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With Android you don't have to go through their store. For example I bought one Humble Bundle [1] pack of Android games (which was quite successful) directly fr

With Android you don't have to go through their store. For example I bought one Humble Bundle [1] pack of Android games (which was quite successful) directly from their website. Then I got a link in my email for their downloads and I could install them directly. > given how few people actually look anywhere else but the play store I do not believe the truthfulness of this statement, considering how many services get popular outside any app store. Do you think people find out about Twitter or DropBox by browsing the app store? > you are going to take a hit much larger than 30% if you are not in google play It really depends on what channels of distribution you can tap into. Some apps are popular only because they get promoted on the play store. Other apps are popular by other means. And no, you don't necessarily need a middleman. IMHO, Android is much better in every regard, because on Android the walled garden is optional for everybody. [1] http://www.humblebundle.com/ http://www.humblebundle.com/

JuDue 14y ago
Yet so many Android phones are walled gardens in relation to manufacturer spamware and crippled upgrade paths. Profiting from apps is hard for the majority of devs, and generally acknowledged to be more so on Android.
luke_s 14y ago
Heh, actually I bought the Android humble bundle as well. I loved the fact that they could do something like that on Android. Its true that there are loads of services that people find outside the app/play store such as twitter or drop box. But if I wanted to install a drop box client, the first place I would go is to the play store to search for dropbox! It would be a really interesting experiment for an existing service to host an .apk on their website in addition to listing in the google play store. I wonder how many people would side load the app, vs just going through play?

JuDue 14y ago

Yet so many Android phones are walled gardens in relation to manufacturer spamware and crippled upgrade paths. Profiting from apps is hard for the majority of devs, and generally acknowledged to be more so on Android.

luke_s 14y ago

Heh, actually I bought the Android humble bundle as well. I loved the fact that they could do something like that on Android. Its true that there are loads of services that people find outside the app/play store such as twitter or drop box. But if I wanted to install a drop box client, the first place I would go is to the play store to search for dropbox! It would be a really interesting experiment for an existing service to host an .apk on their website in addition to listing in the google play store. I wonder how many people would side load the app, vs just going through play?