.

 

[jerreldulay]

This decision really also depends on the application you want to make. There are a number of opportunities to develop for multiple platforms simultaneously and to bring your product to more than one platform with minimal extra work required. That said, I've read anecdotal articles explaining how, for example, a mobile game can be more profitable on Windows Phone platforms, citing that the audience is more willing to engage and the market place is overly cluttered so it's easier to find games.

 

[sensboston]

But in the current time, which platform makes the most money out of the three? I want to learn programming so much, it's my passion, but at the same time.. I wanna make some money off it.. even if it's just $100 in the entire 4 months of summer.
Help me decide!

Wrong question, "incompatible requirements detected!" If you want to learn programming, and also get a lot of customers, you should choose task/project what you are really like and will enjoy to implement. It's an absolutely necessary condition! And, if other people will share your idea and like your implementation, you'll get some other benefits like money, experience etc.

On the one hand, UWP platform still lacks of needful applications so you don't need to invent something completely new but may choose some unimplemented app ideas from Android or iOS, but on the other hand, UWP platform future is very vague ("thanks", M$). You should think also about "investments" to your future so maybe Android or iOS will be much better choice than UWP.

 

[sinime]

IDK I'm a hobbyist developer. While I haven't written a Flappy birds caliber app, I can say this, it's hard to break in and make a lot of money. I was developing on iOS in the past, but every penny I seemed to make was going right back to apple from yearly developer fees, having to keep hardware updated, etc... So, while I don't pull down as much from MS on a per month basis as I did on Apple, I actually make more money because I'm not having to pay so much back into the system. If you are going to do it for fun, I'd say go with Windows 10 or Android, forget iOS.

 

[mrgameoz]

i have not made money from any platform(ios,windows and android), but the amount of downloads for me are higher on windows, the main reason for my no revenue is all my apps dont force user to spend, i dont like games with ads so i dont make one with it

 

[esbe118]

I wrote a small UWP app, sold it for $. 99 and made around $140. The customers are there.