Google Not Playing Coy When Wooing New Android Developers
It’s no secret that the Android Market is growing in its app selection by leaps and bounds. The market gained 9000 apps in the month of March alone, and now hosts 38,000 total. [Insert soundboard joke here]. One of the developer’s of the Texts From Last Night app on iPhone recently got in touch with the New York Time’s Blog about Google’s forward approach with developers:
“I received an e-mail yesterday from someone at Google claiming to be in their Android Advocacy Group. He basically said that he wanted to open a line of communication with me in case I chose to port the app to Android, and he offered to ship me a free Nexus One to play around with.
“It shows that Google is actively recruiting developers to their platform, using the enticements of free hardware and open communication.
“Contrast with Apple’s approach: it took us about three months of resubmitting our app to Apple before they stopped rejecting it for inappropriate content. And even now (after we peaked at the No. 7 paid app), we still have no relationship with anyone there. Huge difference in approaches between the two companies.”
It sounds like Google’s open communications policy definitely has some fans among the ranks of mobile app developer’s, and a free Nexus One probably can’t hurt the relationship between developer and content distributor (Hey, Google, can I get me one of those?). Apple does have a history of being a bit of an overbearing parent when it comes to apps. The App Store has a gargantuan selection, but it hasn’t come without plentiful disputes between Apple and content developers.
Google is making proactive moves in securing new, desirable content for the Android platform, and hopefully it will pay off. While there is a great selection of quality apps already available, there are quite a few big name apps that I know I (and many other Android users) can’t wait to see make a debut in the market.
[via NY Times Blog]