Google Android platform financially interesting already?

Question

Good afternoon,

with all the buzz around the iPhone / AppStore etc, I felt it to be a no-brainer to create a nice iPhone application for the web-application I've been putting together, but how's your experience with the Android Platform so far - is it interesting already from a sales & user-volume?

I've had a quick look at the T-Mobile G1 and from an end-user perspective I didn't think it is all to appealing and to me it seems it'll take a while until all this takes off.

Does anyone of you already have an or multiple apps finished for the platform? How's your take on this.. are sales lower/higher than you expected them to be? Is it worth investing the time & money (right now) to build an android version of my app? Being 'worth' obviously is a very flexible term and depends on someone's point of view, but basically right now every hour I don't work on the webapplication itself basically 'has' to pay off fairly quickly.. and that's why I'm reaching out for some real-life experience.

Cheers and thanks, -J

Answer 1

AFAIK it's not possible to publish "non-free" application through Android Market right now. All apps in AM are free at the moment.

Though Google is working on this feature intensively and release is expected soon.

Answer 2

My experience is that Android is pretty much a beta platform at the moment, even if Google doesn't want to admit it... I reckon if you want to sell your Android apps for money, you should probably wait a little bit until the whole platform stabilizes and gains more users (and of course, Google introduces non-free applications in Android Market).

But you could start the development now.

Answer 3

Yeah that's my conclusion after another day of digging and searching, too. I'll get myself accustomed to the platform every now and then but not pursue it extensively just right now.

Thanks!

Answer 4

According to Shopsavvy in their first 75 days, more G1's have been sold than iPhones.. Just a thought to consider.

Answer 5

Regarding making money by charging for your applications: "Starting in early Q1, developers will also be able to distribute paid apps in addition to free apps." [Source: http://android-developers.blogspot.com/2008/10/android-market-now-available-for-users.html ]

I have studied the API of both platforms. If I went to make a two-sentence comparison, I would say that:

iPhone focuses on providing a consistent user experience.

Android focuses on providing freedom to developers to implement or improve whatever they want.

You should also consider weather your particular app benefits from either. E.g. is it text-entry heavy (android) or browsing based (iPhone)?

Is it suitable as an add-on to a basic app, e.g. maps? (android)