OR/14/073 Platforms

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Bell, P, Shelley, W, Smith, R S, and Tomas, R. 2014. Reusable tools for smartphone apps: innovative activities in the European geological sector. British Geological Survey, OR/14/073.

When developing smartphone apps, strong consideration needs to be given to the platforms that are supported (Android, iOS etc). Each platform requires that apps are developed in a particular way, often in a different development language. As well as the extra development effort, there is an additional maintenance overhead for each platform supported. When considering which platforms to support, it is important to consider targeted users; where they are geographically, their demographic composition and their socio-economic status. These factors will all influence the type of device likely to be carried and, ultimately, guide the organisation on what platforms to support. In a later section, we will discuss a growing number of tools that enable multiple platforms to be reached from a single development.

The survey results indicate that Android and iOS are the only native platforms specifically being targeted for app development by the European geological surveys. These are also the platforms that the geological surveys feel are the most important ones to support (Figure 10). This mirrors information in the public domain about the most popular device types, but contradicts BGS’s experience of its user base which is predominantly iOS-based.

Figure 10    Most important mobile platforms to support in the view of geological surveys.