Android catches up to iOS with its 700000 apps

Android has finally managed to catch up with iOS in the number of apps available on the platform. A few days back during the iPad mini launch Apple had said that there were almost 700000 apps available on iOS, which has now been trumped by Google which too has released a rough estimate of the number of apps available on Android and surprisingly both the figures appear to be nearly the same. This can only mean one thing, and it is the fact that iOS users can no longer brag about the number and “variety” of apps available with them, Android is now just as competitive.

Google has managed this feat in a surprisingly short time, specifically with its recent efforts to lure more developers and by improving the overall experience of the Play Store. The main reason developers used to flock to iOS was because of the fact that the platform was well known to be much more monetisable than Android. While this is no longer true, apps available on iOS still appear to be much better in quality than the Android ones. This is partly owing to the fact that apps made on iOS only have to focus on a specific set of known hardware, while the Android ones have to ensure that they work on a variety of screen sizes of varying resolutions. Then there is also the issue of malware being distributed, since Google doesn’t have the stringent approval process as that of Apple in the case of its App Store.

When it comes to the Indian market however, very few Indians are willing to spend the huge premium that the iPhone comes for, whereas some entry level Android devices are available even at one tenth of the price. Besides, Indians markets are known to be usually very price sensitive, and hence apps in the Indian context are expected to be developed for Android first and only then followed by Apple.