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Competition For the App Store Is Mounting
MojoKid writes "Right now the only real 'competition' to Apple's App Store is the Android Market. Presently, anyone using an Android-based phone can download applications from the Android Market, which first started offering free applications in October '08. A drawback to Android application developers, however, is the fact that the potential Android Market user base is fairly small right now, as there is presently only one Android phone available, the T-Mobile G1. However, in the coming months we're also going to see more app stores come online for additional smartphone platforms. Nokia will officially launch an app store for its Symbian OS-based smartphones at Mobile World Congress on Monday. Microsoft is also getting in the game for smartphones that run the Windows Mobile OS, with Steve Ballmer delivering the keynote speech at Mobile World Congress as well."
The company I work for launched a public beta of our third-party app store this week, called Xpressed (the site is brand new, so feedback is welcome). Unlike the app stores mentioned in this article, it's a true "third-party" app store meaning that we're unaffiliated with any device manufacturer or carrier, and so we plan to support any and all phones out on the market that allow applications to be downloaded and installed from non-proprietary websites. Right now this pretty much means most of the Java-based phones on the market (several hundred current phones, plus the hundreds more old and obsolete devices).
It will be interesting to see which model wins out after all of the industry players have their say in this growing application space - whether manufacturer-supported app stores (presumably) integrated with the devices themselves will continue to dominate, or whether third-party app stores like Xpressed will be able to find a footing, especially among developers targeting their apps across multiple platforms.
A drawback to Android application developers, however, is the fact that the potential Android Market user base is fairly small right now, as there is presently only one Android phone available, the T-Mobile G1.
No, there's only one iPhone too... the drawback is that no one wants a G1, because it's a cheep plasticy lump of crap.
And how long before the malware stores pop up for the unsuspecting?
That's at least one benefit to a manufacturer run app store.
The company announced some months ago its own version of the App Store for BlackBerry, the BlackBerry Application StoreFront
I can see MS making an app store, but the rub is to get people to be using Windows Mobile based smartphones. So, the key is to get Nokia, LG, and other cellphone makers who are using JVMs on their low end phones to move to WM as the OS of choice. These are the cellphones that people obtain for free with a one or two year service contract, such as Motorola RAZRs. The trick is to get the phones out there in volume. I don't know if this can be done, though.
Once WM is very common, as opposed to now where it pretty much is in a limited selection of phones, both Microsoft, and the WM app makers would benefit. Windows Mobile is a decent platform to write code on. It does require signed code for smartphones for the most part (less with PocketPC devices), but app makers can buy their own certificates and do the distribution themselves.
when I can just do an "apt-get install" to my smartphone.
I have been happy with my BlackBerry for years, and no, I have not been tempted by iPhone. As Android phones come of age and become competitive, however, I'm sure I'll give them a look.
I don't really have a dog in this fight - my brother owns an iPod Touch and I have a Blackberry Curve - but it doesn't seem to me that there's much competition on any front for Apple's App Store. For most of the smart phones I wouldn't even consider buying software (I don't think my Curve delivers an experience that I want - I would rather use other portable devices to do what software could do).
The one thing that may be able to mount a challenge is the DSi's app store - but here in Japan where the DSi is already out, I am not really getting the impression that it is a must have feature.
Until someone is even mildly successful in the area, no one competition is really "mounting" for the app store.
"There is no time, sir, at which ties do not matter," Jeeves, (Jeeves and the Impending Doom)
There is only one iPhone, but App developers haven't stopped producing. I like the G1 better than the iPhone since it includes a slide-out keyboard and still packs in all the other features of an iPhone. Once the G1 has been around for longer and Android gets more market share I expect the Android Market to go head to head with the App Store.
A slip of the foot you may soon recover, but a slip of the tongue you may never get over. -Benjamin Franklin
I don't see why companies even bother. In the US, Apple completely dominates the market, forcing Blackberry and Windows Mobile to be bit players at best. Outside the US, it it just a matter of time before Symbian and other platforms join PalmOS as interesting historical tidbits.
Its just like the MP3 player market. There is the iPod with almost all the market. Then there are players fighting for the scraps Apple left behind.
and will fail, because, unlike iPhone, there are no support of that app store in current firmwares.
Did Ballmer throw any wheelchairs?
The Android store and the App Store at the moment serve two different markets. Android phone users and IPhone users. The store that the user would choose is determined by the phone in posession. Since neither store can offer anything to users of the other kind of phone the title is misleading, or at least premature.
A drawback to Android application developers, however, is the fact that the potential Android Market user base is fairly small right now, as there is presently only one Android phone available, the T-Mobile G1.
You mean as opposed to the several dozen different phones Apple has on the market? Way to end a horribly fragmented run-on sentence with a cringe inducing logical fallacy, buddy.
