The Android Market(tomkleinpeter.com)
tomkleinpeter.com
The Android Market
http://www.tomkleinpeter.com/2010/10/12/the-android-market/
27 comments
To anyone who thinks: that a very small team creating an entire, enormously complex operating system, with unending goals for platforms improvements, that has already been successfully iterating at an extreme pace, is up against enormous competition from Apple and Microsoft, and is playing the long game for the future of mobile and computing as a whole... is really ignoring these extremely common complaints and resting on its laurels...
...uh, really? There are many very concrete reasons to believe they know about the vast majority of these issues and have respective solutions addressing them somewhere in their product roadmap. (ie, major UI revision in Gingerbread, along with optimization for tablets.) That, and they've been overwhelmingly successful so far, as Android phones now consistently outsell the iPhone each quarter.
...uh, really? There are many very concrete reasons to believe they know about the vast majority of these issues and have respective solutions addressing them somewhere in their product roadmap. (ie, major UI revision in Gingerbread, along with optimization for tablets.) That, and they've been overwhelmingly successful so far, as Android phones now consistently outsell the iPhone each quarter.
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I'm sure they are working hard. I don't think anyone is resting on their laurels. But I'm not seeing any results. I'm guessing that they keep running into problems shipping an overly designed new thing, but since it will be ready any day now, they aren't putting any resources into patching up the old thing that I have to deal with.
> ...a very small team creating an entire, enormously complex operating system...
I don't think the size of the team is a defense against the OP's critique. Criticism of Google's handling of the Android market includes the decision about how much man-power to devote to it.
This isn't a personal attack on the team members.
I don't think the size of the team is a defense against the OP's critique. Criticism of Google's handling of the Android market includes the decision about how much man-power to devote to it.
This isn't a personal attack on the team members.
If the team size is a problem, maybe we can hold a bake sale so Google can hire another engineer or two.
Also, consider how Google just added Market support for buying and selling paid apps in ~20 countries:
http://www.androidcentral.com/google-expands-paid-app-suppor...
The improvements really are constantly coming.
The improvements really are constantly coming.
Yeah, well, my country is still not on that list; although it is available in the iTunes store.
You consider it an improvement, I consider it a late partial fix of what should've been there from the start.
You consider it an improvement, I consider it a late partial fix of what should've been there from the start.
I'm having a hard time telling if you're being sarcastic or not.
Thinking about this a little, I can kind of understand why Amazon would consider entering this business. Even if Apple would allow it, probably no other company would invest significant resources into trying to unseat the Apple AppStore. You have to have some kind of leverage to beat a competitor like that.
The situation is different with Android. Building a better app marketplace than the Android market is not exactly a very high bar to leap.
The situation is different with Android. Building a better app marketplace than the Android market is not exactly a very high bar to leap.
Microsoft will also invest.
You could fill pages with things that can be improved on Android Market (most of which are available on the App Store). Most shortcoming are well documented - things that I would like to see personally:
- ability to publish what changed in an update
- track number of users who upgraded vs new users
- ability to search for apps and see reviews on http://www.android.com/market/ (that website is practically useless)
- ability to publish what changed in an update
- track number of users who upgraded vs new users
- ability to search for apps and see reviews on http://www.android.com/market/ (that website is practically useless)
The market client also needs some improvement: for example, the search feature isn't very good. Searching for "ADW Launcher" brings up countless pages of themes for the ADW Launcher before showing the actual launcher app itself.
I completely agree with you. You would figure that a search giant would have a good search implementation in their Marketplace.
You already can publish changes by including them in the app description or in the update-install approval dialog box.
They showed their cloud syncing online store at Google IO. Watch, starting around 31:10 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IY3U2GXhz44
The whole video is very much worth watching for any developers.
They showed their cloud syncing online store at Google IO. Watch, starting around 31:10 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IY3U2GXhz44
The whole video is very much worth watching for any developers.
Ugh, so tired of reading these posts. Has everyone so quickly forgotten Google IO? They know there are problems with the Market, they plan on having them fixed for the release of Gingerbread, which according to rumors (which indicate the SDK will be out next week) could be very soon.
