All of this "I have more apps than you!" nonsense is just that... I don't need more apps, I need better apps. Half of the stuff in any marketplace is garbage.
Got a tip for us?
Let us know
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
Android Market to equal Apple App Store by July
- Thread starter roadbloc
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
and the same can be said about iTunes as well.
Heck lets be honest most of the stuff in both markets is complete garbage.
There are some apps that I know in the market place do not look pretty but are very good and powerful apps but only really useful to a select few. Some of the ones I am thinking of are very nice for IT admins. one of the authors of one of them is in my classes. While it does not look pretty it is 100% functional app that he wrote for his uses first and then clean it up for the rest of his group. After that he threw it on the market because he knew others would like it. It put it on for free and it generated zero income for him.
In my opinion they dont. Thats what I said before and also now. I dont even like iPhone; I like Android and WP7. But its the truth that Android's apps are generally poor quality and I have a hard time finding quality apps in the market versus on iOS or even WP7 (In terms of games on WP7).
The reality is that the number of apps available on any store doesn't matter. I can count on one hand the number of applications I have on my phone that I use more than once per week:
- Facebook
- Twitter
- Google Reader
- Turn by Turn Navigation
- National Rail (train times)
iOS, Windows Phone 7 and Android all have applications for these.
Additional applications that I might use are not nearly as important, and the functionality of them is likely to be gimmicky or one-off anyway.
I am getting somewhat bored of seeing articles about which store has "more" applications because in ALL of the stores I have seen, there is a ton of junk that is making up whatever big number they are putting out there. That's not the store operator's fault, it's just that there are so many developers out to try to make as much money as possible that poor quality applications are inevitable.
- Google Reader
- Turn by Turn Navigation
- National Rail (train times)
iOS, Windows Phone 7 and Android all have applications for these.
Additional applications that I might use are not nearly as important, and the functionality of them is likely to be gimmicky or one-off anyway.
I am getting somewhat bored of seeing articles about which store has "more" applications because in ALL of the stores I have seen, there is a ton of junk that is making up whatever big number they are putting out there. That's not the store operator's fault, it's just that there are so many developers out to try to make as much money as possible that poor quality applications are inevitable.
I think you hit the nail on the head.
As long as the key apps are there it really does not matter.
For me key apps are
-Weather (iPhone's weather sucks compared to the others)
-Angry Birds (but it it was not there not a big deal)
out side of that I like to get information at a class. No clicking icons to get it. (notification bar for example) something the iPhone sucks at is info at a glance.
Or the App Store is more selective than the Android Market. I don't know. My point was the numbers don't show what you implied that they show.
And I was pointing out that developers will go were the money's at, and by the looks of it it's the App store.
https://www.macrumors.com/2011/05/03/app-store-projected-to-claim-75-of-app-download-market-in-2011/
It would appear that that trend is slowly going out of fashion. iOS has had a 60% growth in developers whereas Android has had a 300% growth.
santaliqueur said it best in the other thread
Percentage growth? Easy to have large percentage numbers when you are far behind. If there's a new player in the game, it's incredibly easy to post 1,000% gains, because they are starting from almost nothing. Just like Android
Key word: Free.
Android has more free apps than iOS. Apple, meanwhile, has many, many more paid apps and more revenue.
Android's one of the best platforms possible if you're giving away free stuff; the userbase is cheap.
My point is that apple plays the numbers game whenever it favors them, and when it doesn't they give the worn out adage that numbers/market share doesn't matter.
I really don't care: who has more apps or who makes more money.
What I do care is that the Apps I need run on my iPhone.
That my iPhone has all the hardware I need.
If it becomes relevant, there will always be a workaround like jailbreaking your iPhone or using a remote access to your Mac/PC and run anything that you need.
Even something like Boot Camp may show up, and end of discussion.
What I love about the App Store is that the prices are always going down.
And if Google makes a dent in Apple's market, we will benefit in the end, as they will try to make something different to improve it.
iTunes had been successful because it simply works, and the iPod was the mainstream mp3 player.
What might make this more interesting is how Amazon is trying to compete in this field, and even RIM is also betting on the Android.
How much of influence are the carriers about the Android Apps?
Today there were some other news out there indicating that some carriers wanted to start limiting or changing the data plan for those who are tethering.
The carriers are the big challenge.
Many apps will evolve in a web base or cloud base type of service, but the connectivity is a must, and we will still rely on the carriers/ISP.
What I do care is that the Apps I need run on my iPhone.
That my iPhone has all the hardware I need.
If it becomes relevant, there will always be a workaround like jailbreaking your iPhone or using a remote access to your Mac/PC and run anything that you need.
Even something like Boot Camp may show up, and end of discussion.
What I love about the App Store is that the prices are always going down.
