Wednesday, July 14th, 2010
Android Market is playing catch up with Apple’s App Store, but it has a long way to go before reaching its number of downloads. However, in the included apps section, it seems to be performing pretty well, as experts estimate the Market could reach 100,000 apps this month.
Now it’s already reached over 90,000 and AndroLib estimated that over 15,000 applications have been added in June alone. No official figures have been released by Google just yet and we have to mention that usually releases of new Android phones increase app launches dramatically. Such a spike took place in November 2009, when Droid debuted.
Another spike went down in April/May, when Droid Incredible was launched and we expect the free HTC EVO 4G phones given by Google to developers at the I/O conference in May to have also contributed to the dev love. Meanwhile, the Apple App Store provides 255,000 apps, but this service’s growth is much slower, specially if you take into account that Android Market was at just 50,000 apps in April.
There’s also the appeal of more free apps for Android, compared to the iPhone…
[via electronista]
Posted in Android | View Comments
Thursday, May 20th, 2010
Believe it or not, it’s the applications that are eating out your battery life on the Android phone. At least so claims Larry Page, Google co-founder, who recently discussed this matter during the annual partner forum Google Zeitgeist. He considers the battery on Android devices “pretty good”.
Page mentioned that apps are causing problems with the longevity of the battery, specially those that run in the background. We guess he’s talking about stuff like social networking software and Maps applications. Google’s official said that if you’re not getting a full day of battery life, something’s wrong with the phone.
Larry also praised the people who create apps also taking into account energy consumption. In the end, he joked about offering a bigger battery to a discontent Android user in the public.
[via techradar]
Posted in Android, Google | View Comments
Wednesday, December 16th, 2009
The iPhone’s App Store should start to feel the strength of the Android platform soon, as the Android Market has just reached the 20,000 apps mark. AndroLib claims that the online store has doubled its size in the last five months, in spite of the fact that Google doesn’t disclose statistics regarding its service.
The statistics attached to this article will give you an idea on how things work with Android Market and prove that the platform is truly evolving. November was a bomb for new Android apps in the English language Android Market, also meaning a big gain month over month, thanks to Motorola Droid and its huge sales.
Right now, games stand for 15% of all apps in the Android Market, a bit like the App Store’s statistics, although the situation is different. As far as app distribution is concerned, 30% of the software has been downloaded less than 50 times and very few apps have been downloaded more than 250,000 times, showing the need for “hit apps” in the Android Market.
Things will get interesting in 2010, specially with the new Nexus One phone and the avalanche of Android smartphones coming. How long till it beats the App Store’s popularity?
[via mashable]
Posted in Android | View Comments
Friday, October 17th, 2008
While Apple admitted too little and too late when it comes to the iPhone’s kill switch, Google managed to do the same thing, but only before the launch of the device. That’s fair play from them and we even get a reason for this remote “destruction” of our Android apps: malicious software that can run loose on Android devices.
So, turns out that Google can remotely remove ANY app from your phone, in case it “violates the developer distribution agreement”. This is where Apple comes into play, as their app service allows you to preview software before installing it, unlike Google’s similar service, that may allow malicious software to sneak in.
Precaution comes first, even on the most open mobile OS to date, but can you blame Google for playing it safe?
[via the iPhone blog]
Posted in Android, Mobile Software | View Comments