If anything, I think there should be far more of these posts, and have been thinking of compiling my own list on my blog. There has been no indication from Google that they think anything is wrong with the market or that they're planning to fix it.
Agreed. In general, Google is still incredibly poor about this kind of communication.
Historically, when search was really their sole product, it was annoying but tolerable. Unhappy with them? Use a different search engine.
The bar moves, IMO, when you start asking people to invest (time or money) in your product. Dynamic is exactly the same with Google Apps "Enterprise" edition. When people are paying you hundreds or thousands of dollars a year, many have a reasonable expectation that the company will let them know when certain critical bugs/performance issues are going to be fixed.
Although they've improved a little, for the most part they continue to suck at this. It doesn't seem to be in their DNA.
Historically, when search was really their sole product, it was annoying but tolerable. Unhappy with them? Use a different search engine.
The bar moves, IMO, when you start asking people to invest (time or money) in your product. Dynamic is exactly the same with Google Apps "Enterprise" edition. When people are paying you hundreds or thousands of dollars a year, many have a reasonable expectation that the company will let them know when certain critical bugs/performance issues are going to be fixed.
Although they've improved a little, for the most part they continue to suck at this. It doesn't seem to be in their DNA.
The Android mailing lists are littered with these same complaints about the market. Google rarely gives any indications of what they are working on, but they are no doubt aware of them.
There's aware-and-doing-something-about-it and aware-and-don't-care. Don't get me wrong, I'm a big fan of Android both dev-side (I had my first app on the Market a month after it launched) and user-side, and while I'm very happy with Android's progress, the Market is, IMO, the weakest part of the package these days.
... What are you talking about? They have plans for a web interface that does the equivalent of app-to-phone like chrome-to-phone. They have acknowledged problems with app discovery and with the lack of a proper ranking system/algorithm.
This was all discussed at Google IO when they announced JIT/Froyo. How can you say Google hasn't indicated there is a problem? I guess they're just planning a complete revamp/redo of the market for giggles?
This was all discussed at Google IO when they announced JIT/Froyo. How can you say Google hasn't indicated there is a problem? I guess they're just planning a complete revamp/redo of the market for giggles?
Devs are in pain right now, and considering that Google does web apps for a living, it is actually quite mindbogglingly that the Marketplace sucks so badly.
If they discussed these at Google IO, that's irrelevant: they should just deliver, everything else matters less.
Another annoyance the article hasn't mentioned: my European country is not on their frickin' list (not even with the latest update) and I cannot upload priced apps, even though I can do that in Apple's iTunes store. I mean, WTF ?!?
If they discussed these at Google IO, that's irrelevant: they should just deliver, everything else matters less.
Another annoyance the article hasn't mentioned: my European country is not on their frickin' list (not even with the latest update) and I cannot upload priced apps, even though I can do that in Apple's iTunes store. I mean, WTF ?!?
> It is actually quite mindbogglingly that the Marketplace sucks so badly [...] they should just deliver, everything else matters less.
I agree, but I still don't agree with this...
> There has been no indication from Google that they think anything is wrong with the market or that they're planning to fix it.
I agree, but I still don't agree with this...
> There has been no indication from Google that they think anything is wrong with the market or that they're planning to fix it.
Complaints should only stop rolling in when they're resolved, not when resolutions are announced for the next major upgrade.
What's Google IO? What's Gingerbread?
IO = Google's annual developer conference.
Gingerbread = Android 3.0, coming by the end of the year.
Honeycomb = Android 3.5, coming next year, with further optimizations for tablets.
Gingerbread = Android 3.0, coming by the end of the year.
Honeycomb = Android 3.5, coming next year, with further optimizations for tablets.
These posts are very valuable for people thinking about starting Android programming right now.
Hopefully, as they continue to improve the OS, they will improve the Marketplace as well.
(Side: I am still waiting to even hear another thing about the Desktop version that was demoed at the Google IO this year.)