Android Market Vs. Apple App Store

There was a time when we assumed that no mobile app store would be good enough to beat the Apple App Store. Then along came the Android Market, which got off to a sluggish start. Now, with the explosive growth of Android apps, experts aver that the Android Market will soon supersede the Apple App Store.

The Android Market has made remarkable progress with as many as 28,000 new apps in April, 2011, as against the App Store’s 11,000. Analysts now think that Android would be able to surpass Apple by mid-2011.

Here are reasons why the Android Market may have a clear advantage as against the Apple App Store:

Easier to Enter the Android Market

Apple has been known for their extremely stringent rules and regulations for developers desiring to get an app into their App Store. Though they did revise their Developer License Agreement, developers still find it difficult to get their apps approved in the App Store.

Besides this, Apple is not always consistent with their rules and regulations and there are several gray areas as regards app submission to the App Store.

The Android Market, on the other hand, has chalked out clear rules and regulations for app submission and most of these rules are standard and go easy on the censorship issue as well.

Android Market Friendlier

Getting app store approval is an app developer’s dream. Creating an app can be a highly complicated process – the developer spends months working on it. Apple, many developers feel, adopts an unfriendly attitude towards them, curbing their creativity. The company even sets rules on the development tools to be used to develop apps for the Apple iOS.

The Android developer, on the other hand, faces so such opposition for app submission to the Android Market. Openness is the key here and app quality is of utmost importance.

More the Merrier

The Android Market has a simple philosophy – the more the users of their platform and the apps available for the mobile platform, the more money it has the potential to generate.
Picking up gradually, the Android OS has now emerged as the favorite of the masses. Android devices are much more desirable than Apple ones. Correspondingly, Android apps are increasing in number as well.

Android Payment System to Improve

Presently, the biggest problem with the Android Market is that there is only one way to pay for apps – via Google Checkout. But that is expected to change soon, as Google is already planning to create a better user environment, giving both the developer and customer more payment and transaction options.

In-App Advertising

It is a known fact that the Android Market has a much higher number of free apps than the Apple App Store. However, that in no way implies that developers cannot earn with their free apps.
Developers earn a decent amount of money by means of in-app advertising. Google plans to introduce a feature whereby users can make purchases from within apps, thereby generating more revenue for the Android developer.

Conclusion

In conclusion, though the App Store has, at present, about 3 times the number of apps in the Android Market, the latter’s growth definitely deserves mention. We may well be at the threshold of major changes as regards the mobile app stores scene.