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baller1308

macrumors 65816
Dec 8, 2009
1,047
191
I wouldn't doubt it. Android should work on reducing it's fragmentation, one of the things I dislike. Too many devices running different versions of Android.
 

sviato

macrumors 68020
Oct 27, 2010
2,425
377
HR 9038 A
My friend who has a Nexus S keeps bragging about how he can get all the apps I have on my iphone for free :rolleyes:
 

b24pgg

macrumors 65816
Jan 28, 2009
1,108
0
CA
My friend who has a Nexus S keeps bragging about how he can get all the apps I have on my iphone for free :rolleyes:
With ads, though.
Nah, without ads.

Almost every paid Android app is available for free online. Usually it just requires a Google search for the app name + ".apk" and it'll be one of the top results (not that I'm condoning the practice.) Android natively allows for the installation of non-Market apps so it's not hard at all to do, and I'd imagine a large percentage of Android users do this.

That's likely what sviato's friend was referring to.
 

greg555

macrumors 6502a
Mar 24, 2005
644
8
Canada
Damn apple made 1 billion of other peoples work

I doubt they made a billion profit since they have hosting costs and credit card costs. And hosting costs for all the free apps too.

That said they did create a store that makes it easy for people to buy things. Don't they deserve to make a profit for that? Should Amazon work on a break-even basis? If not, why should Apple?
 

SporkLover

macrumors 6502
Nov 8, 2011
498
1
I think this is a testament to how wrong Steve Jobs and Apple can be.

In the beginning apple pushed for web based apps, and went after iPhone users who dared to want something other than the paltry apple offerings with iPhone firmware 1.1.1 (before it was ios). If you had installed anything using installer.app and made the mistake of updating then you were bricked.

Great success story of a demanding userbase.

On topic: primary revenue source on the android platform hasn't ever really been sales, it's been ad generated. I remember reading that rovio was Nearly 1 million a month in ad revenue right after their launch on android, and that it would actually earn more from ads than iTunes sales. Just a different model for generating revenue; from that aspect the article is somewhat incomplete.

Coming from the android platform, I'd say that I didn't mind the ads, they weren't too intrusive, with a few exceptions.
 

Virgo

macrumors 6502a
Jun 7, 2011
514
155
Los Angeles, CA
I had my G1 for two years and I never bought a single app. Now I've had an iPhone for less than a month and I've already bought 4 or 5. I feel like I trust the iOS apps to be supported/updated more. And I like that they're backed up in iTunes.
 

iSayuSay

macrumors 68040
Feb 6, 2011
3,789
906
Because many Android people would flash ROM, rooting and just hacking to get a free/pirated copy of Android apps.

Sure iPhone can be jailbroken too and use pirated apps, but Android users seem more stingy. Yeah, some of free apps actually are adware too, so it's normal if Android market has more free apps, but I dont want anything to have ad, that would be ugly. I'd pay but please, no ads.

I'm not saying all, but most, or at least many Android users are just too stingy about paying for apps, they want them all free, either they're too poor or because they feel already bought the handset, so they think it's a must to have the apps free as a complimentary.
 

Learylvr.

macrumors regular
Nov 18, 2011
202
3
Wow.... That's just a wrong in so many ways. Judge much??? I was a rooted android person and so are a large amount of my friends. I left because I didn't believe all the crap Android fanboys said about IPhone. I just wanted to try it myself. I love my 4s, no issues what so ever. For you to say most Android users are stingy or can't afford to buy apps is laughable. We all paid for our apps. And didn't " steal" them. Money was never the issue, quality apps...that was the issue. Wow...unbelievable .
 

iSayuSay

macrumors 68040
Feb 6, 2011
3,789
906
Wow.... That's just a wrong in so many ways. Judge much??? I was a rooted android person and so are a large amount of my friends. I left because I didn't believe all the crap Android fanboys said about IPhone. I just wanted to try it myself. I love my 4s, no issues what so ever. For you to say most Android users are stingy or can't afford to buy apps is laughable. We all paid for our apps. And didn't " steal" them. Money was never the issue, quality apps...that was the issue. Wow...unbelievable .

Maybe you and your Android friends are not most users. But in my place and environment, people do that. :rolleyes:

Read much? Because I already stated earlier not all Android users do that too, but admitedly, Android apps source can be different, unlike the one and only AppStore on iOS (unless jailbroken), and thus give more loopholes about apps being pirated. And that's definitely not good for developer, one of many reasons Android have more apps number, but less good ones. (yeah Android do love numbers, especially on their handset specs)

You dont steal apps? Move along then, it's not like I'm accusing you either.

Oh and one last reminder, does Android hardware company care about apps developer? Does Samsung, or HTC, or Motorola pay a dime for developers who build great paid apps on Android Market? Do they really give a rat ass about apps on Android market?

