Google’s Android platform may be growing at breakneck speed, but developers for Android Market still have a number of gripes that need to be ironed out before the application store can rank alongside Apple’s pioneering App Store. That’s the conclusion of a recent report from Open-First, which saw Android developers express unhappiness about the support they are receiving, how hard it is for customers to find their application in the store, and in total revenue earned.
Open-First surveyed over one hundred Android Market publishers across Europe, Asia and America between July 15 and August 20 this summer. The majority of 110 respondents (49 percent) said they are earning less than expected on Android Market, and blame it on both the way the marketplace works and the general attitude of Android users.
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“In particular, developers seem to think that the lack of quality controls causes the market to be cluttered with low quality apps while no visibility options are given to high quality apps,” notes the report. “Developers are also unhappy with the rating system for apps in Android Market and some feel like very little explanation is given as to how this system works. Software privacy and the fact that Android users are not willing to pay a lot for apps (especially if compared to iPhone users) makes it also hard for developers to cover the costs of developing high quality apps that cannot be charged as much as they should because of the competition of worse, low cost apps. Frequent comparisons are made with the Apple app market. Developers selling the same application in both markets seem to be making more money in the Apple AppStore.”
Interestingly, 27 percent of respondents said they are making more money than they thought they would make. Those who are happy with their sales said they didn’t expect their application to be so popular and to have so many downloads. One developer ascribes this to the growing popularity of Android.
Strengthening the argument it’s not all doom and gloom for Android developers, Open-First stresses that Google’s developers are much happier than those in an earlier survey using Nokia’s Ovi Store. “Google has done many things well and developers are generally happy with the way the store functions, happy with the app submissions process, and with the reports they receive from Google,” clarifies Open-First. “As a result, Android is second only to Apple in total applications and in the number of active developers.”
Indeed, it seems that if Google can address issues that would quickly increase the success of top developers in building and selling applications to Android users, developer focus on Android would surge. “Currently mindshare of even these top developers is shared with Apple,” notes Open-First. It would also encourage more of the top developers from other platforms to move to Android rather than iPhone.
“A dramatic change in the way Google highlights its best developers and applications is needed for Android Marketplace to achieve the level of satisfaction that top iPhone developers feel toward the Apple App Store,” concludes the report. “Improvements in developer support and communication are also needed if Android Marketplace will replace Apple’s App Store as the top mobile applications marketplace.”
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