Android App Store Makes 7% Of What Apple App Store™ Makes

[MrX8503]

The password thing is kinda annoying. However, once you enter it in, it'll keep you "logged" in for a little while so that you can buy another app without entering a pass again.

 

[Zaap]

and for getting low quality apps.

Okay, seriously, like what?
I keep hearing this as if some indisputable fact, but when asked for concrete examples I never seem to turn up much.

Of course there's a lot of crap in the Market, but then there's a lot of crap in the Appstore as well. When it comes to basic functions of the device that I actually need to have a better experience, I actually find that Android beats Apple hands down.

For example; on my Android phone, there's a literal ton of top notch keyboard replacements vs. none in the Appstore. I prefer the features of Thumb Keyboard- it sucks I can't get the same type of thing on my iOS devices.

I pointed out once before how Dropbox on my Android is uber-useful as for quick file transfer. The same app on my wife iPhone4 completely failed at the same task because there's no obvious way to get anything off Dropbox on the iPhone and into someone else's computer to quick-transfer a file.

Recently, I was texting with my Droid X during a meeting a work. An iPhone 4 owner told me every time he sends an SMS, an annoying whoosh sound is heard (pretty much signalling to everyone that you're texting when you probably shouldn't be) and he's found no way to turn it off other than silencing the whole phone. I was sure there had to be a setting to get rid of that. So far, none I or he knows of has emerged.

On Apple's support site, others complaining about the same thing conclude that "that's just the way it is, and so live with it." I'm thinking- how stupid is that? Apple gets to dictate that my phone makes noise when I send an SMS? Screw that. So then surely there must be tons of SMS-replacements on the Appstore, that replace the built-in SMS capability, therefore bypassing any negatives of the built-in? Humm... maybe I haven't looked hard enough, but I didn't find any when looking myself. On Android, I have any number of complete SMS replacement choices, many of them top quality, and free.

Media apps for video, photos and music- tons of free, top notch apps for Android- so many choices (and mostly free) I go back and forth between which to use at any given time just for the heck of it. iOS has a lot of choices too (less free, more paid last I looked) but it's not like Android is lacking.

Tons of free web browsers- I'm sure iOS has this also, but I find the choice is better on Android. These are all what I consider key features.

This is to say nothing of the fact that I consider any app to be of 'less quality' if it also doesn't feature a widget control interface to go with it, and notification control as well. Obviously I'm not getting that with iOS.

I also find I'm paying more often for the quality apps on iOS, vs. getting quality apps free on Android. Should I be wringing my hands that Google is just a little ma and pa setup that's going to go under because they're not getting enough of my money?

I'm sure some will mistake what I'm saying for saying the Appstore sucks- which of course I don't think is the case at all. I have a lot of high-quality apps on my iOS devices as well. There's just no shortage of quality on Android as many insist- I'm often picking between 6 or 7 high-rated choices of just about any useful tool or app I go to to look for on the Market.

It boils down to: no one really needs 100,000 apps on their phone or other mobile device. They likely need around 40 or so, and for those, there's plenty to choose from from either store with -like I pointed out above- quite a few advantages actually for Android.

Check the top of the Paid/Free app lists in both iOS and Android Market. For weeks/months on end for either, it's mostly the SAME APPS that top the charts. (Angry Birds, Fruit Ninja, Pandora, etc.) On the Android side, it's peppered with apps Apple would never allow like MP3 downloaders that actually work, Root/ROM/interface tools, etc.

Of the remaining 99,060 app choices that include a lot of crap on either platform, it really doesn't matter to most people.

 

[postmortemIA]

I like "free paid app of the day"... wouldn't you? You would if steve and co would offer something like that.

 

[Ns1]

I like "free paid app of the day"... wouldn't you? You would if steve and co would offer something like that.

Been dl'ing tons of free apps/sale apps since 3gs days..

 

[TuxDave]

Apps purchased from either the Android market or the Amazon Appstore will remain tied to your account forever and can always be downloaded again too. I think the only exception is if you were to download a free app, uninstall it, and it later becomes a paid app, you would then have to buy it. I've only seen this situation happen once (TouchPal Keyboard was free until the beginning of this month, but they announced that it would be going paid so I kept it despite not using it just in case a future update made it worth using).

One thing I find a little annoying about iOS (although I'll admit this is pretty nitpicky) is that you have to enter your password whenever you download any app, even a free one. That's been my experience using my dad's iPad, at least.

