Whenever Steve Jobs takes some time to discuss the iPhone, he loves mentioning how many apps for the iOS platform are available on iTunes. The last official number we heard from Apple is 225,000 apps, and while that’s certainly impressive, the popularity of Android among developers appears to be picking up steam.
According to recently compiled data from the folks at Androlib, the number of apps available for the Android platform is closing in on 100,000 titles.
Android approaching 100,000 apps is certainly a milestone, but there’s a lot more to comparing competing app stores than simply taking a look at the total number of apps available. For example, a higher percentage of iPhone users download paid apps than their Android counterparts. The extent of a device’s app catalogue only tells one part of the story, and while an extensive library of titles is important, it’s only the beginning. For developers to truly flock to a platform, they need to see results. That’s not to say that Android isn’t delivering, but a singular focus on the number of apps is shortsighted.
Still, Android is making waves.
July 14th, 2010 at 4:55 pm
Your bar graph shows that Android is losing steam pretty dramatically..