Market at 20,000 apps - Should I Care

[souljerr]

I'm not really sure it's such a good thing that the Android Market is at 20,000 apps. Why - how many of those are just plain junk? I prefer a smaller focused market where I can get what I want. I know it's great for Google, in terms of promoting adoption by developers of their OS, but as a user I don't want to sift through crap to get the stuff that is really worth it. What do you all think? :r_c:

Android Market statistics from AndroLib, Androlib, Android Applications and Games

 

[Dragoro]

Thats what search, and most downloaded functions are for.

 

[LordKastle]

Not really just like people on iPhone shouldn't care about the number they have.

A number is a number. Only some apps or games will appeal to you anyway. It just so happens that there is a greater likelihood of finding an app that fits your need if there are more to choose from.

 

[sixtytwo]

The number of apps doesn't matter. When I was using an iPhone, with its touted 100,000 apps, I realized that the vast, vast majority of them are absolute garbage. Some of the apps barely even qualify as programming exercises.

 

[souljerr]

The number of apps doesn't matter. When I was using an iPhone, with its touted 100,000 apps, I realized that the vast, vast majority of them are absolute garbage. Some of the apps barely even qualify as programming exercises.

This is my point.

Dragoro - I hear you about the search function to help me find apps and LordKastle is absolutely right that the more apps the greater the chance of finding something good.

But this whole thing just seems to be a big PR thing to me.

 

[ldimick]

But this whole thing just seems to be a big PR thing to me.

It is. But how else do you demonstrate growth and interest?

Even if a program is junk (and many are) (I counted 375 fart apps on iTunes today) they may have an original idea that can be used in another application.

 

[andrewdoane]

I love it that it has now hit 20,000. It means more developers are working. For every 15 bad apps you're going to get a good one and for every 1,000 you're going to get one of those life-altering "how did I ever live without this" apps. I anxiously await 30,000.

 

[HeroNova]

I love it that it has now hit 20,000. It means more developers are working. For every 15 bad apps you're going to get a good one and for every 1,000 you're going to get one of those life-altering "how did I ever live without this" apps. I anxiously await 30,000.

+1

I think the more apps the better. I don't mind searching through apps. Sure, a lot of them are junk. But one man's trash is another man's treasure.

Besides, like andrew said, more apps and more developers means more chances of grabbing that great app.

 

[Sleeve]

Celebrate that it didn't just hit 1,000 apps and there are only 2 fart apps to choose from. There's a lot of new garbage, and developers are beating useless concepts to death in volume, but meanwhile a few hundred excellent apps have come out.

I'd be interested in seeing paid app sales volume changes since the Eris and Droid came out. I specifically say those two because before them Android was only available on second tier carriers who are plan price competitors and therefore have a customer base that is more sensitive to spending money on their mobile than the price is no object subscribers to VzW.

Just when I got my Droid, Gameloft was circulating rumors of leaving the market because the customer base were not buyers. I wonder if VzW's multi-million dollar marketing of the Droid has nudged the profits in Android development into something tres magnifique enough for the pixels to keep coming from Gameloft and other long term mobile developers.

We still see cornerstones of WinMo questioning whether they'll port. Resco, Ilium, PopCap, etc... They need to see revenue numbers that I would expect Google has since they operate the checkout.

 

[mikeinctown]

I love it that it has now hit 20,000. It means more developers are working. For every 15 bad apps you're going to get a good one and for every 1,000 you're going to get one of those life-altering "how did I ever live without this" apps. I anxiously await 30,000.

+1

I think the more apps the better. I don't mind searching through apps. Sure, a lot of them are junk. But one man's trash is another man's treasure.

Besides, like andrew said, more apps and more developers means more chances of grabbing that great app.

+1 from me too. Everyone is different and what may work well for one person may not work for me. I love that I can choose from 20 different checkbook apps, or 10 different shoping list apps. It also makes them a bit more competitive IMHO toward making improvements. i don't mind paying for something good.

