AppBrain shows why Android Market needs better filtering

[wuyanks]

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There's no doubt that the Android Market needs to be revamped. The main complaint with the Market is that a large percentage of those 70,000+ apps are junk, and it's almost impossible to wade through all the garbage before you find an app you're looking for. Sites like AppBrain and Androlib try to make the experience a bit more bearable with advanced search features, but these alternative databases are not 100% complete. What is interesting about these databases, however, is that trends can be monitored and reported. So what about a report that studies the percentage of junk apps on the Market? AppBrain's latest study does just that. Take a look at a graph of the most popular apps:

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The first interesting finding is that an Android user on average has 65 apps installed. Next, AppBrain lists the ten most popular apps (along with the percentage of phones that have the app installed):

http://www.appbrain.com/app/com.google.android.apps.maps

Google Maps: 99.1%
Facebook: 84.9%
Barcode Scanner: 63.8%
Google Goggles: 50.5%
Astro File Manager: 49.3%
Shazam: 46.7%
Amazon MP3: 46.3%
Google Sky Map: 43.5%
Advanced Task Killer: 37.1%
Pandora: 34.3%

The report continues, by delving into the "junk app" dilemma.

"The 5,500 most popular apps were each installed on more than 0.1% of the phones. In other words, the other 64,500 apps (92% of the total) have an install base of less than 0.1% of all phones."

This may be a confusing statement. What I'd take from this information, is that the 5,500 most popular apps (8% of total) are installed on more phones than the other 64,500 apps (92% of total).

Now, AppBrain attempts to attack the percentage of junk apps head-on. Check out a graph of all apps vs low-quality apps:

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So, out of roughly 70,000 apps available, 30,000 are low-quality, or "junk" (curious about AppBrain's algorithms? Read here). Clearly there is an issue with low-quality and junk apps pervading the Android Market. And there is no stopping the accumulation of junk, until Google steps up and revamps the Market. But a fundamental question remains: Is a strict approval process necessary, or would better filtering suffice?

Source: AppBrain Blog

 

[Dave12308]

I think a full-on approval process is going to become necessary. A few days ago, I was browsing the "All Games - Just In" section. There were several sexually related apps with screenshots showing full female nudity (all bits were exposed) - I filed some complaints about Sexual Content, and so far they have gone ignored.

Aside from that, crappy J2ME ports seems to rule the market, from "devs" such as free4android and me4android - this is basically piracy as these are paid java games ported over and offered for free, even though most of them don't even work right. It's getting to the point where I will only download an app i've read about; that way I can search for it directly and not have to wade through the crap.

I will say that with the current state of the Android market, i'd be very hesistant to let anyone under the age of 18 use an Android phone. Some things kids just should not have access to, and these things are showing up as GAMES...... Sorry Google, but your current way of running the marketplace = a big fat FAIL.

 

[Shadez]

Well from what I understand that when they release the next version of the android market and its web based counterpart later this year, their will be extensive filtering and parental control options.

 

[tlippert]

I think a full-on approval process is going to become necessary. A few days ago, I was browsing the "All Games - Just In" section. There were several sexually related apps with screenshots showing full female nudity (all bits were exposed) - I filed some complaints about Sexual Content, and so far they have gone ignored.

Aside from that, crappy J2ME ports seems to rule the market, from "devs" such as free4android and me4android - this is basically piracy as these are paid java games ported over and offered for free, even though most of them don't even work right. It's getting to the point where I will only download an app i've read about; that way I can search for it directly and not have to wade through the crap.

I will say that with the current state of the Android market, i'd be very hesistant to let anyone under the age of 18 use an Android phone. Some things kids just should not have access to, and these things are showing up as GAMES...... Sorry Google, but your current way of running the marketplace = a big fat FAIL.

That is exactly my one complaint.. I just got my 14 year old son a Droid X.. Now he has full access to the Android Market... I agree some kind of filtering of the sexually explicit content is needed..

