Android Apps vs. iPhone Apps

[Fad3c]

Why is it that apps for Androids are so far behind iphone?
From what I saw it was 200,000 to 65,000 for the iPhone.
Everytime you se a commercial the 9/10 time promote iPhone apps.
I do understand, that the iPhone has been around longer, but it seems for every Droid app there are 2 or 3 iPhone apps.

 

[Bnice]

Where did you see this? Android is second behind apple when it comes to apps.Its anywhere from 150,000 to 200,000 depending on who you is doing the research.

 

[EarlyMon]

I think your info is dated. At this point, it's more like 300+ k apps for the iPhone, 150+ k for Android.

Many of the differences are games, duplicates and apps that Android 2.2 and above will never need - specialized login apps for those whose industries have Flash-based web tools, for example.

Within a few months from today, to the time of your data, the App Store will have increased about 70%, while the Android Market will have increased by a factor of 3.

At that rate, expect Android to catch or surpass the App Store very quickly.

As I personally only have just under a hundred apps, I don't see the importance of this metric anyway.

It's the same comparison that's trotted out for every operating system, and it has nothing to do with app quality or in getting the operating system and apps that are right for you.

Big numbers imply an operating system can do everything -- and that's simply an urban myth.

 

[Fad3c]

I get that it is still the fact that apps come out first for the iPhone*. Quantity is not always qualitiy, thats for sure.

* or is it just that aplle has a better marketing then droid/google does?

 

[HustlinDaily]

Last I checked, they don't have:
-Adobe Flash (and they will never have it)
-Google Navigation (they have navi apps but they cost $)
-Swype (can't live without it)
-Full Tilt Rush Poker (or any real money poker for that matter)
-Any apps with widgets (ie Beautiful Widgets)
-Any home replacement (ie LauncherPro)
Probably a bunch more I am missing

Quality is much more important to me than quantity.

 

[shawnshack]

Outside of words with friends, I'm not lacking any of the apps that I had on my iPhone vs my android phone I currently have. Some of the apps need some improvement (i.e. Facebook). But it took a couple years of updates to get something good for the iPhone from facebook, so hopefully a couple more updates to their android app and we will have a better app. Both apple and android have some silly apps, but I'd say iPhone has a lot more, that's where they are beating the market in apps. But with Android we make up a lot of ground in solid usable apps that allow us to customize our phones (calendars, sms, email, etc...in other words, the important stuff).

 

[EarlyMon]

Until recently, the iPhone had the undisputed market share.

There's a profit motive for making most apps, so you always go with the largest first.

Recent market share data - and I mean recent - shows parity now with Android and iPhones, but in reality, the super Android handset numbers are still just a bit behind Apples.

The growth curves say it all - iPhone's growth seems to have clearly leveled out, while Android's growth continues unabated.

When there's no doubt to the developers that the Android has the greater profit opportunity, then that will switch around and apps will come out for Android first.

This has nothing to do with what's better or any other fanatical arguments - this is really simple economics.

As for capability, the existing iPhone platform has a slower processor and less capable multitasking system than Android, while providing higher resolution on a smaller screen (that I personally still don't get the point of).

Android's operating system speed and stability continues to improve as does its reach with a broader range of higher powered processors - and this next 12 to 14 months will show revolutions in cell phone display technologies of benefit to both camps.

So - the platform and hardware aren't driving this - it's economics.

And I've no doubt that the quality apps will always be available to both platforms.

Quality doesn't stop at the development crowd, it permeates an organization, and no quality software firm will leave either platform's profits laying behind on the table.

 

[Fad3c]

The growth curves say it all - iPhone's growth seems to have clearly leveled out, while Android's growth continues unabated.

I really don't mean to piss poeple off. Nore am I the glass is 1/2 empty kinda guy. But, now with Veerizon offering the iPhone don't you think the curve will go back up. There are alot of poeple me included that were going to leave Verizon to get the iPhone. (Now I didn't I went and got a Droid. I sure hope it was not a mistake) The only thing that keept me with Verizon was there coverage and plans that they offered.

 

[EarlyMon]

We don't know either way how Verizon's iPhone offering will affect things - in this same quarter, newer more powerful phones are coming to Verizon for Android and it will take another quarter after that before the insiders leak the for-pay data from within the industry, and another month for us to sort out the blogster's failures at repackaging that data into some truth.

Then, actual analysis will have to come out showing how many Verizon iPhone users are actually new and how many jumped ship because they hated AT&T (this is already fitting over a 15 of the 20 iPhone users I talk to regularly about this sort of thing - don't imply a statistic from that - it's just an example that such a factor must exist). And all parties involved will lying like crazy to save face - it's just what they do.

