Re:Developing Android Apps: it's really not so bad
by bad_user on Monday August 08, 2011 @04:44AM
(#2859293)
This is exactly my experience with Android.
For instance I wanted an app that would block calls and SMSs and do a better job than the built-in functionality.
I found an ad-supported app that did the job, but the UI was awful.
So I tried to buy a non-free app that had good reviews -- problem was that the developer wouldn't allow purchases from my country, so I couldn't purchase it.
Also, as a developer Android is a poor choice for me, not because there's anything wrong with the platform, but because Google doesn't allow me to be a merchant that receives money from them (I'm not in one of the approved countries).
So the only option available to me as a developer is to release ad-supported apps. And with ads the UI experience suffers, so this automatically puts me in a don-t-give-a-shit state of mind where I don't care about experience as much as I care about volume.
This goes round and round, but on the whole I think that the quality of Android's marketplace represents an opportunity precisely because the competition is doing a poor job.
For instance I wanted an app that would block calls and SMSs and do a better job than the built-in functionality.
I found an ad-supported app that did the job, but the UI was awful.
So I tried to buy a non-free app that had good reviews -- problem was that the developer wouldn't allow purchases from my country, so I couldn't purchase it.
Also, as a developer Android is a poor choice for me, not because there's anything wrong with the platform, but because Google doesn't allow me to be a merchant that receives money from them (I'm not in one of the approved countries).
So the only option available to me as a developer is to release ad-supported apps. And with ads the UI experience suffers, so this automatically puts me in a don-t-give-a-shit state of mind where I don't care about experience as much as I care about volume.
This goes round and round, but on the whole I think that the quality of Android's marketplace represents an opportunity precisely because the competition is doing a poor job.