Android App Market Outpaces Apple Apps - May Overtake by 2012

[knighthonor]

Haha, I've got a little over 100 apps on my phone, most of which are rarely used. Sure, the number of apps is a decent proxy for the relative portion of good apps available, but if you have one very good messaging app 10 or even 100 alternatives doesn't really make one market superior.

Not to mention, how many of us have apps only because it's cool or neat to show-off but really have no need or desire to use it (raises hand)? I mean, Shopsavvy is a great and handy little app, but I'll be damned if I'm going to scan a box of cereal and then drive across town to save 25 cents.

but the problem is,,,, Iphone has better apps at everything, than the Android does.

Android has less number of apps, while at the same time having less quality apps.

please tell me;

Tell me a Video Editor app on Android, that just as good or better than Iphone video apps.

Tell me a 3D Video Game app on the Android thats better than a 3D App of the same genre, thats only on Iphone.

This can go on all day,,,,,, you should get the idea.

Android's problem, is that the apps just arent as good as Iphone apps. And the smaller numbers also doesnt make this any better.:blackdroid:

 

[gadgetrants]

I can see this isn't the smiley-happy thread it started out as...but the evolution toward an Apple-Android pissing contest was maybe just a matter of time.

The comparisons are old, tired, and probably futile (it's a matter of opinion, not fact). Please don't say "this app is better than that app" until there is an even playing field between devices and companies. At the least, any comparisons are premature until Android gets a few more years of growth. Let's all come back in 3 or 4 years, and then let the debate begin!

-Matt

 

[kodiak799]

Tell me a Video Editor app on Android, that just as good or better than Iphone video apps.

Tell me a 3D Video Game app on the Android thats better than a 3D App of the same genre, thats only on Iphone.

Don't care and/or don't use either. Video editing on a smartphone seems kind of silly to me, anyway.

Sure, apps on the IPhone may be better. But I personally have few if any complaints about most of my apps. Oh, and I'm a big widget user which means this whole debate is no contest.

I don't disagree the IPhone is better for games and media (a gap which is continuing to narrow). But I use my phone for communication and as a business tool, and IMO Android wins on both fronts.

 

[jefbystereo]

Like others have already pointed out. The data is misinterpreted. The slope of the lines is the rate of growth, and Apple is growing faster.

 

[spillner]

I can see this isn't the smiley-happy thread it started out as...but the evolution toward an Apple-Android pissing contest was maybe just a matter of time.

The comparisons are old, tired, and probably futile (it's a matter of opinion, not fact). Please don't say "this app is better than that app" until there is an even playing field between devices and companies. At the least, any comparisons are premature until Android gets a few more years of growth. Let's all come back in 3 or 4 years, and then let the debate begin!

-Matt

I'm sorry but I have to disagree, Andy has had plenty of time to get the apps that it shares with apple to be on even footing. I would agree with you if a brand new app came out for apple and it had a poor port to android sometime later. But some of these apps that Andy has have been out for over a year and they still don't function as well as their apple brothers.

 

[gadgetrants]

I can see this isn't the smiley-happy thread it started out as...but the evolution toward an Apple-Android pissing contest was maybe just a matter of time.

The comparisons are old, tired, and probably futile (it's a matter of opinion, not fact). Please don't say "this app is better than that app" until there is an even playing field between devices and companies. At the least, any comparisons are premature until Android gets a few more years of growth. Let's all come back in 3 or 4 years, and then let the debate begin!

-Matt

I'm sorry but I have to disagree, Andy has had plenty of time to get the apps that it shares with apple to be on even footing. I would agree with you if a brand new app came out for apple and it had a poor port to android sometime later. But some of these apps that Andy has have been out for over a year and they still don't function as well as their apple brothers.

I can see that I should have been more precise: when I said 3-4 years, I didn't mean time alone. There is a pretty big gap between the Android and Apple ecosystems, particularly in terms of how the markets/stores operate, incentives to developers, hardware and OS uniformity (oh no, a reference to the dreaded "fragmentation" problem!!!), and so on.

In all seriousness, you raise a good example, and it reflects a very fair assumption: why don't equivalent apps on each OS work equally well? I don't have any experience with that issue (except maybe...Angry Birds?...), so I'm anything but an authority on the question. You're probably right. But give me 10 minutes and I can easily think up 4 or 5 reasons why it's not really a fair comparison, and why evaluating Android and its app ecosystem during its infancy is still too early.

-Matt