I think the iPhone coming to Verizon is a great thing. There's no such thing as the perfect phone, if there were, we'd all buy it. This now gives a non-AT&T option for those with the iPhone preference.

And - this isn't a closed ecosystem.

Where did the iPhone users come from in the first place? From dissatisfied users (and potential shoppers holding back from) BlackBerry, Symbian, Winphone and Nokia users, that's where.

Last year, BlackBerry's share was a steady, high line, well above the iPhone. As Android has grown phenomenally, that BB line has dropped like a rock.

With Google's hard push this year to get way cheap handset out there based on the new semiconductor technologies able to support advanced Android abilities, Symbian is next.

Here's the sure-fire way to solve the whole Android vs. iPhone debate:

1. Choose the carrier that's right for you, first and foremost (and you and I both did that)
2. Ignore all arguments of whose dad can beat up whose dad
3. Choose the right smartphone for your needs
4. Be happy and make the most of your choice

The world would be a boring place if we all thought the same way and bought the same swag.

Every day our forum gains people who swear they'll never use an iPhone again and is exited by people who swear they'll never use an Android again.

We're consumers, it's not Android against iPhone, it's us folks against the manufacturers. If we stick together and demand quality and capability, then the healthy competition in the marketplace fosters improved products.

It's still all simple economics here.

PS - to get a post deleted when a mod isn't around, just hit that !Report button to the left of your post and say, "delete request" - that'll make it happen.

 

[LoyalServant]

If you mean Apple having the iPhone on Verizon as a way to pad it's numbers then yeah.
All the AT&T iPhone users have to buy yet another iPhone.
That means sales... and right now Apple is more interested in keeping that sales number up.

 

[EarlyMon]

If you mean Apple having the iPhone on Verizon as a way to pad it's numbers then yeah.
All the AT&T iPhone users have to buy yet another iPhone.
That means sales... and right now Apple is more interested in keeping that sales number up.

And that's why it takes time and analysis to understand the numbers.

We may expect to see an increase in sales of iPhones because it's new to Verizon. But it will take time to see if those were conversions and market share stayed level or if that will translate into market share growth.

The truth will come out, but it takes time.

Substitute any phone model above for iPhone and any carrier name for Verizon and the above statement I've made will still be true.

 

[Fad3c]

PS - to get a post deleted when a mod isn't around, just hit that !Report button to the left of your post and say, "delete request" - that'll make it happen.

Thank you so much.

The thing I guess for me is that I am around alot of guys at work that live MAC. It only make sence that the only word out of there mouth is iPhone here iPhone. I agree Apple have a nice little corner of the pie with beeing really the first one out there to offer iTunes ot anything that even comes close to bringing music together. I know or better I am sure there are or were otheres before iTunes, but everyone knows iTunes. So by saying this I am awnsering my own question and feel like a todall dummy here. Tehy have been around longer so no wonder everything is first for the iPhone.

That still doesen't explain the Androids marked lack of advertising or better promoting there apps. Unlike Apple does.

 

[EarlyMon]

No feeling bad about it allowed.

Ah - advertising. Now you're nailing it right on the head!

Apple is a hardware company. Never forget that. Their software is pretty great - but that software exists for one reason and one reason only - as accessories to sell their hardware. And by software, I mean operating systems, applications, music, movies and tv shows.(*) And they sell those accessories very well and those accessories sales drive hardware sales.

And that's an easy deal to advertise.

Now what business is Google in? Android is open source - you or I can go download all of their source code and use it to heart's content, never paying them a dime.

So while we (me especially) all like to say that Google is a software company (that's completely true) they are in the business of giving that software away to sell advertising.

What software does Google have in the works? Well - strong rumors and reports persist that Google will be opening a media store to go with Android. Again an accessory to sell the Android phone that sells advertising.

And when that happens, who do you think will advertise this more heavily? Google or Sprint, for example?

Apple - buys advertising.

Google - makes money on advertising.

Again - it's all about the economics.

Think of the iPhone as the Ford Model T (and I've driven T Models and recognize their engineering excellence). But the iPhone and the T Model are alike in that they were the first in their field, everyone bought one and loved it, and you could have it in any color you wanted so long as it was black.

Android give all sorts of variety by hardware and software and you can customize it all you want to make it yours.

The T Model is no more, but Ford Motor is still around - surviving because they finally understood the demand for variety.

