Wednesday, April 6, 2011

Mobile Content Distribution Platforms (App Stores): Ecosystem

The App Store Ecosystem

There is a shift in the philosophy of mobile operating systems. They are now more open as compared to the closed and proprietary systems of yester years. Mobile platforms like iPhone, Symbian, and Android provide companies and developers with SDK to create their own applications. With this open mindset, there is an explosion of platforms that distribute this mobile content or applications. Apple likes to call its platform "AppStore" and Google calls it "Android Market".

Mobile content distribution platforms are hosted by carriers (Verizon's VzAppStore, Sprint's Software Store), vendors (Motorola, Samsung), OS providers (Palm's AppCatalog, Nokia's Ovistore, Google's Android Market, Apple's AppStore or Nokia's OviStore), or even third party companies (GetJar, AndSpot). On the devices front Sony has a PlayStation Store and there is a DSi Shop for Nintendo DSi. Some of these platforms cater to one single platform while other cater to a wide number of them. AppStore for Apple only caters to applications targeted to iOS. Similarly, Android Market only caters to Android based applications.

Amazon AppStore

Amazon is a new player in the App Store Ecosystem. It is targeted for Android apps only. Launched last week, it is enticing users with a free app every day. Users have to download Amazon's AppStore app and this app then helps download other apps available on Amazon's AppStore. I will not be surprised if in future devices Amazon's AppStore will come bundled with the ROM. All applications on Amazon's AppStore are vetted by Amazon so we can expect better quality.

Amazon AppStore vs. Google's Android Market

I played around with Amazon's appstore and below is a small comparison list.
  • Content Uploading: Android Market is open to any developer with good standing. Amazon curates the apps it loads on it's appstore. The app is wrapped in Amazon's wrapper code and then uploaded.
  • Quantity and Quality: The number of apps on Market is much more than AppStore and I think it will continue to be more since it is open. However the quality of apps might be better on AppStore as they are carefully reviewed by Amazon.
  • Security: Amazon's AppStore loads apps via side loading. So users need to enable the checkbox which lets users install applications from unknown sources. Another bullet point is that the remote wipe feature is missing from Amazon's app store. This means if an app is identified as malicious, it
  • Return Policy: Apps once downloaded by Amazon AppStore cannot be returned.
  • UI: I find both equally comfortable. Amazon's AppStore is more sleek and stylist (if I can say that) but Google Market is more easy to navigate and more intuitive.