And if Google makes a dent in Apple's market, we will benefit in the end, as they will try to make something different to improve it.
iTunes had been successful because it simply works, and the iPod was the mainstream mp3 player.
What might make this more interesting is how Amazon is trying to compete in this field, and even RIM is also betting on the Android.
How much of influence are the carriers about the Android Apps?
Today there were some other news out there indicating that some carriers wanted to start limiting or changing the data plan for those who are tethering.
The carriers are the big challenge.
Many apps will evolve in a web base or cloud base type of service, but the connectivity is a must, and we will still rely on the carriers/ISP.
I have gladly paid for many good apps on Android (WidgetLocker, Ti Backup, ADW-EX, TypeFresh, Root Explorer, etc). Thankfully though, even more of the great apps I use frequently are free. Call it cheap all you want, but if developers offer a great app for free, I'll use it.
Great. Still doesn't deny the fact that Android is catching up with iOS at an alarming rate.
The fact that OS X has no where near the available Apps as Windows does after over 10 years is, frankly, embarrassing.
Except that Windows is the licensable platform and Mac is the single vendor platform. So, other than the fact that it's completely opposite, you're right.
Last edited:
that's a negative ghost rider. Android is catching? LoL sorry but you are incorrect.
Money, Well it's not that because as I already shown that Apple is killing everyone in that area.
Apps Apple released the App store July 10, 2008. Google released the Android market October 22, 2008. It took Apple 16 months to get to 100,000 apps it took Android 24 months. At 24 months Apple had 225,000 apps. The last official word from Google is they have 150,000 apps. Theres estimate from a third party app tracking service that theres over 200,000 Android apps but until Google confirm it's just that an estimate. Apple has over 350,000 apps.
Downloads? Apple has had over 10 billion downloads Android has had 3 billion downloads.
So please tell me how Android catching up to iOS?
+1,000; Daniel Eran Dilger made a comprehensive blog post on the peculiar number-massaging that "analysts" use to predict how the Android Market Place will surpass the iOS App Store.
Re. developpers, here's what the boss of ROVIO (Angry Birds), someone who knows what he's talking about, has to say:
I don't care who has more apps, who generates more revenue, who has more developers, or who is "growing" faster, etc. What I DO care about is that when I go to look for an app, I can find a good, solid one (paid or free). For everything I would use on a regular basis, Android, WP7, BB, WebOS and iOS all do this just fine. So, one app store having 500K apps or one "only" having 10K, doesn't mean anything to me. They all have tons of crap in them, but they also all have 99% of what most people would really want to use on a regular basis.
On phones only. Which is irrelevant to this conversation. iOS is on more devices overall.
As an android user I could see myself agreeing with this, however, I believe (for me) both platforms did not offer free versions of apps that I truly wanted to use. Since Amazon App store has opened I've snagged some real nice free apps (free for a day). Obviously, this opinion is my own as others may find value in other free apps.
Your argument holds no water. Every statistic being published shows android increasing in market share at a double digit rate. Developers are not idiots, they see where the money is. If a platform has millions of users, that's a potential customer base they could tap. The android marketplace is growing and at some point will catch up to iOS
As for the free app argument, its not like developers are writing apps and not getting any money when they don't charge. Most of those free apps are ad based and maybe the money from the ads are not the same as a non free version but its still generating a cash flow for the developer. If it didn't they wouldn't take the time and effort to do it.
Yeah many of the android users do expect free apps there's nothing wrong with that. iOS is not immune to that mentality either. I see people complaining about not having a "lite" version of a $.99 app. So the sense of entitlement to free apps knows no platform boundary.
One thing that is holding me back from Android though is the various versions of operating system and the manufacturers + carriers reluctance to let users upgrade.
so do you code using features just in gingerbread or do you want sony xperia phones to work, you need to code to the lowest common denominator.
Some goes for apple's phone really, do you use just iPhone 4 capabilities or do you allow 3G / 3GS's ? although this isn't as bad as the Android platform due to the delvery method of OS upgrades through iTunes.
so do you code using features just in gingerbread or do you want sony xperia phones to work, you need to code to the lowest common denominator.
Some goes for apple's phone really, do you use just iPhone 4 capabilities or do you allow 3G / 3GS's ? although this isn't as bad as the Android platform due to the delvery method of OS upgrades through iTunes.
With google slowing the update pace, most phones are one one version of the OS, but you have a correct point where each carrier or phone maker as its own version of android. HTC, Moto, Samsung. Google is trying to control this but being that the OS is open source they have little leverage.
Personally, I like having a "google" phone, the Nexus one. I got updates fast and they were stable. Going to the Droid X, the update pace slowed to nearly a non existent pace and it was much buggier then I had with the stock OS.