 

[tiggerxplur]

i think they need mostly filtering and some type of approval process just so there is not so much junk added

and for filters they should add

sort by downloads

sort by rating(stars)

and my mind went blank haha

but they should also require tags for apps

and numerous other filters to make it easier

 

[johnomaz]

That is exactly my one complaint.. I just got my 14 year old son a Droid X.. Now he has full access to the Android Market... I agree some kind of filtering of the sexually explicit content is needed..

Then don't buy your 14 year old a DroidX. Comment deleted by moderator. If you wan't adult content filtered, buy an iPhone.

 

[hookbill]

Let's not start going there. Remember, respect is number 1 in the Droid Forums. Calling people names are only going to lead to infractions. Let's be nice to each other. Anyway this isn't about the iPhone it's about filtering the Market.

 

[hubdroid]

That is exactly my one complaint.. I just got my 14 year old son a Droid X.. Now he has full access to the Android Market... I agree some kind of filtering of the sexually explicit content is needed..

Why direct him to the iPhone just becasue of filtering? Doesn't Google.com have a filter on search results? Should we use Yahoo or Bing if we want to filter web searches? The point is ther should be a filter and get rid of the needless web pic copies along with all the damn puzzles.

 

[HOLDINtheACES]

I think a full-on approval process is going to become necessary. A few days ago, I was browsing the "All Games - Just In" section. There were several sexually related apps with screenshots showing full female nudity (all bits were exposed) - I filed some complaints about Sexual Content, and so far they have gone ignored.

Aside from that, crappy J2ME ports seems to rule the market, from "devs" such as free4android and me4android - this is basically piracy as these are paid java games ported over and offered for free, even though most of them don't even work right. It's getting to the point where I will only download an app i've read about; that way I can search for it directly and not have to wade through the crap.

I will say that with the current state of the Android market, i'd be very hesistant to let anyone under the age of 18 use an Android phone. Some things kids just should not have access to, and these things are showing up as GAMES...... Sorry Google, but your current way of running the marketplace = a big fat FAIL.

Saw your post and went and grabbed those apps. Thanks

 

[Andrew C]

I think a full-on approval process is going to become necessary. A few days ago, I was browsing the "All Games - Just In" section. There were several sexually related apps with screenshots showing full female nudity (all bits were exposed) - I filed some complaints about Sexual Content, and so far they have gone ignored.

Aside from that, crappy J2ME ports seems to rule the market, from "devs" such as free4android and me4android - this is basically piracy as these are paid java games ported over and offered for free, even though most of them don't even work right. It's getting to the point where I will only download an app i've read about; that way I can search for it directly and not have to wade through the crap.

I will say that with the current state of the Android market, i'd be very hesistant to let anyone under the age of 18 use an Android phone. Some things kids just should not have access to, and these things are showing up as GAMES...... Sorry Google, but your current way of running the marketplace = a big fat FAIL.

Saw your post and went and grabbed those apps. Thanks

I went and checked them out too Although its not worth the bandwith to download them.

 

[HOLDINtheACES]

Waste of time. False advertising. Alas, i wasn't too serious about getting them, just curious.

 

[homemadehitshow]

You absolutely do not want an approval process, this leads to time delays in new apps, fixes and everything associated, along with approval of only apps that meet with the approvers guidelines. It's bad for developers and bad for user.

What would be better would be some kind of user driven content rating / filtering that is better than where we are now.

There may be 100's of junk apps but it simply doesn't effect me at all. I have what I want and no problem finding new stuff that is good.

 

[aminaked]

Google gets, what, $25 for each submission to the market. They'd rather not filter.

Adult content is viewable on any device w/ a web browser including the iphone.

Moderators, if I'm "going there" let me know. This forum is run with an iron fist. I feel like I'm at gramma's house.

 

[homemadehitshow]

I think it's $25 per developer not per app.

 

[Scotty9678]

I just wish I could remove apps easier sometimes...like I have no desire to have Amazon MP3 but I've tried a few times (honestly never devoting more than 5 minutes) to remove it with no avail...I hate pre-loaded crap.