Also the free games on iOS are really really bad compared with free Android games. You're lucky to get an ad-supported trial version, and usually the trial will be so limited it's little more than a tech demo. Free Android games are much more complete. On the other hand, iOS has more and better high-end games. Android also has the problem of several games not having a free ad-supported version - I guess in some cases, developers make so much more from ad revenue than they do from selling the app that they don't even bother selling it.

Yeah Shorty mentioned Amazon's policy where app was tied to the account. I was just saying that the idea isn't exclusive to Amazon's android market. Although in regards to your paid thing, unless the developer decides to release a different app that's paid, if you get it for free and then it turns into a paid one, you can still redownload it for free.

I don't know what good free android games you've been playing. I just know that my standards have gone up where I kind of start skipping the free games to get to the good paid ones. (so little time, too many games)

I like "free paid app of the day"... wouldn't you? You would if steve and co would offer something like that.

While it's not an official app from Apple, it's definitely there.

 

[gorcorps]

I like "free paid app of the day"... wouldn't you? You would if steve and co would offer something like that.

Ignorance is bliss, isn't it? There was a "free app a day" app on the iphone before Amazon had an app store at all.

 

[Zaap]

Just to clarify, free 'paid' app a day? That gives away stuff like $20 QuickOffice that I'd have never paid for, but now have for free on my DX? (Best, fastest PDF reader I've seen on any mobile platform by the way.)

 

[Super56K]

Just wanted to toss in my 2 cents as well. The "free app a day" has been going on in the iOS world for several years now. You just need to download the "free app a day" app to point you to which ones are free so it's a little less obvious than Amazon. And once you "buy" it, it's linked to your account forever so if you want to delete it and get it again later, you will get it back for free. (iOS 5 made it a TON easier to find all the apps you own)

I'm a little more old school about it, but I generally hit up a few sites and threads I've marked that track price drops and limited time free apps. There's a lot of junk I won't bother getting, but I'm consistently adding new games for free and the occasional ones for $1-3. I bought a $50 iTunes gift card last Christmas for $40 and I still have close to $30 left on it. If something is well reviewed as far as general use apps then i don't see a problem paying a few dollars for it (Something like Tapatalk).

 

[badb0y]

Just to clarify, free 'paid' app a day? That gives away stuff like $20 QuickOffice that I'd have never paid for, but now have for free on my DX? (Best, fastest PDF reader I've seen on any mobile platform by the way.)

Those type of deals happen all the time on the AppStore. I don't know if it has ever happened with something that was $20 but it does happen with paid apps.

 

[QueBert]

I am not sure how this is a knock against Android. It would be like saying that Apple sold more copies of Lion than Ubuntu sold of 11.04. Are you apple boys proud of the fact that apple makes more money off of you, than google makes off of their users?

it's a knock against Android because it shows that Android users refuse to spend any money on the platform. 98% of Android apps downloaded are free, about 88% on iOS download are free. There's a 10% difference, BUT the number of free apps downloaded on iOS is greater than the number downloaded on Android. So more free apps are downloaded on iOS AND more are paid for, this one by a huuuuuge margin. The "Android has free apps!" argument would actually hold some weight if iOS users didn't download just as many free apps. There's this weird rumor non iOS people like to spread that iOS doesn't have any free apps. You can survive with an iPhone without buying a single app and you won't be left wanting anything. Well except Tasker, which isn't on iOS. But it's also not free.

Free apps = iOS
paid apps = iOS

Appstore had a free app a day, and they have a free song a day, but again Android users who have never touched iOS act like Amazon's free app a day is a death blow, even though the competition has the same thing + a free song.

 

[shortylickens]

it's a knock against Android because it shows that Android users refuse to spend any money on the platform. 98% of Android apps downloaded are free, about 88% on iOS download are free. There's a 10% difference, BUT the number of free apps downloaded on iOS is greater than the number downloaded on Android. So more free apps are downloaded on iOS AND more are paid for, this one by a huuuuuge margin. The "Android has free apps!" argument would actually hold some weight if iOS users didn't download just as many free apps. There's this weird rumor non iOS people like to spread that iOS doesn't have any free apps. You can survive with an iPhone without buying a single app and you won't be left wanting anything. Well except Tasker, which isn't on iOS. But it's also not free.