The reason why the App Store has taken off so phenomenally is because they handle commercial applications. This means that any geek who can knock together a mobile application is tempted to do so by potential profits. Think about it, write an app, get it approved, and then instantly make it available to millions of iPhone users who are only a click away from paying you. That's a huge advantage for Apple - because those geeks will be writing their applications for the iPhone and not the other platforms. This is why there are so many applications for the iPhone already. Apple were really smart here. If you look at the numbers, there are more 99c applications than free applications, and taken as a whole, free applications are a minority.
Android Market is soon going to be rolling out support for paid applications in much the same way as the App Store. Once this happens, you'll see a similar surge in the number of applications available for Android. It won't be as pronounced as the App Store's curve, because Apple have a head-start now, but it will certainly put Android in the game. Although the iPhone has the client numbers, Android has the developer numbers simply because you don't need a Mac to develop Android applications.
Bogtha Bogtha Bogtha
While the app store is a good thing, it's slightly overrated. Unless you consider a "farting" app the pinnacle of mobile development.
The worst of these is Windows constant delivery of messages to the user. On a desktop the "you have unused desktop icons" bubble is annoying - on a Windows mobile device, a bubble that takes the user focus away from, say
is a serious barrier to usage.
The other thing that finally caused me to switch to a Crackberry (which is fantastic) was that it would crash on receiving a call occasionally - brilliant. It was the HTC Tytan if anybody cares.
-- For evil to triumph it is enough that good men do nothing.
I am hesitant to download free stuff to me mobile that hasn't been checked for malware. It would be wise to require some modicum of accountability from the developers whose app you sell - if you were to spread malware you'd face on huge PR storm..
Stop the brainwash
Uh, I hate to break it to the detractors of the Android Market, but the Apple app store applies to only one phone as well. And while the iPhone IS the New Hotness status symbol and so forth, there are still a hundred and one Razr/Blackberry/HTC/Envy/Blackjack owners for a single iPhone owner. Despite its popularity, the iPhone is far from ubiquitous.
I can't believe no one else is talking about this. The iPhone App Store is anti-competitive. You can only sell iPhone Apps through it alone. That's bad for developers and bad for consumers. Apple has already abused it's monopoly position by not allowing certain apps that compete with their offerings. This is dramatically different than their Music store/ipod model because you can buy music from anywhere so long as it is DRM-Free. This is not the case with the App Store. Buy from Apple or not at all.
I've given up on Slashdot's comment scores.
I'm sorry, you can buy iPhone apps on the Android Market? Don't be stupid. That means there is ZERO COMPETITION.
The advantage of the Apple Store, though, is exactly what most people complain about. Apple vets the software, which means that iPhone users are limited on choice, but have a sense of security. It is unlikely that Apple would let, for instance, malware appear on the store.
The problem is if the other stores allow anything on the store, then the security is gone. Since there is not that level of customer service, the stores are not the same. In fact, I don't think we need any new stores or sites at all, especially for android. What I would trust most are OSS applications on something like sourceforge. I don't download unknown applications for my computer, why would I do so for my phone.
"She's a scientist and a lesbian. She's not going to let it slide." Orphan Black
I'm interested what the policies are on all the different app stores. I know everyone here hates Apple's restrictive policies, but I do appreciate how I can download any app from their app store and not worry about it breaking my iphone, spreading viruses, changing system defaults, or worse (like stealing passwords).
What approval processes and policies do these other stores have?
The App Store is the most important thing the iPhone has going for it. I have a Blackberry through work and enjoy using it (because it's free!), but getting apps is such a pain in the ass that the only thing I've installed is the Google package.
It would be nice if desktop OSes had an easy way to find and install new programs as well. Oh wait ... BSD and Linux do have such a place! How has Apple not jumped on that?
No sig for you. YOU GET NO SIG!
The Android Marketplace experience from the phone is really slick. However, there is no way to access it from the Internet. I released a really small free app called "That's not Funny" (check it out).
no surprises here, please move along
Android / Google phone is a failure...as a hardware platform or a software platform which is reasonably open.
The T Mobile G1 phone is a substandard piece of plastic lacking finish. Better handsets need to appear.
For a phone / phone software to get popular, the most important factor is not jailbreaking, but unlocking the phone to use with different carriers (iPhone is a good example.) The G1 phone has crazy restrictions for it to work on a non TMobile network.
I purchased a G1 handset and paid to get it unlocked. Even after unlocking, the phone will work only if it is authorized on Google Servers with a Google account. That happens only through a T Mobile G1 data plan. (Some forums say you can put an AT&T SIM card with a data plan and it will authorize G1, but that did not work for me.)
I sold the handset. Many like myself are not going to look at a G1 phone or its variants from TMobile again.
"Android Market" sure has a nice ring to it. Like something out of Philip K Dick. Or early Star Wars, come to think of it.
I love how optimistic these stories always are... Such a romantic bunch, thinking everything that comes down the pike is going to knock Apple off of it's current perch.
Fiat Homos et Pereat Theos
who could have predicted that. You can put your troll rants in any story now it seems..
Jailbreaking which even the Woz says is cool. That opens Cydia to you which kills the app store in just about every way- including the install procedure. Apt-get = yes.
quis custodiet ipsos custodes