Google "not happy" with paid app sales, will make Market more like Apple App Store?
While sales of Android-powered phones are increasing, Android Market's paid app sales aren't keeping pace so an unhappy Google seems to be considering several very Apple App Store-style changes to help give things a jumpstart. Speaking to Forbes platform manager Eric Chu said these changes include in-app purchases. iPhone and iPad users have shown they'll often chafe at spending $1 to $10 on a game but will happily download a free game and then spend $10-$100+ dollars on in-app purchases to make their farms, castles, and mushroom homes look nicer.
Another change is the move to carrier billing since Google's own checkout system hasn't caught on and doesn't provide the international footprint of Apple's 90-country iTunes Store system. That's important to get more paid apps available in more countries.
The most interesting change, however, involves... wait for it... a type of curation:
Chu said there is a human team in charge of weeding out apps that violate Android Market’s terms of service. It sounds like Google is continuing to invest in that team.
While Apple does this in advance, rejecting apps that violate their guidelines before they hit the App Store, Google believes in a more open marketplace and so is handling violations after they hit the store. Whether that's better or worse for both developers and user experience is debatable. However, finding high quality, paid apps is apparently a big challenge amid a sea of keyboards, low-functionality apps, and other flotsam and jetsam.
With companies like Amazon and the carriers themselves preparing to launch competing Android marketplaces of their own, perhaps with higher levels of curation and easier checkout experiences, Google could be feeling the pressure. 10 billion apps downloaded later, could becoming more like Apple's App Store be the answer, or do you prefer having the option of another platform with a very different app ecosystem?
Editor-in-Chief of iMore, Executive Producer at Mobile Nations, co-host of Iterate and ZEN and TECH, cook, grappler, photon wrangler.
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I can find very few Android apps to buy, even though I know they are there. I think this is a problem on both the Apple and Android markets, but Android is way worse. Google is its on worse enemy on this point in that people on Android expect their apps to be free since Google provides their apps for free... and they tend to be the most 'killer' apps on the platform. I am switching to iPhone on Verizon for this very reason. Hopefully I can win the one from TiPb
I'm sorry but how do u feel Apple has the same problem??? The app store does a great job of letting u find paid and free apps. And if u still can't find it thru apple... Well we have apps for that also.
Sorry - typed that first response fast. I sound illiterate.
Don't be. I found your comment neutral. It's the reply to your comment that sounded irritating. And kindna like " only my opinion matters" like.
Hmmmmm ... perhaps someone should ask Mr Rubin, "Is Google a company that learns from it's mistakes?"
I am not about to dump my iPhone for a Droid, but the option of competing App Stores is very appealing. I would love to see Apple allow side-loading, bless a separate App Store, or even have a DANGER WILL ROBINSON - RESTRICTED section of their own App Store, even if they put in writing that installing anything from them immediately voids the warranty.
Curation can be good. Choice is good. A choice of curators, which is apparently the path Android is now taking, at first blush seems the best of both. (Insert obligatory anti-Android comment about carriers screwing it up.)
Sometimes the animosity between Android and Apple users gets out of hand and blinds people to the fact that each OS system has benefits and advantages which the other could imitate to make itself better.
I saw an interesting point. Does Google expect users that are buying based on price to spend money on apps when they can root and steal them?
I though I was on androidcentral for a second. I get a bit confused since every few posts are android related..whoops
I feel that some of the issue is that some android users feel they should have everything free. Plus the fact that paid apps aren't available in many locations.
Again, Google can't seem to come up with their own creative ideas. Then they act surprised when Apple applies for patents or sues them. I can't wait to see their android market fail once the iPhone becomes more readily available.
Why do you refer to it as the "Apple App Store" and not just the "App Store"?
Google doesn't care about paid apps in the Android Market. All they care about is delivering AdMob ads, whether through paid apps or ad-supported apps.
Yes, they seem to be taking steps to get rid of some of the crap in their market. But only to help improve Android's public image. Not to actually make paid apps more successful. I wonder if Apple's 10 billion app announcement had anything to do with this.
As far as finding apps .. both ANdroid Markets and the Apple App store are about the same. One advantage taht the Apple store has is Itunes on the desktop .. but to be honest Itunes is not easy to navigate ... THe advantage to Android is that there are third party apps that help you find Apps a lot easier like AppBrain or AppAware.
By the way .. after saying all that I don't think Keyboards are a bad thing. I don't know what that you meant by that comment RENE. Even when you make some good points .. you mess it up by saying something stupid .. KEYBOARDS ?? really .. those are valuable apps. I had Smart keyboard pro .. and it was beautiful.. Now I've switched to the gingerbread keyboard.. and there are some features I miss.
Appbrain? How is it an advantage if it doesn't work(hasn't worked since the update)? There are no advantages to the Android market. And yes KEYBOARDS as "apps" are laughable. Not a great selling point apparently. And how is it "advantageous" to HAVE to use a 3rd party app to navigate thru a native app? Genius. And both app stores are NOT the same. Take a trip to your android central site and read a few comments from your fellow android users. You might actually learn something about Android. Clearly you know very little.
@Chris
When did Apple sue Google?
I can always tell a Rene article when i read the title. There's always a hint of "we've better then you. Na na na na na naaa!" in the title.
I Agree @9th wonder .. There was one time where I didn't get that feeling .. and I was impressed by Rene .. but it turned out it was Georgia who wrote the article
yeah i had the same reaction upon reading an article. It was totally objective and devoid of snark and it had to double check the title. It wasn't Rene. lol.
He is totally committed to the cause.
Google, wow how far down you've come in the past couple of years...steal Oracle's java code to come up with Android and then copy Apple for everything else. Google is pathetic!
Pathetic and yet still pummeling iPhone in growth. So bad that Steve had to make a CDMA(dying technology) phone just to try and stem the tide. You sound as bad as Steve did when he was crying over Android last fall.
Growth?! Now that's a check I'd like to cash. Yes you've grown but you still have a lot more growing to do(like getting every new phone on the same OS version). Your charts and graphs and poor stat(300,000 android phones activated daily.....meaningless) haven't really garnered anything. No Android OS based phone has sold more than any iOS based phone. And no, Android has not out sold iOS(ya know....iPod touch, iPhone, iPad). iOS is not just the iPhone nor is Android just one phone. But you speak as if it is(most fanboys do). This notion of Android taking over the market is ridiculous. More like saturating the market with 3-tier leveled phones(low-end:G2, mid-level:myTouch 4G, high-end:EVO). That's not dominance. Just a numbers game. Oh, and a CDMA based iPhone will still out sell any Android phone. You are just lucky it took 4yrs to be released. Oh wait......there's a chart here somewhere.....give me a min....TBC
@DanTV ..
so did Apple copy Google when they decide to become a more laxed app store?
I will say that the Android market is tough to work with, but you can find what you are looking for. I think they should just try to change the interface for easier searching.