The Fall of Angry Birds, an interesting article about the status of the iOS App Store. http://www.treysmithblog.com/the-fall-of-angry-birds/ Perhaps this will put to rest the silly iOS users buy and Android users expect free nonsense. It's clear that the app market has and will continue to changed and the differences we see see in the Android market and the iOS market is merely the fact the the markets were in different stages but the stage of development is converging. The point is don't develop for iOS thinking you'll be able to sell and don't avoid Android because it doesn't sell. App users will buy in either market, but they won't buy just anything. It all depends on many factors including the product, the competition and many more. Fred

The big challenge I see to Android apps vs iOS apps is on the music front. Almost every music app developer I read about says iOS is much easier to develop music apps on due to the consistency in hardware. Here's a quote from Jordan Rudess, arguably the most talented piano player alive (google him), who has been developing several music apps for iOS. [quote]Question: In The Age of the Platform, you talked about your love of Apple products. What's your opinion of Android as a development platform? Answer: There are so many people out there with Android, and I know that it's a really good system. Personally, I've had some problems with it -- and that's why I took so long to get into it and am not anxious to keep working on that platform. First, there's been an inherent issue with the audio on Android, which has been frustrating to a lot of developers. When you touch the screen to play a sound, there's a delay, which destroys the reality of the musical experience. It's a latency issue. Obviously the people in charge of Android's release overlooked this. It's a problem that's definitely preventing some of the music developers I know from wanting to create apps for the platform. The other problem with Android is, as far as I'm concerned, that the systems aren't set up to allow for a solid business. Android piracy is rampant. For example, we put out a really cool Android version of MorphWiz Play (even better and easier to use than the one on iOS). But, according to the numbers coming back to our company, it's being ripped off right and left. Android employees need to create a system that's fairer to developers.[/quote]

In the past several months I've seen development on several fronts by the various app stores on the copyright issues. Clearly it's a problem that's being address. Fred

Thanks Fred Good information Mike

Three reasons I really don't like the Android market: * You actually have to worry about what you're downloading. I've downloaded a number of apps that have installed some sort of crappy ad generator stuff. That's not a worry at all on iTunes. * No quality control at all. Anybody can publish absolutely anything. In some ways that is good, and in many ways I absolutely hate the strict review policies of Apple, but it's sure helped keep out the super bad stuff (exceptions noted, of course). * I have the exact same app for both iOS and Android on my devices, and they just don't look the same...meaning, they don't look very professional on Android. My opinion, and it's certainly very objective, is that the Android interface isn't anywhere near as polished as the iOS one. That extends to both the general Android OS, and app UI as well. But, I'm really grumpy this morning, so that could be influencing my observations. Mark

@JasonAllen Interesting points, think many agree. A walled garden has no weeds Mark, true story.

@MacApple...you should see my walled patio! Quite a few weeds, because the patio keeper lets them in! ;-)

Likewise here Mark! 4 hours chasing weeds on Saturday. "According to GigaOm, 45% of iPhone and iPod Touch users purchased at least one paid app every month. Only 19% of Android users bought a paid app every month. In addition, iOS users almost double Android users in the total number of apps downloaded per month."

I'd buy those statistics for sure! I have no problems finding cool iPhone/iPad apps that I would like to buy. But even the same apps on Android...I have difficulty parting with my money because of their functionality, and the unsureness of whether they'll work or not. Take the Time News app...works perfectly on iOS, doesn't work on Android Jellybean, but nothing prevents me from installing it. When I got my new Nexus 7, it came with a $25 credit at Google Play. I'm literally having trouble spending it all! Mark

@ Mark good points, I can't believe I'm about to defend Android (on 1 point) somewhat but here we go:) 1) I avoid download apps on Android as well, unless theres a certain number of reviews, but yeah that kills a lot of those without any reviews which could be technically fantastic applications. 2) Tons of crap on Android vs iOS. I've never seen so many useless apps with hidden agendas 3) Here comes a defence for Android. haha. I finally purchased a high end Android handset. Got the SIII. One of my apps which looked like crap compared to the iOS version, now looks wonderful. So it does have to do with Hardware vs software somewhat. My problem is sale numbers. I have 1 really successful app on iOS (paid app). And its throwing some amazing numbers. That same app, with same features, same everything... on Android lets just say, its barely sold a few copies.... :) AHHH, and heres the kicker, I have that same app on Blackberry World, and its beating sale numbers on GooglePlay. whatttt....

To me, it seems like the 800 pound gorilla in this debate is that iOS is developed on a very specialized, focused hardware platform. It's not that iOS is any better than Android, or the market is better, it's just that the iOS platform has fewer loose ends. This leads to a more consistent development experience, easier quality control, and fewer bugs. This results in happier users, faster deployment, and a better ROI for the developer. It's practically history repeating itself here, looking back on the MAC OS vs Windows PC platform. More software was available for PC, but users had a better experience on MAC due to more focused software and less bugs due to driver issues, etc.

@coderex, I'll agree that it does have a bit to do with hardware and software as well. Things look different in Gingerbread vs. Jellybean. But I'll still assert that, overall, the general navigation UI isn't quite as refined as in iOS, and has not been consistent across Android versions. Mark

I think the point of the article has nothing to do with iOS vs Android but instead is about pricing and monetizing your app. The lesson in the article apply to both platforms. The big point is that paid apps in certain markets are so yesterday. If you wish to monetize get with the program, currently multiple-in-app-purchase options. Or you can continue with the old model and naively hope for the best. The other major point is that each market is different. Don't expect the game market to be the same as the utility market. I dare say that the Android & iOS game market have more in common than the iOS utility app market and the iOS game app market. Fred

the same guy who wrote that article (trey smith) just released a 50 page report featuring every strategy to monetize apps http://www.dollarappreport.com. He's only selling it for 1 dollar. Be warned though - I purchased it on the website and it timed out. Only $1 so I'm not going to make a huge deal about it, but you may want to wait a few days for them to get the purchasing system fixed