Apps are a big deal these days. Every platform needs a good app store, especially on mobile devices, if it wants to be remotely successful. As a result, Google and Apple have always been at each other's throats regarding who has the best applications for mobile phones. However, now that most popular apps are available on both platforms, an interesting variance in the top titles is apparent. In fact, both platforms' top ten paid application lists only share one application: Fruit Ninja.
Before I begin theorizing about this, let's take a look at the data.
First, here are the top ten pay apps in the Apple App Store:
- Angry Birds
- Angry Birds Rio
- Tiny Wings
- Fruit Ninja
- Where's Waldo?
- Tetris
- Words with Friends
- The Sims 3
- Cut the Rope
- Plants vs Zombies
Next, here are the top ten pay apps in the Android Market:
- Beautiful Widgets
- ROM Manager Premium
- Root Explorer
- Fruit Ninja
- Better Keyboard
- Robo Defense
- SetCPU
- WeatherBug Elite
- Titanium Backup Pro
- Power AMP Full
Now that we have looked at the data, allow me to share some of my observations.
The first thing I notice is that every single application on the iPhone's list is a game, while only two of Android's apps are. This may not be quite fair to Apple, as Angry Birds and Angry Birds Rio are free apps in the Market, but this too is another difference between the app stores. Many for-pay iOS apps are available for free on Android because they're ad-supported.
Another significant observation is that four of Android's top apps are root-only, which implies that many users have rooted devices. Not only that, when you include applications that would be blocked from the Apple App Store (Better Keyboard and Power AMP) and that simply would not work on iOS (Beautiful Widgets), seven of the Android apps will likely never be available on iOS.
These observations are not meant as a dig at either platform; each has its own advantages. However, this list does imply that iOS users are more casual users, whereas Android users are into rooting, or at least replacing stock software. It will be interesting to see if the applications change as Android makes its way into the hands of more "casual" consumers, but for now it looks like most Android users are still geeks and iOS still has the best games.
[Retrevo]
I’m not so sure that Android really falls into the geek category at this point. It just sounds too niche. From all the articles that I’ve come across, Android usage surpasses iOS (smartphone) here in the US by quite a large margin already so it’s already being used by the masses.
Here’s just one of the many links detailing usage (36.4% Androuid vs 26% Apple Smartphone):
http://www.mediapost.com/publications/?fa=Articles.showArticle&art_aid=151642
If you take a look at a Desktop OS like Windows and review the top downloads on cNet, for example, you’ll note that games generally don’t appear listed here. Also, if you take a look at Amazon’s best-selling applications for the Windows platform… also no games.
I realize it’s difficult to evaluate the different platforms (and we do it for fun, anyway) but my feeling is that people generally view Android as a system. It’s their’s to do with what they want – just like Windows, like Linux, like MacOS.
Apple, already niche (but trying to move away from this), may have continued to perpetuate this among users by targeting specific industries. First music, then gaming, now eBooks. It may have the effect on the general public that the device is intended for specific use (or uses). This effect attracts certain groups of users. It even attracts certain newbie users looking for just an mp3 player or an eBook reader or portable gaming device because the products are being marketed this way.
Desktop OSes and Android (which doesn’t sell specifics) basically tell users – you can do anything on this! Android further confirms their position as a possible viable “do-all” OS alternative with it’s appearance on tablets and more importantly… notebooks/netbooks. In the end, it’s attracting the same type of users that the Big-Three OSes are attracting.