There will always be an Apple cell phone, but the days of the Model T are gone now, Apple's simply not there yet today.

~~~
(*) Little known fun fact - the Video Software Dealers Association shows by its name what they've called rented movies for years: software. And that industry has been calling it that since the earliest VHS days. I asked one of them why it was called software - the logical reply: your hardware is useless without it.

 

[uzetaab]

Lets not forget that while this Verison launch will have an effect on the smart phone industry & iphone sales, they are just one carrier. How many phone carriers around the world do you think carry smart phones? 100? 200?

BTW, I totally agree with Early Mon about his short guide to buying a smart phone. As much as many of us here love to hate the iphone as the enemy, the truth is that it is a brilliant phone. It's just not the only brilliant phone.

 

[Fad3c]

How many phone carriers around the world do you think carry smart phones? 100? 200?

You are right,there are a bunch of carriers Ithe only ones that I am conceraned about are the ones that are in the US beeing that that is the place i call home.
Not to be disrespectful about it.

 

[EarlyMon]

I don't think either party intends disrespect.

On the point of economics, Verizon is but one of many affecting numbers - I think that's an honest addition to the discussion.

On the point of choosing a smartphone in the US, other factors are at play.

There's room for everybuddy.

 

[mrspeedmaster]

I get that it is still the fact that apps come out first for the iPhone*. Quantity is not always qualitiy, thats for sure.

* or is it just that aplle has a better marketing then droid/google does?

Well,
The quality of the apps is what matters.

And in my opinion (note, I say my opinion), the apps on iOS are better.
This is based of my case usage. It will differ from person to person.

Also, app discovery on Android pretty much sucks. I'm constantly shifting through a lot of ring-tones, wallpapers, and chinese anime art when I'm on the Android marketplace. On the Apple App Store, it is easier to find what you want without finding un-related stuff. There is a lot of "keyword" manipulation on Google marketplace that brings up the cheezy ringtones and wallpapers that are littered through my searches.

Back to case usage. I said the iOS apps tend to be better because they seem to utilize the full extent of the hardware. There are lots of photoapps on the iPhone that are insanely awesome like hisptamatic, tilt shift apps. There are apps like 8mm like let me shoot video like an old 16mm film camera with flicker, vignetting and hi-res effects. There are apps that let me color grade video like a $600 Final Cut Pro plugin for $2. Case in point CinemaFX. All these apps are like $2 and mind-blowingly cool. You may not care about it but I do. At $2, they're addictive. There simply is no Android apps that even close to my case usage. I also do a lot of networking and server administration and again, the choices are much better on iOS. I manage a cloud of UNIX servers and the apps work for my type of employment.

There are some good apps on Android but come to think of it, I can't really think of any that stands out besides rooting my phone and having wifi-tether, busybox, and a Mac Classic Emulator (vMac that I sideloaded). I could jailbreak my iOS devices and have the same thing but I care not to.

Having both devices. I spent a total of $30 tops on Android (Chumby, a mySQL client, and some camera app, I can't remember). On IOS, I've spent over $300 on iOS apps. Again, this is just based of my case usage. Everyone differs. App discovery is so much easier on iOS. A lot of those purchases were impulses based on deal-of-days or feature of the week. I got all the Need for speed 3d, EA games for $1 when they're on sale. And $2 for a high-end video editing app makes it so impulsive. When 8mm was a featured app of the week was $2, I gather about 40-50 people in my office all jumped on that.

I'm sure someone can compile a list of Android killer apps and that would be cool. I'm open to spending money for quality apps and so far, I haven't found anything that makes me want to spend any money on Android apps. Chumby ($4.99) was my most expensive purchase. I'd spend $10 for a killer game like Infinity Blade. I'd spend $5 for any app on Android that allows me to use my phone as a real Camera meter. Heck, I'd spend up to $50 for an iMovie equivalent on Android. I'm sure there are others like me and we are just waiting for the devs to deliver.

 

[EarlyMon]

The one case where I might claim an app superiority from firsthand knowledge (at the time that that several of us checked) was the Google Gesture Search.

Many find it a toy, but if you have a large contact list as I do, I can find things uber quick that way, using my finger like a crayon to spell out names and hitting call, in a hurry.

The similar iPhone apps did not compare in ease of use and capability, at that time (last what? summer? I dunno - just trying to give equal time in case it changed).

I'd also like to rebut with a your-mileage-may-vary case. A buddy and I both use Mac minis for our HTPCs. He was lamenting the pain of using the mouse and keyboard (we both started that way), so I showed him RemoteDroid. We immediately went on-line and he searched and we looked for equivalents. He found an AirMouse - uses the iPhone sensors so you actually wave your phone in the air to move the cursor. He paid (I think) maybe $5, mine was free. We both feel the other guy got ripped off and ours is better.

