Should You Make An Android App?

|  Posted By : megan  In : Advertising, Android, Developer Community, Developer Resources

Everyone’s talking about Android. Developers want to know, is it worth their time to develop for? Is the audience big enough? Is the money there? Check out our latest Mobclix Minute for these answers.

Video Breakdown:

  • iPhone App Store
    • about 175,000 apps
    • about 20% are free
  • Android Marketplace
    • about 30,000 apps
    • about 60% are free
  • Audience/ Users
    • Smaller on Android but growing quickly

What this means for developers:

  • There is less competition (fewer apps) on the Android Marketplace than the App Store. This is great for developers, but keep in mind the audience is also much smaller at the moment.
  • If Android grows as much as we expect it will, this is a huge opportunity for developers.
  • More apps are free on Android, this means an alternate revenue source such as Mobclix advertising is a great way to monetize your app.


Author : Peter
Hi android people dont hate to buy apps app store has click and buy function. Android only credit card if that change android will sell more apps. Android need to add paypall and it will grow big. Peter from the netherlands

Author : FWIW
FWIW, just like app developers need a bank account in "one of 6 countries" many users aren't ABLE to buy paid apps in their region.

Author : Wayne Wenthin
I think Martin hit it on the head. I actually don't get complaints about ads on my game but I have put them at the bottom and hide them when the user needs full screen. As for paid apps I don't believe in them at this point. I am making more from the ads then I probably would with it being a paid app. Android users do hate to pay for things. They even complain when its free.

Author : Matt J.
Martin correctly observes that "Google Android Market Paid Apps piracy security is practically zero", but how long do you think this will persist? Surely Google will respond to the need and fix this -- or alternate markets will overtake and surpass Google Android Market. Google might not even look down on this latter option.

Author : Martin
Of course he would say that..:) I'll tell you developers what is really the case. I am the project manager for biteSMS which is a top 5 global (JB'd) iPhone app and chompSMS a top 50 global Android app. We also have crunchSMS (just launched) for the BlackBerry. Sorry about the self marketing above, but the purpose was to let Developers know that we have a lot of experience here. I don't have space for a full post on monitization options and what works and does not. So I'll need to just pass on a handful of key points: - Android users are not used too and actually hate paying for apps. - In order to offer a paid app the developer needs to have a bank account in one of approx 6 countries, so that's no good for all developers outside these. Then you are into using proxy companies, tax issues etc. Nightmare! - The Google Android Market Paid Apps piracy security is practically zero, so even if you offer a paid app and either live in one of those 6 countries or use a proxy, your app will be so easily available for download elsewhere, that it's not funny. This is also an issue for the iPhone (much less so) but with the Android Market there is virtually no barrier for a user to do this. - Ads are really the only way in our experience to make money on the Android platform. But most of your users will *hate* you for it. Why? because even for those users who want to pay you to remove the apps cannot, because then you are into the Paid app piracy cycle again. Hope this helps.