 

[souljerr]

What about a market that ranks good apps vs bad and gets rid of those that suck? Take the fart apps for example: set a max of 20 fart apps in the market. We as users rank our favorites and only the top 20 survive - the rest go bye, bye. If it's done this way maybe we'll end up with only the cream of the crop.

 

[JayMonster]

There is more than one way to look at this

Just grabbing the number 20,000 and throwing it out there... it is true that it is a marketing game and not much more on the surface.

BUT

Marketing games are important, whether we like it or now. Take cameras, the Megapixel "race" could have and should have been over a long time ago, but this is what consumers remember, so when they go to buy a camera, the first question they ask is "How many megapixels?"

While apple is out there throwing numbers around, it is important to also throw those numbers, so people while realizing it is less than Apple, still see that it is a significant number.

But Also

This is also a good point for both tech and the less tech savvy alike in that while there has been some negative press lately of developers that are "disgruntled" and "no longer developing" for Android, that they can show... look, just because this company or that company is not developing any longer doesn't really hurt, look how many developers ARE developing, and look how fast we are growing.

In this same light, be careful of what you wish for. Sure it is easy to say, "put a cap" on "junk" apps, but who decides what is junk and what isn't? And how do you tell X developer that he can't make an app because Q, R, S, and T have already done so? You start wading into the stupid waters of Apple, where you tell people, "no you can't make that" because it "duplicates functionality already available" And that is never beneficial to anyone, even if it is a stupid fart app... it is the slippery slope that can become of it that you have to watch out for.

So, in the end, as long as you know that the raw number itself is not that important by itself, it does show that there is interest in developing for the Android platform, even if companies like Gameloft don't think so.

 

[souljerr]

while there has been some negative press lately of developers that are "disgruntled" and "no longer developing" for Android, that they can show... look, just because this company or that company is not developing any longer doesn't really hurt, look how many developers ARE developing, and look how fast we are growing.

In this same light, be careful of what you wish for. Sure it is easy to say, "put a cap" on "junk" apps, but who decides what is junk and what isn't? And how do you tell X developer that he can't make an app because Q, R, S, and T have already done so? You start wading into the stupid waters of Apple, where you tell people, "no you can't make that" because it "duplicates functionality already available" And that is never beneficial to anyone, even if it is a stupid fart app... it is the slippery slope that can become of it that you have to watch out for.

So, in the end, as long as you know that the raw number itself is not that important by itself, it does show that there is interest in developing for the Android platform, even if companies like Gameloft don't think so.

Definitely agree. Ok, I give...

 

[Anomander]

I love it that it has now hit 20,000. It means more developers are working. For every 15 bad apps you're going to get a good one and for every 1,000 you're going to get one of those life-altering "how did I ever live without this" apps. I anxiously await 30,000.

+1

I think the more apps the better. I don't mind searching through apps. Sure, a lot of them are junk. But one man's trash is another man's treasure.

Besides, like andrew said, more apps and more developers means more chances of grabbing that great app.

+1 from me too. Everyone is different and what may work well for one person may not work for me. I love that I can choose from 20 different checkbook apps, or 10 different shoping list apps. It also makes them a bit more competitive IMHO toward making improvements. i don't mind paying for something good.

+1 from me. I think the more apps that show up will mean the competition will be heating up to get a better one out there. I just realized that I did not have a shopping app yet so thanks mikeinctown for reminding me on that. We will also have the nonsense apps. Hopefully the App store will be tweaked where we can sort by ratings, and have the main apps listed first then the add-ons to the apps listed afterwards.

 

[LordKastle]

JayMonster makes a good point...I do not condone the idea of censoring applications and games because one of the "powers of be" feels threatens or finds it to be not needed. PC's and Mac's have done just fine with self-regulation and even minor changes in similar apps may benefit someone.

It just comes down to being able to find what you are looking for and better sorting techniques. Maybe a better internet database that allows for sorting and searching too. As of right now an app can be buried and without constant monitoring and scrolling you will not find it...not effective without hassle. Improvements I am sure will be made.