A few days ago, Google told Bloomberg that the Play Store now has about 700,000 applications available for Android users to download and enjoy. In comparison, Apple stated a few weeks ago that its App Store also had just over 700,000 apps for iOS users, meaning that the gap between Google and Apple has now effectively closed – at least as far as apps are concerned.
But is this really a good thing for the average end user?
Browsing through the Play Store on my HTC EVO 4G LTE, I can’t tell you how many search results I get that are totally irrelevant to what I’m actually looking for. Because there are so many options, it’s hard to tell what will be worth keeping, and what will turn out to be junk – and I don’t really have the time to try out 20 different calculators just to find the one that will suit my needs best.
This plethora of apps also makes it difficult to find new apps, and even harder for newly-emerging developers to get discovered and “make it big.” No matter how many lists Google releases of “featured app” in certain categories, there are still hundreds, or even thousands, of undiscovered apps that are just as worthy. But it’s impossible to find them, when I’m so scared to download anything unfamiliar due to the chance of being bombarded with annoying ads.
So yes, we now have options. Lots of them. And I’m totally in favor of choice! But is this really a good thing for the average end user? How do we filter out all the noise and find those new gems? How do we navigate through the ever-increasing Android universe?
I don’t really know how to answer those questions – so I guess that’s up to you to decide.
The greatest thing about Android is its openess.
In iOS and WP the user is forced to use the one App Store that Apple and MS in their grace and power are allowing him to use.
Not so with Android. There are alternatives to the Play Store. I can only encourage you to try those out.
You should own your technologie and not be owned by it. There is no reason at all to throw yourself at the mercy of the Play Store and the Corporation behind it.
I think that the Google Play store needs to offer better tools for sorting that 700,000 apps in new ways. I’ve been using the Playbook app that features curated lists of “best-of breed” Android apps.
AppBrain offers social sharing of app lists– these are all methods of helping the best apps rise to the top.
Having to sort through a big pile is always a problem. Search is in Google’s wheelhouse so I’m hoping for good things.
I agree, Google Play needs better tools for searching/sorting. I think they new feature to delete previously downloaded apps from the Myapps list is proof that Google is paying attention.
If the simple ability to sort by rating existed it would help alot. I’m not sure what the “popularity” sorting does, but it seems to only add to the problem.
At this point it seems like they lacked the insight to create enough specific categories to really help give you proper search tools. Going back in time and categorizing 700000 apps might be asking too much.
Agreed that the search results are often ambiguous and overwhelming. Even the ratings are less than helpful at times, and I really can’t trust what others are rating certain apps…. Take Root only apps for example… People rate these 1-star because they can’t get it to work. This makes finding an app, especially emerging ones, very difficult to choose.
I think more/different categories, and maybe better use of keywords would help immensely. Just my $0.02
There could be a sorting tool by amount of downloads. I also agree with what was said above: more search categories. Everything’s so general and it’s really hard to narrow it down
Ditto on all these points. I would love to be able to choose not only the category, but whether it supports/is designed for a tablet or a phone. Right now my only “guided navigation” options are the category and if it’s a free or paid app.
A thought on this could be that, since we are already logged into our google account while doing this browsing, if we could have the ability to filter out apps by name, with an option to re-show it if it’s received an update. This would help me browse through the choices and I wouldn’t have to keep wading through the same apps over any over again.
Perhaps even an option to filter out certain developers, if I have noticed a trend towards lack of quality by that developer? It would behoove the developer then at that point to strive for better quality apps when they know that if they mess up, it’s possible future releases will get ignored.
The app search function definitely needs to allow for more filters. It can be kind of ridiculous trying to find a decent app right now.
Well there is allot of junk on there to sort through but yoy can also get allot of apps that you can’t get on ios. So I don’t mind doing my research. Actually half the apps I download I find out about on here lol.
Number of apps is a crude measure. But it does indicate the popularity of the platform from a development perspective. You want lots of developers working within your ecosystem – because it just generates more buzz and interest, and if there’s any niche that needs to be filled then it’s more likely to be filled.
I say give it time Google is the sh**. It may seem like they’re not listening but they always deliver.
A bit of a useless number, quality of the apps is more important. Google’s Play store has come a long way from the start but the App Store still has more quality apps, then again the devs don’t have the variety of devices to work with like on Android. Some apps work great for some devices and for some its worthless making the rating system hard to rely on.
I think it is actually bad. There are too many apps with twists on one another’s names that figuring out which is which can be confusing. Not personally, but talking to others. Recommending an app can be a terrible mess. I am glad they do have a share option though.
Perhaps Google could come up with a preferred list that would honor good devs and their apps.
you know they have an app for this lol..no seriously though I agree that sorting through all those apps is annoying, I know there are sites that will recommend certain apps, and I usually use those to help me, but also I like the idea google has with 4.2 and their music discovery and hope they may incorporate something similar into the app market
Google Play is for run-of-the-mill Android app-grabbing.
My advice: power users should seriously consider checking out AppBrain.
Lastly, you can find a lot of good independent blog reviews of quality/new appls. Google Play should not be considered a “buck stops here” business model.