Free apps = iOS
paid apps = iOS

Appstore had a free app a day, and they have a free song a day, but again Android users who have never touched iOS act like Amazon's free app a day is a death blow, even though the competition has the same thing + a free song.

I had the iphone 4 and the ipad 2.
Your argument is null.
And if you shit on me it just solidifies the notion your argument is null.


Please lower the aggression level, Shortylickens. I posted up a request a dozen posts back that we be respectful and civil and I'm holding to it. If we can't rationally discuss this, then I'll lock the thread and I'll have an offline discussion in PM's with whomever makes me lock it.

Moderator PM

 

[TuxDave]

Just to clarify, free 'paid' app a day? That gives away stuff like $20 QuickOffice that I'd have never paid for, but now have for free on my DX? (Best, fastest PDF reader I've seen on any mobile platform by the way.)

Yes. Although I don't think I ever snagged a deal where a $20 app was free. The most expensive one I got for free (and was good) was a $5 game.

 

[TuxDave]

I'm a little more old school about it, but I generally hit up a few sites and threads I've marked that track price drops and limited time free apps. There's a lot of junk I won't bother getting, but I'm consistently adding new games for free and the occasional ones for $1-3. I bought a $50 iTunes gift card last Christmas for $40 and I still have close to $30 left on it. If something is well reviewed as far as general use apps then i don't see a problem paying a few dollars for it (Something like Tapatalk).

Nice, it's probably a good way to save money. I probably should go get Tapatalk seeing how much I surf these forums. If at mobi wasn't around, I'd probably already have it.

 

[senseamp]

and for getting low quality apps.

Not 93% lower quality

 

[Puddle Jumper]

it's a knock against Android because it shows that Android users refuse to spend any money on the platform. 98% of Android apps downloaded are free, about 88% on iOS download are free. There's a 10% difference, BUT the number of free apps downloaded on iOS is greater than the number downloaded on Android. So more free apps are downloaded on iOS AND more are paid for, this one by a huuuuuge margin. The "Android has free apps!" argument would actually hold some weight if iOS users didn't download just as many free apps. There's this weird rumor non iOS people like to spread that iOS doesn't have any free apps. You can survive with an iPhone without buying a single app and you won't be left wanting anything. Well except Tasker, which isn't on iOS. But it's also not free.

Free apps = iOS
paid apps = iOS

Appstore had a free app a day, and they have a free song a day, but again Android users who have never touched iOS act like Amazon's free app a day is a death blow, even though the competition has the same thing + a free song.

The Android Market has a free song a day too.

 

[Brian Stirling]

There is, I think, something of a demographic difference between iOS and Android users. I can't say with certainty but my own personal observation is that iPhone users tend to be older and that means two things: first, they tend to have more money and; two, they are less likely to have gone to college after file-sharing became the norm. Put these two things together and I think that probably explains some if not most of the difference.


Brian

 

[WelshBloke]

Okay, seriously, like what?
I keep hearing this as if some indisputable fact, but when asked for concrete examples I never seem to turn up much.

Of course there's a lot of crap in the Market, but then there's a lot of crap in the Appstore as well. When it comes to basic functions of the device that I actually need to have a better experience, I actually find that Android beats Apple hands down.

For example; on my Android phone, there's a literal ton of top notch keyboard replacements vs. none in the Appstore. I prefer the features of Thumb Keyboard- it sucks I can't get the same type of thing on my iOS devices.

I pointed out once before how Dropbox on my Android is uber-useful as for quick file transfer. The same app on my wife iPhone4 completely failed at the same task because there's no obvious way to get anything off Dropbox on the iPhone and into someone else's computer to quick-transfer a file.

Recently, I was texting with my Droid X during a meeting a work. An iPhone 4 owner told me every time he sends an SMS, an annoying whoosh sound is heard (pretty much signalling to everyone that you're texting when you probably shouldn't be) and he's found no way to turn it off other than silencing the whole phone. I was sure there had to be a setting to get rid of that. So far, none I or he knows of has emerged.

On Apple's support site, others complaining about the same thing conclude that "that's just the way it is, and so live with it." I'm thinking- how stupid is that? Apple gets to dictate that my phone makes noise when I send an SMS? Screw that. So then surely there must be tons of SMS-replacements on the Appstore, that replace the built-in SMS capability, therefore bypassing any negatives of the built-in? Humm... maybe I haven't looked hard enough, but I didn't find any when looking myself. On Android, I have any number of complete SMS replacement choices, many of them top quality, and free.