Yeah, maybe the cut for Android Market is not as big as Apple do on AppStore, but only Google takes care of them, while hardware company supposedly also care and realize that good hardware means nothing without good software to boot.

Because as you know, Apple pay developers 70% of their share. Did Samsung do that?
Another reason why AppStore keeps quality over quantity.
 
Last edited:

Learylvr.

macrumors regular
Nov 18, 2011
202
3
Yes I read plenty. You said most android users.... Wrong, I'm sure plenty android and apple jail breakers do this but not the majority. Enjoy your rant.
 

Wordsmithmac

macrumors member
Oct 23, 2011
80
0
I buy apps. Yes we get the apps u pay for for free too. But I notice iPhone/iOS users will pay for anything even the apps that shouldn't cost that much. Android users are also fine with ads the droid platform is the number one platform for ad revenue. And some developers will charge a buck or two for the ad free version while making ad revenue. It works for the angry birds developers and a few others. If developers can't make money on android it's because their app doesn't appeal to users. It's the same with Mac there are apps on Mac that are free on windows and Linux but cost on Mac while delivering the same quality as the free versions. The iOS/Mac culture is one of paying and for whatever reason making free a bad thing, it's almost elitist or a badge of honor to say I paid for an app that is free everywhere else. It's weird.

As for piracy everything can be pirated if someone wants to pirate so be it. Mac can be pirated, iOS can be pirated, wp7 etc etc et al... It's life.
 

Savor

Suspended
Jun 18, 2010
3,742
918
Piracy and I'm guilty of doing this as well. I have the latest versions of Plants vs Zombies and Cut The Rope all for free as well as paid versions of other apps that are pro versions. And of course all three Angry Birds for free because they are ad supported. Way too easy to pirate. Google the apk and use Astro Manager to install. Piracy is far easier on Android than Windows Phone. Very lax attitude similar to pirating apps on Windows PC's or some video game consoles. Then you have developers dealing with different hardware which creates some fragmentation and how you need a credit card to purchase instead of something as simple as an iTunes card. If you like FREE apps, for better and for worse, Android is the top choice.
 

iSayuSay

macrumors 68040
Feb 6, 2011
3,789
906
Agreed, anything human made can be cracked or pirated if one's so inclined, but the question should be how easy?

iPhone apps can be jailbroken and pirated too, but Android is just way easier to be cracked, almost feels like Google themselves allow us to do so.

Thus have relatively small apps revenue, but Google is no slouch, they're ads master, and most free apps are actually adware.
 

TheComposer

macrumors member
Oct 5, 2011
72
0
Wow.... That's just a wrong in so many ways. Judge much??? I was a rooted android person and so are a large amount of my friends. I left because I didn't believe all the crap Android fanboys said about IPhone. I just wanted to try it myself. I love my 4s, no issues what so ever. For you to say most Android users are stingy or can't afford to buy apps is laughable. We all paid for our apps. And didn't " steal" them. Money was never the issue, quality apps...that was the issue. Wow...unbelievable .

Yeah, because when someone says a generality, they are speaking specifically to you and only you. (And your friends)
 

MacLappy

macrumors 6502a
Jul 28, 2011
529
390
Singapore
I had a HTC sensation and used it as my main phone for quite awhile. The problem with the android market place is that not all apps will work with all phones. I did not know this at first and got burned buying some apps that worked really badly with the HTC sensation. Here are some issues that i have encountered. Wrong aspect ratio, apps utilising only a portion of the total screen area, extreme sluggish performance even when it is capable of working perfectly on devices with much slower system specification. Audio and visual sync issues, wrong textual been displayed. Also when the apps are updated they sometime stop working on devices that they use to work on. In total I bought 7 apps from android marketplace in the 3 plus months that I used it. That is a whole lot less than what I spend on apple's AppStore not taking into account iBooks, movies and songs.
 

super michael

macrumors regular
Aug 1, 2011
190
10
Piracy and I'm guilty of doing this as well. I have the latest versions of Plants vs Zombies and Cut The Rope all for free as well as paid versions of other apps that are pro versions. And of course all three Angry Birds for free because they are ad supported. Way too easy to pirate. Google the apk and use Astro Manager to install. Piracy is far easier on Android than Windows Phone. Very lax attitude similar to pirating apps on Windows PC's or some video game consoles. Then you have developers dealing with different hardware which creates some fragmentation and how you need a credit card to purchase instead of something as simple as an iTunes card. If you like FREE apps, for better and for worse, Android is the top choice.

Sorry but in my country, apple does not sell Itune cards in Gibraltar. I wrote email to apple why they do not sell Itune cards in Gibraltar. Gibraltar is beside spain, but the problem is I heard that the Spanish Itune card does not work on the UK itune store card.

I hate that Apple sell the itune card world wide, except Gibraltar.
 
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