Android takes bite out of Apple in mobile developer job sector

Updated happygeek 0 828 Views

The world's largest digital jobs survey, using data extracted from more than 230,000 jobs posted to The Freelancer.co.uk site, reveals some interesting hiring trends in the developer sector.

dweb-androidapps According to the latest Freelancer Fast 50 survey, if you are a mobile apps developer than it's pretty good news overall with job offers in both Android and iOS marketplaces on the up. However, Android developers should have the broadest smiles on their faces after the survey showed that job offers for them were up by 16% on the previous quarter. Meanwhile, although I would hardly have used the word 'stagnate' to describe the slower rise in iOS developer job positions as the Freelancer press release chose to, iOS jobs are slowing somewhat: up by a more modest 8%. Still, as I say, it does suggest that app development is a good place to be right now.

What is, perhaps, slightly worrying from the Apple developer perspective is that the momentum of the 30% jump seen in the previous quarter could not be maintained. Some are saying that this is down to a combination of the usual 'waiting game' for the iOS point release in September, the lukewarm reviews of the iPhone 5 and the reputational car crash that was iOS 6 maps. The clever money says we should wait and see what happens during the next quarter before jumping to conclusions, or jumping ship and boarding the Android development party boat.

If the iOS development job numbers continue to drop, however, then it could well signal the potential for a Microsoft revival in the developer workplace. Certainly Q4 will be critical for Microsoft what with the rollout of the Windows Phone 8 SDK.

Other trends revealed by the report include the growth in HTML5 jobs which were up 44% this quarter, and the 32% rise in jQuery jobs. PHP is also doing well, up by 19% along with CSS with the same growth and MySQL jobs up 18%.

"This report truly reflects Mary Meeker’s thesis that through software and the Internet we’re experiencing the reimagination of everything" says Matt Barrie, Freelancer.co.uk CEO, continuing "every industry we can think of is turning into a software business, and every job function is increasingly being performed using software tools in the cloud".

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’s post is a useful snapshot of hiring momentum at the time. That kind of quarterly data shows where demand moved then, but it is not a career plan. Platform popularity fluctuates with product cycles, tooling and business needs; long-term value comes from skills that move between platforms and from a compact portfolio that proves results.

Actionable path for mobile developers:

  • Pick one native stack and master it (Android: Java/Kotlin; iOS: Objective-C/Swift). Understand lifecycle, memory, threading, networking and native UI/UX patterns.
  • Add one cross-platform option (React Native, Flutter or a web/PWA approach) and ship a real product to learn trade-offs between speed, native access and performance.
  • Build a simple backend for at least one app (REST or GraphQL, auth, push, basic analytics) so client+server flows are demonstrable.
  • Adopt modern tooling: Git + CI, automated unit/UI tests, crash reporting and profiling. Include CI badges, small test suites and a short architecture README in public repos.
  • Portfolio checklist: three polished artifacts (one deep native, one cross-platform/web, one backend or integration demo), store or demo links, source or architecture writeup and measurable outcomes (startup time, crash-rate improvement, retention or revenue).

is correct that web/HTML5 approaches can reduce distribution friction; progressive web apps are a viable choice for many product types. ’s Apache reminder underlines another point: open-source ecosystems create hiring signals. Small contributions, well-documented forks or plugin work are practical ways to stand out.

Hiring managers hire impact more than platform loyalty. Short case studies that explain trade-offs, quantify results and show code or CI artifacts will outlast any single trend.

Member Avatar for Galbatorix
Galbatorix 0 Newbie Poster

Whether android is here or iOS was there, i have to say that HTML5 has proven itself to be the bull with the bell. Firefox os is also on the rise since the mozilla community is one of the largest open source families... Doubt if microsoft will have a space in this playfield.

Member Avatar for peter_budo
peter_budo 2,532 Code tags enforcer

Off topic:

Firefox os is also on the rise since the mozilla community is one of the largest open source families

Guess you failed to count in Apache community

Member Avatar for happygeek
happygeek 2,411 Most Valuable Poster

Erm, nope Peter. The important bit there is 'one of the largest' :)

Edited by happygeek
Member Avatar for peter_budo
peter_budo 2,532 Code tags enforcer

LOL, missed that obviously. My apology ;)

Member Avatar for Galbatorix
Galbatorix 0 Newbie Poster

am gud :)

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