Ask any techie about the differences between Android and iOS apps, and you'll get the same answer: Apple's apps are more plentiful, and just plain better designed.
And users have responded in kind, eating up iOS apps by the armload. Just this past weekend, Apple surpassed the 25 billion download mark in its App Store. And in terms of overall customer satisfaction, Apple's apps edge out Android apps according to a recent UTest survey.
Google's app platform clearly needs a helpful boost, and thanks to a series of new initiatives, the Android Market could see an uptick in both quantity and quality sooner than you think.
Take Monday's announcement from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. The school's Center for Mobile Learning -- housed inside the famed MIT Media Lab -- has opened its Android App Inventor program for beta testing, granting even the most novice-level programmers the opportunity to create Android apps through a simple, drag-and-drop interface.
The project began in conjunction with Google's research lab years ago as an initiative to democratize Android app development. The idea, as Google sees it, is to spur would-be creators with little to no technical background into app development. Instead of having to type lines of code, users can create a complete (albeit simple) app through a visual interface inside of the Chrome browser. "Like fitting together puzzle pieces," as MIT puts it.
The App Inventor tool also ensures developers don't create a bunch of slipshod code (which is the last thing the Android platform needs). MIT's tool uses pre-programmed chains of actions, relieving entry-level programmers of coding awkward ones and zeroes. So, at the very least, any new apps they create (however basic) will be uniform in quality.
"It’s kind of like what Tumblr or Blogger has done for web development," NPD analyst Ben Arnold told Wired. "It has made it very easy for people to create websites, using rudimentary, almost modular tools."
This may seem like a rudimentary move, and to some degree, it is. Outside of handling security issues, the Android Market market hasn't historically been concerned about quality control. Indeed, part of Android's biggest draw is its openness: Unlike the tightly sealed Apple App Store, which strictly enforces a number of iOS acceptability guidelines, practically anything goes when submitting apps to Android Market.
And this has been a problem for Android's reputation. "Previously, a majority of companies were just looking to get something on Android and not really caring about what the experience would be," said Michael Novak, Android developer and founder of Gigbeat.fm, in an interview. "They just [wanted us to] make it like the iPhone version."
To some degree, user experience hasn't mattered very much to Google either. Apple's iOS had a full year's head start on Android, which meant Google needed to catch up in terms of app numbers -- and needed to do it quickly. What better way than to make its Market completely open?
But things have changed. Android has become a full-fledged platform, spreading its reach from smartphones to tablets to in-dash car audio equipment and beyond. The OS currently holds the top spot in terms of U.S. smartphone platform marketshare, and its app count is growing by the day. Back in December, Android hit the 10 billion download mark. And the Market currently offers more than 300,000 Android apps to users.
So now that Android is a force to be reckoned with, app quality needs to quickly improve. Google's answer to the problem? A slew of developer guidelines and design conventions never previously available, simply titled Android Design.
Before January, developers were never given any sort of "style guide" for creating Android apps. So with each new Android version release, developers were forced to reverse engineer new code from older apps, performing some amount of guess work as to best app-building practices. It's been an enormous headache for developers, and has resulted in lower-quality apps for users.
Enter the Android Design web site, which will be continually updated with a running list of features, suggestions, and development methods, including items as granular as best practices for software button placement to as sweeping as guidelines for screen sizes. Think of it like copy editor's AP Stylebook, but for developers.
Add to this the launch of Android 4.0 (ICS), hands down the most impressively designed version of Android to date, and you've got another sign that Google is taking aesthetics seriously.
"Ice Cream Sandwich set the bar in terms of design," Novak said. "You'll start to see more app developers aiming high when it comes to visual quality."
