Shifty Jelly will be releasing Pocket Casts on Android before iOS

Ever since Android’s initial launch in 2008, application developers have mostly chosen to develop an iOS app, before even considering development on the Android platform. What we are starting to see now is very much the opposite due to the increase in popularity of the Android platform, where a lot of developers who would normally release the app on iOS first are now choosing Android as their priority. The Australian application development company Shifty Jelly are doing just that with the release of Pocket Casts 4.

Russel from Shifty Jelly made a Blog post today regarding their choice to release the Android version of Pocket Casts 4 before they continue development on the iOS version.

Let’s be honest, 2 years ago Android really sucked. The OS was a mess, the store was a mess, the SDK was a mess and the hardware was a mess. Today all that has changed, and it’s an amazing platform. That said overall the app quality on iOS is still far higher than Android, as developers catch up with all these new changes. There’s a point coming soon when Android will be full of high-quality apps, but there’s a gap in the market right now for small developers like us who are passionate about design to create something a cut above the rest. In short it’s currently easier for a good app to stand out on Android than it is on iOS.

On Android there is no native podcasting solution, and we see a massive potential to fill that space. There are other apps out there, but we feel we have what it takes to become the dominant podcasting app on that platform.

Pocket Casts on Android has outsold the iOS version historically at about 5:1. That means for every 1 iOS version we’ve sold, 5 were sold on Android. The Android version also costs $1 more, so we’re making more per transaction as well. The reasons for this are a blog post on their own, but it’s a fact.

You can read the rest of the blog post on the Shifty Jelly Blog. Pocket Casts 4 will be available on the Australian Play store from 11AM (ACDT) on the 27th of February. If you are already using Pocket Casts, you will not be required to purchase it again.

[app]au.com.shiftyjelly.pocketcasts[/app]

Are you looking forward to the new version of Pocket Casts? Do you know of any other application developers that still develop for iOS before Android?