This article was written by: Conor Buckley, Senior Sales Analyst at Passport

The iPhone might be dubbed the ‘trendier’ mobile device, but trendy doesn’t necessarily cut it. When it comes down to functionality of our software, the Android operating system delivers.  As we compare the two operating systems, Android and iOS, you’ll get an idea on why we picked the most flexible system to provide the best mobile payment services for our users. Sure, we can build our software for iOS, but we’d rather not. What we’d rather do is focus our attention on giving our users the best possible experience on the best platform for their needs. Make sense? Hear us out:

 See our Mobile Enforcement Plan in action! 

Flexibility & Functionality

When it comes to supplying our clients with our product, we want to give them the optimal solution for their parking environment. Android’s seamless integration with our mobile bluetooth printers helps us gain the most out of each device, as well as the familiarity of using a smartphone.

Additionally, the wide selection of different Android devices allows us to cater to the qualities that are important to a city like the durability, cost efficiency, battery life, and weatherproofing. Android’s offer a variety of smartphone and tablet options and accessories, such as waterproof cases, extended batteries, and a stylus pen that’s ideal for clients using our citations management platform in cold weather cities.

Shorter Release Cycle

At Passport, giving our users the latest software enhancements and feature updates is top priority. Since the Google Play Store is not as restricted as Apple’s store, we can make feature updates to our app with very minimal delay. Is there certain functionality of the app that needs to be added or do we need to make a quick change to keep the city operational? Android let’s us release updates often and as fast as possible.

Cheaper Can Be Better

Apple devices are expensive. Replacing multiple Apple devices is even more expensive. Investing in a product that cuts the devices up front cost by over 50% is clearly a better financial decision. Android’s up front cost is cheaper, therefore the replacement cost is cheaper.

“We choose to develop our platform to leverage the capabilities of the the Android operating system for many reasons. We are able to focus our team’s resources on developing a strong single app that can be used on a wide variety of devices,” said Justin Cruz, Senior Software Engineer at Passport. “We’re always interacting with our clients and receiving feedback to make continual iterative improvements to our enforcement solution. Developing our software on any other platform wouldn’t allow us to be as agile and progressive and keep up with the needs of our clients.”