Android App Quality Pathetically Low Says Developer

Hugh Pickens writes "Christopher Mims writes at MIT Technology Review that Mika Mobile, developer of Battleheart, a big hit on both the iOS and Android platforms, says that 'a polished, high quality product is more likely to be embraced on Android than on iOS because the quality bar on the android market is so pathetically low.' Evidence to that effect comes from the fact that 'on iOS, user reviews for Battleheart average 4.5 stars (4000 total ratings), which is quite good. On Android it's a stunning 4.8, with 1000 ratings,' writes the developer. 'So not only is it reviewed more highly, it's also reviewed more often, with a huge percentage of android users taking the time to rate the app. I think the lack of competition makes quality apps really stand out, and generates a lot of enthusiasm from app-starved android users." Mika Mobile adds that the most frustrating part about developing for Android is dealing with the deluge of support e-mail, most of which is related to download and installation problems which have nothing to do with the app itself, and everything to do with the Android OS and market having innate technical problems. 'Do some googling for "can't download apps from android market" or similar wording, and you'll see that this is a widespread chronic issue for all devices and all OS versions,' writes the developer. 'Based on the amount of e-mails I get every day, download problems effect 1-2% of all buyers, or in more practical terms, somewhere between two and three s**t-loads.'"

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4000 1000?

[Anonymous Coward]

"on iOS, user reviews for Battleheart average 4.5 stars (4000 total ratings), which is quite good. On Android it's a stunning 4.8, with 1000 ratings," writes the developer. "So not only is it reviewed more highly, it's also reviewed more often

It does not seem to be rated that much more highly, and it is certainly not reviewed more often.

Of course it is. And it's not just Android.

[thePowerOfGrayskull]

When you lower the barriers of entry sufficiently, you reap the rewards. All of the rewards. Not really news.

Re:Title

[delinear]

I was thinking more "Developer figures out way to get plenty of eyeballs on his press release (by mentioning Android and iOS) which just happens to mention how highly his game is rated on the two systems", but I guess that was too long and not nearly inflammatory enough. Seriously, though, blatant slashvertisement wrapped up in flamebait language to generate lots of clicks - pretty much par for the course.

Re:Uhhh...

[jedidiah]

No. It's "blame apple fanboys for FUD and rhetoric".

I enjoy the fact that I dumped Apple every time I need to manage media or clean out my SMS messages.

I am less interested in the store, or how much money Google is making, or how much money app developers are making.

I am more interested in the actual phone.

Re:Do people pay money for Android apps?

[steelfood]

When all of your users are willing to pay the Apple tax, you know they're casual with how they spend money.

When you have a diverse device base, you likewise have a diverse user base. Of course percentage-wise, the iOS users will be more willing to spend money compared to Android as an ecosystem.

Re:99% of everything is crap, says everyone

[Altus]

That is an understandable way to feel, but if you really think about the level of complexity, nothing a carpenter does is nearly as complex as most applications. If you thought of ever line of code as a single piece of clockwork connected with other pieces of clockwork, an average application would be a clockwork construction about the size of a tractor trailer. The level of complexity is actually kind of staggering when you think about it. I'm often amazed that software works as well as it does.

Re:Uhhh...

[iamhassi]

Did you miss the part of the story where he says Android users have more support issues? So much for being more tech savvy. In my experience it's been the opposite, iPhone users are tech savvy and went iOS because it has all the big developers and the good apps and the android users were not tech savvy but easily impressed by the whiz bang features (ohhh... 8mp!) and could not really afford an IPhone. I've never met a droid user who bought it because they wanted it, every smartphone argument includes "yeah but you paid $200+ for your iPhone and I only paid....".