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Won't this change as the need for iTunes and external synchronization goes away? Apple has made a big deal about future iOS devices not requiring a PC for sync.

by yock 15y ago

Won't this change as the need for iTunes and external synchronization goes away? Apple has made a big deal about future iOS devices not requiring a PC for sync. Does the app store on iOS devices provide similar discovery mechanisms or will iOS apps soon find themselves in a similar position as Android?

roc 15y ago
I wouldn't think so. The only thing that's changing is the requirement to plug an iOS device into an iTunes-running PC to do OS updates and backups. And there's a very large contingent of users who rarely (if ever) did those things after the initial setup anyway. So if cutting that cord was going to negatively effect sales, I'd expect that's long since been reflected in the numbers. All that said, I have no idea what discovery mechanisms people think are so key in iTunes vs Android market. The only apps I "discovered" via iTunes were in the top lists and dev picks; features I'm pretty sure every app store has in stand-alone marketplace apps, on-device apps and web stores. The big difference to me, between iTunes and Android marketplace is that when I search for an app in iTunes I don't really even think about getting the 'right' one. Sure, there are some "Angry Bird Cheats!" sorts of apps out there, but precious few apps are of the shameful knockoff/deliberately misleading variety. With Android marketplace, last I waded through it, there remained significant confusion over knockoffs and misleading apps and non-trivial effort required to try to ensure that I'd found the 'right' app and then all sorts of doubt raised by those UAC prompts. (why would a social game want access to my call log? was this really the right app? what the hell did i just install?) If Google really wanted to sell more apps, I think they'd clean that up. But (as I've said before) I get this feeling that Google really doesn't care for apps. And would much prefer it if people just used the browser.
- gonzo 15y ago
  With iOS 5, both OS updates and backups can happen without plugging into iTunes.

by yock 15y ago

roc 15y ago

I wouldn't think so. The only thing that's changing is the requirement to plug an iOS device into an iTunes-running PC to do OS updates and backups. And there's a very large contingent of users who rarely (if ever) did those things after the initial setup anyway. So if cutting that cord was going to negatively effect sales, I'd expect that's long since been reflected in the numbers. All that said, I have no idea what discovery mechanisms people think are so key in iTunes vs Android market. The only apps I "discovered" via iTunes were in the top lists and dev picks; features I'm pretty sure every app store has in stand-alone marketplace apps, on-device apps and web stores. The big difference to me, between iTunes and Android marketplace is that when I search for an app in iTunes I don't really even think about getting the 'right' one. Sure, there are some "Angry Bird Cheats!" sorts of apps out there, but precious few apps are of the shameful knockoff/deliberately misleading variety. With Android marketplace, last I waded through it, there remained significant confusion over knockoffs and misleading apps and non-trivial effort required to try to ensure that I'd found the 'right' app and then all sorts of doubt raised by those UAC prompts. (why would a social game want access to my call log? was this really the right app? what the hell did i just install?) If Google really wanted to sell more apps, I think they'd clean that up. But (as I've said before) I get this feeling that Google really doesn't care for apps. And would much prefer it if people just used the browser.

gonzo 15y ago
With iOS 5, both OS updates and backups can happen without plugging into iTunes.