The other day I had to sign up for a new podcast. I usually do it through Apple iTunes as I am familiar with the interface and site design (as any other iPod or iPhone user). In order to subscribe, I opened the Store tab and searched for the required podcast. While I was doing all this, I saw a link to the AppStore. And I started to subconsciously compare Apple’s AppStore to the Android Market. I realised how easy-to-use and consistent AppStore is – it doesn’t matter whether you access it from your iPhone or notebook computer – user experience stays the same. Android’s web store, on the other hand, is average at best. Why is that?
I understand that when Apple released iPhone, they already had a powerful tool like iTunes to take advantage of. And all they had to do was to build an interface for purchasing and downloading applications to iPhones and Touches. On the other hand, interfaces of mobile versions of both Market and AppStore (those that are loaded on the devices themselves) are very similar in functionality and design, and even in structure and logic. The mobile version of the Market is clean and user-friendly, and goes on par with the AppStore. But the Web version – it is something very ordinary.
There are no categories in the Android Market (except for a general list for paid programs); there is no search function… Generally speaking there is nothing there except for a few hundred applications (out of thousands that exist for Android), that are divided into two groups: free and paid programs. Moreover, the only thing you can really do in this version of the Market is to go to the developer’s website, and read a short description and view pictures. No user ratings or comments from the mobile version of the Market are available here.
The question is – why maintain this version of the Market. Looking at the state of the site it is clear that Google is not interested in it. Android device manufacturers and application developers don’t show much interest either. In my opinion there are three options for the Market:
1. In the next 6-12 months Google will decide to improve and promote this version of the Market. It will get associated with the mobile version, or just re-developed to include all the software, rankings and much more.
2. Google will give a clear message to its partners that the company is not interested in this version of the Market and no further improvements will be done to the site. In this case an odd situation can occur, when some manufacturers or developers may decide to create their own versions of the Market and integrate these versions with the mobile devices instead of the standard Market application. Companies that already developed Market counterparts will have a good chance to dominate this niche.
3. The current version of the Market will be removed completely and users will have two options – use the mobile version of the Market or use alternative application sites. You might want to check androlib.com – it is a good alternative to the official Android Market.
Hopefully the situation will improve and users will have two fully featured versions.
What do you think?
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