Media apps for video, photos and music- tons of free, top notch apps for Android- so many choices (and mostly free) I go back and forth between which to use at any given time just for the heck of it. iOS has a lot of choices too (less free, more paid last I looked) but it's not like Android is lacking.

Tons of free web browsers- I'm sure iOS has this also, but I find the choice is better on Android. These are all what I consider key features.

This is to say nothing of the fact that I consider any app to be of 'less quality' if it also doesn't feature a widget control interface to go with it, and notification control as well. Obviously I'm not getting that with iOS.

I also find I'm paying more often for the quality apps on iOS, vs. getting quality apps free on Android. Should I be wringing my hands that Google is just a little ma and pa setup that's going to go under because they're not getting enough of my money?

I'm sure some will mistake what I'm saying for saying the Appstore sucks- which of course I don't think is the case at all. I have a lot of high-quality apps on my iOS devices as well. There's just no shortage of quality on Android as many insist- I'm often picking between 6 or 7 high-rated choices of just about any useful tool or app I go to to look for on the Market.

It boils down to: no one really needs 100,000 apps on their phone or other mobile device. They likely need around 40 or so, and for those, there's plenty to choose from from either store with -like I pointed out above- quite a few advantages actually for Android.

Check the top of the Paid/Free app lists in both iOS and Android Market. For weeks/months on end for either, it's mostly the SAME APPS that top the charts. (Angry Birds, Fruit Ninja, Pandora, etc.) On the Android side, it's peppered with apps Apple would never allow like MP3 downloaders that actually work, Root/ROM/interface tools, etc.

Of the remaining 99,060 app choices that include a lot of crap on either platform, it really doesn't matter to most people.

Good post. I think I'd miss my choice of email/messenger clients. I like to use pure messenger widget to display all my emails, txts, selected facebook and twitter feeds in one scrollable list on my homepage. I guess I wouldn't have a choice of this with iOS?

 

[bonkers325]

it's a knock against Android because it shows that Android users refuse to spend any money on the platform. 98% of Android apps downloaded are free, about 88% on iOS download are free. There's a 10% difference, BUT the number of free apps downloaded on iOS is greater than the number downloaded on Android. So more free apps are downloaded on iOS AND more are paid for, this one by a huuuuuge margin. The "Android has free apps!" argument would actually hold some weight if iOS users didn't download just as many free apps. There's this weird rumor non iOS people like to spread that iOS doesn't have any free apps. You can survive with an iPhone without buying a single app and you won't be left wanting anything. Well except Tasker, which isn't on iOS. But it's also not free.

Free apps = iOS
paid apps = iOS

Appstore had a free app a day, and they have a free song a day, but again Android users who have never touched iOS act like Amazon's free app a day is a death blow, even though the competition has the same thing + a free song.

The developers make money on apps, ad supported or not. The ad supported model works well if you can put out a quality app (see angry birds).

Sent from my BNTV250 using Tapatalk

 

[akugami]

so Apple App users are generally less-informed and more willing to spend cash on garbage apps than Android users are? Color me shocked.

People are willing to believe anecdotes as facts because they read it on the internet? Color me shocked.


Infraction for thread crapping
There are at least four warnings in this thread against trolling and thread crapping, and I'm not sure how you could miss them, Akugami. And if you did see them, I'm not sure how you'd post this.


And, locking the thread - as I warned that I would do. There were several good posts in this thread, and then there's a whole lot of pointless sniping back and forth. We have these Apple vs. iOS threads all the time, and a couple of users have complained about them - but the truth is that I know that I personally learn stuff from them. For instance I had no idea that there were free paid-app-of-the-day on iTunes, and I also didn't know that there was a free song-of-the-day on Amazon. So there's useful stuff, and then there's a bunch of bickering. I'm locking this because 3 warnings and 2 infractions in 69 posts is enough.

Moderator PM

 

[purbeast0]

as i've stated before, i have 4 apps on the app stores on both iOS and Android.

i've made probably 3-4x more on the iOS store than Android store. (the apps were 99 cents each)

2 of my apps were free for a period of time with ads, on both Android and iOS.

i made about 30x more on iOS ads than Android ads in that time period.

again, very anecdotal evidence of my own experience, but from my own personal experience of having 4 apps on each store, iOS is MUCH more lucrative.