Last week we asked for your opinion of the Android Market and the results are in.
Thank you for voting.
Over 2,000 votes were cast and I’m a little shocked by the results. A whopping 56 percent of our readers approve of the Android Market. Only 35 percent disapprove while the remaining 9 percent were unsure.
- 56% positive
- 35% negative
- 9% neutral
I say I’m surprised because I have been generally underwhelmed by the progress the Android Market has made over the last year. We finally got screenshot previews, but there are still numerous tweaks that could be made to improve the user experience. At the end of the day, it looks like Google is doing their job since a majority of our readers approve of the current situation.
Based on the comments, the top requests for the Android Market include:
- Longer descriptions (more screens, YouTube videos, etc.)
- Desktop client to browse applications
- Bring paid apps to more countries
- Add recommendations and discoverability options
- Correct downloads stalling/failing (appears to be T-Mobile problem only)
- Bring search functions up to Google standards
It should also be noted that approximately 25 percent of Android users are stuck with the outdated Android 1.5 which includes the older version of Android Market (no screens).
Google recently updated their terms of service for the Market and they are set to go into affect on December 11, 2009. We have heard reports that Sprint and T-Mobile will add carrier billing for paid applications and this could be the date we see an updated Market. It will be interesting to see how Sprint accomplishes this since both of their Android phones currently run Android 1.5.
Check back next month as we run this opinion poll again. We plan to do this once a month and chart public opinion over time. I’m glad to see a majority approve of the Android Market, but I would still like to see Google put more resources into improving the overall experience.
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Taylor Wimberly
Taylor is the founder of Android and Me. He loves playing with all kinds of gadgets, but most importantly cell phones. His other hobbies include cooking (BBQ hero!), politics, football, and watching every MMA event possible.
18 Comments
Wow….I did not see that coming.
Maybe, a lot of the people are coming from a razr and don’t know any better.
^ good point lol
Maybe the folks that don’t like the market are just way too whinny?
you mean just like the folks that leave comments in the market? haha
you ain’t kiddin… most of the reviews can’t be taken seriously, perhaps they should be moderated…
So true. Android is ONLY in its first year. People tend to compare Android with Apple (iPhone) when the iPhone has been out for 2 years, going on its 3rd. Stop complaining and whining about the market when its fine the way it is especially considering its only 1 year old. I say its fine, could be better, but that comes with time, Android is not gonna have a PERFECT market in a year, so relax.
Android FTW
You took the words right out of my mouth. I bought the 1st gen iPhone at launch and it had no apps what so ever and it took the Apple app store about a year to get it’s proverbial sh*t together before it was all that usable. People need to stop their belly aching. The market is progressing along at a nice pace. It caters to many devices with different specs and carriers so there are technical issues that will require time to solve.
“Desktop client to browse applications ”
in this website you can browse the android market apps/games
http://www.androidzoom.com
thx for this great web and sorry my english
A desktop _client_ is NOT needed. A better web interface would be nice.
Desktop is needed.
This will allow upgrades to the OS without waiting on the network providers to give up their cell bandwidth for the download.
It is also for easy management of the device media(mp3, pictures, etc..)
Also, I would like to buy an app from the desktop and a download happens to the device automatically.
you can do that with these online screen scrapers.
you cant do that with these on-line screen scrapers.
I too am very suprised by this. Personly I found the original market ok, for first attempt. However the 1.6 update is truely adismal, a real step backwards. To me I can’t see any usfull advantages to the end user and one mighty disavantage in the speed of the new market.
The new incarnation fails to load a lot more and when it doea is much slower and very clunky. It pains me to say but if the market was half as friendly as iphone I whould be happy.
The users might think it is fine, but the developers clearly don’t.
If Android does not get a better system of discoverability, then we might be fighting a loosing battle.
I agree, however, this is a vicious circle. What we don’t want is an inflated market place. By inflated I mean we don’t need hundreds of the same apps. If one developer makes a really great twitter app that is considered to be the best, that developer alone can kill the competition. We all know this doesn’t happen exactly, but a new developer trying to get into the market with a new twitter app is going to have a hard time for more reason than discovery. Google can not help this app, only the consumers can. Developers need to make quality apps, and unique apps.
I feel that there are too many people sympathizing with the devs on this. People want to port their iPhone apps to Android and when that doesn’t work, they want to completely walk out on the platform instead of building a new app from the ground up. Many developers complain about fragmentation and having to support many different resolutions, but is that not apart of being a developer? Hell, if the developers stopped supporting older versions of Android maybe that would kick some sense into manufacturers who are still including Android 1.5 in their “hot new” phones.
The biggest problem with all of this is that no one seems to be on the same page. Manufacturers are taking the easy way out by using old Android to re-skin it and call it their own rather than keeping up (which usually fails anyway), Google is out trying to take over the world, and the developers are scurrying around somewhere in the middle. It’s all a mess.
I love the android market.
I voted ‘agreed’…
… learnt to live with v1.0 market, v1.6 seems like a dream in comparison! Realistically I find apps off the website and go get them…
wow… I would have figured with all the talking on this site alone about the market that the Disapprove would be a lot more and the Approve a lot less.