As to your overall claims - yes, true on many counts. The iPhone devs need support only a limited hardware set and don't have to make compromises in hardware access to hit the whole iPhone market. In the Android world, rather than exploit the features of any one processor, generic code is preferred for coverage. In game performance, this can be a disadvantage.

Apple, because of its background, continues to lead over Android where media apps are concerned. Despite detracting statements from haters, Apple has led the world in consumer access to media. It would be great if Android were to catch up, but that may or may never happen. Only finally now, with Gingerbread, is the Google team really starting to pay attention to codecs.

Their recent announcement to drop H.264 support in favor of WebM really has me floored - I have no idea what to think, but I think it will affect us all. Shades of another Flash war -

Google defends its dropping of H.264, announces WebM plug-ins for IE and Safari | The 15 Minutes of Fame

So - there are the two sides, it changes nothing of my position where advice is concerned: choose the right phone for you. If you think you'll get better service with the iPhone apps for what you do, choose the iPhone. If you think the other way, choose Android.

 

[Guamguy]

Based on the analytics at androlib.com, the rate of software submissions on the Android Market is heading to the 250k mark.

Mind you, it includes a lot of things that you're not going to see in any app store, since it includes things that have no iOS categories like Live wallpapers, screen widgets and UI shells. Stuff like the Coca Cola live holiday wallpaper, Beautiful Widgets, Slidescreen or SPB Mobile Shell are things you won't expect to see in the Apple App Store.

As for games, I don't buiy a lot in the Android Market, but then I don't buy either in Apple App Store. Simply, mobile games suck. They are juvenile and arcade lilke. They represent what the dedicated console industry was doing back in the early nineties. Instead, I spend hundreds of bucks in games for the PS3, PS2, Wii, Xbox 360, and even on the Sony PSP.

When it comes to mobile, the best things in life are indeed free. Mobile is about communication, information sharing and delivery. Both my iOS and Android devices are full of apps like Bloomberg, eTrade, social networking apps like Facebook and Twitter, weather apps, travel apps like Kayak, movies apps like Flickster, chat apps like Yahoo Messenger, music streaming apps like Pandora, and so on and on.

Here is a list of apps that have something in common:

Google Mobile apps (Search and so on)
Google Earth
Pandora
Facebook
The Weather Channel
Flickster (Movie app)

These apps are the top free apps in both the Android Market and the Apple App Store.

When you go down to all the other popular apps like Skype, Twitter, Yahoo Messenger, fring, Palringo, eBuddy, IM+, AIM, Qik, Kik, various news apps like CBS News, New York Times Huffington Post and so on, medical apps like Epocrates, QuickOffice, Docs to Go, Evernote, Yelp, Groupon, Foursquare, Gowalla, eBay, Amazon, Kindle and so on, what's really the difference? They're practically the same on both platforms except for some platform optimizations.

Note: these are not games. These are the apps people live by to do their work and connect to their family and friends.

Where it matters:

Android apps have superior sharing capabilities. They can easily share anything from Facebook to Bluetooth. Sharing options on iOS apps are extremely limited. Compare Seesmic for Android vs. Seesmic for iOS. Every Android Twitter app can share to Evernote, but in iOS, the app has to build in that service and they are very few.

Google apps are clearly better on Android. GMail, YouTube, Google Translate, Google Search, Google Goggles, Google Earth, and not the least, Google Maps. I'm going to say, there is no better app in any platform, or in any field, than Google Maps 5.0. In the words from RIM Blackberry, Google Maps is a true superapp.

Android is the only platform to have a true official Google Reader app. I need to mention Google Sky Maps --- it is the gold standard for any star observation app. Likewise, the gold standard for any augmented reality app is the Android version of Layar. For some reason, Android scores extremely well on augmented reality apps --- its the reason why the DoD and US Pentagon is targeting Android as the basis for tactical apps.

Android apps have more I/O options. Especially in voice commands and actions, e.g. Google Voice Actions, Vlingo. Go play around with real time language translation with Google Translate. Oh, the Department of Defense is developing a real time language translation system intended to be used by US forces in countries like Afghanistan. The core of the system is an Android phone (Nexus Ones are being used in prototypes).

Another example of varied I/O are the Dolphin Browser series. Again, these browsers has no precedent in any platform in the way they use custom hand gestures for browser actions like refresh.

Twitter apps. I insist --- Touiteur (now Plume), Twicca and Tweetdeck for Android are better than any iOS Twitter app I've seen. And I've used Tweetie, Twitter for iPhone, Echofon, Twitterific, Hootsuite (also has an Android version), Seesmic for both platforms, TWeetdeck for iOS, and so on.

