Android App Quality Pathetically Low Says Developer

Hugh Pickens writes "Christopher Mims writes at MIT Technology Review that Mika Mobile, developer of Battleheart, a big hit on both the iOS and Android platforms, says that 'a polished, high quality product is more likely to be embraced on Android than on iOS because the quality bar on the android market is so pathetically low.' Evidence to that effect comes from the fact that 'on iOS, user reviews for Battleheart average 4.5 stars (4000 total ratings), which is quite good. On Android it's a stunning 4.8, with 1000 ratings,' writes the developer. 'So not only is it reviewed more highly, it's also reviewed more often, with a huge percentage of android users taking the time to rate the app. I think the lack of competition makes quality apps really stand out, and generates a lot of enthusiasm from app-starved android users." Mika Mobile adds that the most frustrating part about developing for Android is dealing with the deluge of support e-mail, most of which is related to download and installation problems which have nothing to do with the app itself, and everything to do with the Android OS and market having innate technical problems. 'Do some googling for "can't download apps from android market" or similar wording, and you'll see that this is a widespread chronic issue for all devices and all OS versions,' writes the developer. 'Based on the amount of e-mails I get every day, download problems effect 1-2% of all buyers, or in more practical terms, somewhere between two and three s**t-loads.'"

Comments

99% of everything is crap, says everyone

[elrous0]

In other news:

• Film director reports that most movies suck ass.
• Musician reports that most music is subpar at best.
• Writer reports that most writers are not all that, much less a bag of chips.
• Person reports that most people are boring dipshits.
• Slashdot poster reports that most Slashdot comments are garbage, just fucking garbage.

Stay tuned for tomorrow's report: "Everything Was Better When I Was Younger, Reports Random Asshole on Street"

Re:99% of everything is crap, says everyone

[elrous0]

"Scientists Discover Onion Writer Who's Not Obnoxious, Cynical Prick"

"We were are surprised as everyone else," says lead scientist.

Re:99% of everything is crap, says everyone

[Altus]

That is an understandable way to feel, but if you really think about the level of complexity, nothing a carpenter does is nearly as complex as most applications. If you thought of ever line of code as a single piece of clockwork connected with other pieces of clockwork, an average application would be a clockwork construction about the size of a tractor trailer. The level of complexity is actually kind of staggering when you think about it. I'm often amazed that software works as well as it does.

Title

[Ltap]

Android App Quality Pathetically Low SaysDeveloper

Title Quality Pathetically Low, Says Commenter.

Re:Uhhh...

[localman57]

when my iPhone friends play with my phone they are pretty much always impressed.

When your iPhone friends play with a block of wood, they're pretty much always impressed too. Don't give that too much weight.

Re:Really?

[jeremyp]

The article says he gets 80% of the revenue on Android that he gets on iTunes. On the assumption that the app is the same price on both platforms, and on the assumption that Google takes the same cut (30%) that Apple takes, he sells more iPhone copies than Android copies but nowhere near by a factor of four.

If Google takes a lesser cut he is probably selling more copies on Google.

However, I have just checked the game on iTunes and I see it currently has only 597 ratings for all versions of the game (453 for the current version). So I would think the blog post from which the 4,000 figure comes from has a typo in it.

Of course it is. And it's not just Android.

[thePowerOfGrayskull]

When you lower the barriers of entry sufficiently, you reap the rewards. All of the rewards. Not really news.

Re:Uhhh...

[jd2112]

when my iPhone friends play with my phone they are pretty much always impressed.

When your iPhone friends play with a block of wood, they're pretty much always impressed too. Don't give that too much weight.

Only if it has an Apple logo on it. Otherwise the fanbois will say that Apple could make superior wood blocks.

It's LOG!!

[Sectoid_Dev]

When your iPhone friends play with a block of wood, they're pretty much always impressed too. Don't give that too much weight.

What rolls down stairs
alone or in pairs,
and over your neighbor's dog?
What's great for a snack,
And fits on your back?
It's log, log, log

It's log, it's log,
It's big, it's heavy, it's wood.
It's log, it's log, it's better than bad, it's good."

Everyone wants a log
You're gonna love it, log
Come on and get your log
Everyone needs a log
log log log

*whistle*
LOG FROM BLAMMO

Re:Uhhh...

[rwven]

How is 4.8 vs 4.5 all that much of a difference? If android had just as many reviews, it could easily drop that .3 stars and be just as equally rated as the iphone version.

When apps on Android ARE truly lower quality than their iphone counterparts, it's usually because the developers saw android as a lower priority and only put a half-effort into developing the app. When i see this it seriously annoys the heck out of me. Tap Tap Revenge is a prime example of a pretty solid app on iOS that is a total piece of crap on Android, directly through the fault of the developer.

Also, the news item can't make up its mind what it's about. Are the apps low quality or is the android platform?