This week downloads of apps for Android surpassed the ten billion mark. To celebrate, Google are making some of the more popular apps for Android available at a knockdown fee of just 10 American cents. The figure highlights the increased growth of the android platform, as it took just one month to go from nine billion downloads to ten billion apps for Android downloaded, whereas it had previously taken twenty two months for the first billion apps for Android to be downloaded.
This increase in growth has lead analysts to believe that downloaded apps for Android will surpass the number of app downloads Apple has registered in the next year. Apple reached the 10 billion mark in July, however apps for Android are now being downloaded at a faster rate. Android phones account for 52% of the smartphone market, however until now iOS apps had still proved more popular with developers as owners of Apple smartphones and tablets tended to download more. However this now looks set to change, and should developers see more potential revenue from developing apps for Android then Google’s smartphone platform may establish a position of dominance in the market.
However the achievement has been accompanied by controversy this month as it has been found that many Android phones and some iPhone contain software called Carrier IQ. This software can record a users use of apps for Android, their location, and basically all keystrokes input to the phone, and can then send the data back to the phones network. So far it has only been found on phones in the US with all British networks denying its use. While Carrier IQ claims good intentions in providing diagnostics to improve service, many have taken issue with a program that monitors their actions being installed on their phone without their consent.
No comments:
Post a Comment