Facebook. For a long time, Facebook on IOS has the better app, but things have evened out in Facebook 1.5 for Android. In fact, the Android version has photo notifications the IOS version doesn't have. But overall, Android is the better Facebook platform thanks to Facebook sync to contacts and calendars, though it has to be said, Facebook integration is better on the modified Androids with HTC Sense, Samsung Touchwiz and Motoblur than the vanilla Android.

 

[lordofthereef]

I miss games, namely Final Fantasy series as well as Sonic, Diner dash series, cut the rope (those are the ones I can think of). In my eyes, this is the only place android sorely needs to play catch up (make it appealing for devs to produce games or port them to android).

 

[lordofthereef]

As for games, I don't buiy a lot in the Android Market, but then I don't buy either in Apple App Store. Simply, mobile games suck. They are juvenile and arcade lilke. They represent what the dedicated console industry was doing back in the early nineties. Instead, I spend hundreds of bucks in games for the PS3, PS2, Wii, Xbox 360, and even on the Sony PSP.

To each his own, obviously, but the rate at which games sell on the iPhone are tremendous. FWIW, they aren't trying to be any more than arcade-like and just something to pass the time while on the bus, on the train, waiting for your flight, in class (lol), and for that, they fit perfectly. There will always be people that are only willing to play current gen console games, and that is fine. There are plenty of people that don;t consider themselves gamers that still want these "quick to pick up" games on their mobiles too. They are a few more lengthy and story based games on either OS, but they are trumped in revenue and numbers by these quick arcade-like games. Clearly there is a desire for them.

 

[Blkjk13]

Last I checked, they don't have:
-Adobe Flash (and they will never have it)
-Google Navigation (they have navi apps but they cost $)
-Swype (can't live without it)
-Full Tilt Rush Poker (or any real money poker for that matter)
-Any apps with widgets (ie Beautiful Widgets)
-Any home replacement (ie LauncherPro)
Probably a bunch more I am missing

Quality is much more important to me than quantity.

So u think androids quality is better than iOS?!confused:

Android beats iOS in quantity when it comes to features.

iOS beats android in quality of everything and quantity of apps.

 

[Guamguy]

To each his own, obviously, but the rate at which games sell on the iPhone are tremendous. FWIW, they aren't trying to be any more than arcade-like and just something to pass the time while on the bus, on the train, waiting for your flight, in class (lol), and for that, they fit perfectly. There will always be people that are only willing to play current gen console games, and that is fine. There are plenty of people that don;t consider themselves gamers that still want these "quick to pick up" games on their mobiles too. They are a few more lengthy and story based games on either OS, but they are trumped in revenue and numbers by these quick arcade-like games. Clearly there is a desire for them.

That's basically why iOS arcade games simply don't appeal to me. Just to let you know, I carry an iPod Touch with me along with my Android. I simply don't play games with my iPod Touch but listen to music on it. if I get spare time on my Android it is to tweet.

Real quality content console games are the reason why I look forward to the Playstation Phone or the PSP2.

I would wager that Android will inevitably surpass iPhone in Japan, partly because there is no stopping the Android Market from censoring eroge, whereas iPhone censorship may block stuff lilke that.

In any case, there is now a Japanese anime RPG on Android called Spectral Souls. Check it out.

Even if there is an appeal to these mobile arcade games, it seems mostly at the start when people got their new iPhone or iPod Touch,they would download them frenetically. I did the same, long time ago. And like many others, like my case, like those that I see, after a while, they all get inevitably bored with it.

A lot of devs are simply lost in the jungle of the App Store, with games or apps that simply do not rise above the cream, and I don't believe they're making money.

In both iOS and Android (unless its a Playstation phone), you just don't have the sophisticated controls that are the hallmark for console gaming.

 

[bassjo]

It all comes down to fragmentation. Android app developers have to deal with so many different models of phones all with slightly different versions of software. iOS uses only one type of phone with one type of software, so development goes much smoother. I recently left AT&T and a iPhone 3GS to come to Verizon and a Droid X, I love my X it is a great phone! I only miss my iPhone on certain apps, otherwise I don't regret moving to Droid.

 

[lordofthereef]

A lot of devs are simply lost in the jungle of the App Store, with games or apps that simply do not rise above the cream, and I don't believe they're making money.

What on earth makes you say they are not making money? Go into the appstore and look at the top 50 games. They are making a killing. Most of the very successful apps on the appstore are games.