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===Non-browsers===
===Non-browsers===
*[http://slideme.org/ SlideME] - Alternative/Complementary Android Marketplace (no country restrictions)
*[http://slideme.org/ SlideME] - Alternative/Complementary Android Marketplace (no country restrictions)
*[http://andappstore.com/AndroidApplications/ AndAppStore] - Alternative App Store with its own download client
*[http://appslib.com/ AppsLib] - Alternative apps market provided by [[Archos]]


===Browsers===
===Browsers===

Revision as of 02:10, 24 August 2010

Android Market
Developer(s)Google
Initial releaseOctober 22, 2008 (2008-10-22)
Operating systemAndroid
SizeOver 100,000 apps [1]
TypeSoftware store
Websitehttp://www.android.com/market/

Android Market is an online software store developed by Google for Android devices. An application program ("app") called "Market" is preinstalled on some Android devices and allows users to browse and download apps published by third-party developers, hosted on Android Market. The website, rather than the Market app itself, provides details of some of the available apps, in particular those that are termed "Featured", "Top Paid" and "Top Free".

File:Androidmarket.png
Android Market running on the HTC Droid Incredible on the Verizon Wireless network

History

The Android Market was announced on 28 August 2008 and was made available to users on 22 October 2008. Priced application support was added for U.S. users and developers in the U.S. and UK in mid-February 2009. UK users gained the ability to purchase priced applications on 13 March 2009.

On 17 March 2009, there were about 2,300 applications available for download from the Android Market, according to T-Mobile chief technical officer Cole Brodman.[2]

By December 2009, there were over 20,000 applications available for download in the Android Market.[3]

By August 2010, there are over 100,000[4] applications available for download in the Android Market, with over 1 billion application downloads[5][6]. Recent months (in 2010) have shown an ever increasing growth rate, recently (in May 2010) surpassing 10,000 additional applications per month.[7]

A report in July 2010 by Distimo showed that the Android Market features the highest percentage of free apps, with over 57% being free to download, double the amount of Apple Inc.'s App Store, in which only 28% of apps are free. Other competitors, such as Nokia's Ovistore and Blackberry's App World had 26%, with Windows Marketplace only having 22%.[8]

Priced applications

Developers of priced applications receive 70% of the application price, with the remaining 30% distributed among carriers (if authorized to receive a fee for applications purchased through their network) and payment processors.[9] Revenue earned from the Android Market is paid to developers via Google Checkout merchant accounts. T-Mobile, the first carrier with an Android device, recently began Android Market update with Google to allow apps to be billed to the account and show up as a charge on the bill.

Availability for users

Priced applications are currently available to Android Market users in only the following countries:

Country Users can purchase apps Developers can sell apps[10]
 Australia Yes No
 Austria Yes (except MVNO) Yes
 Belgium No No
 Canada Yes No
 Denmark No No
 Finland No No
 France Yes Yes
 Germany Yes Yes
 India No No
 Ireland No No
 Italy Yes Yes
 Japan Yes Yes
 Slovakia No No
 South Korea Yes No
 Netherlands Yes Yes
 Norway No No
 New Zealand Yes No
 Pakistan No No
 Spain Yes (except MVNO) Yes
 Sweden No No
 Switzerland Yes No
 United Kingdom Yes Yes
 United States Yes Yes

Users reported problems with at least several mobile virtual network operators (MVNOs) in some of the countries listed above whose subscribers can't access priced applications.

As of 30 April 2010, these problems were fixed, and users of BOB and Jazztel have reported[12] the market showing the paid downloads too.

Availability for developers

Early on, only developers in the U.S. and UK were able to publish priced applications. In an email to Android Market developers on 2 April 2009, Google wrote: "... we are hard at work to enable developers in Germany, Austria, Netherlands, France, and Spain to offer priced applications in the coming weeks. Once merchant support for priced apps are live in these countries, we will announce our plans for launching support for developers in additional geographies."

This was partly realized and, for the time being, developers from Austria, France, Germany, Netherlands, Spain, UK and the U.S. can sell priced applications on the Android Market.[10]

Unlike with the iPhone, there is no requirement that Android apps be acquired from Android Market. Android apps may be obtained from any source including a developer's own website.

Banned applications

On 31 March 2009, Google pulled all tethering applications from the Android Market.[13] Google later restored the applications for Android Market users, except those inside the T-Mobile USA network:[14]

On Monday, several applications that enable tethering were removed from the Android Market catalog because they were in violation of T-Mobile's terms of service in the US. Based on Android's Developer Distribution Agreement (section 7.2), we remove applications from the Android Market catalog that violate the terms of service of a carrier or manufacturer.

We inadvertently unpublished the applications for all carriers, and today we have corrected the problem so that all Android Market users outside the T-Mobile US network will now have access to the applications. We have notified the affected developers.[14]

As of 20 May 2010, PDAnet, Easy Tether and Proxoid were all available in the U.S. market for T-mobile users.

APK file location

The Android Market application is essentially a utility to download APK (Android Package) files. The APK file contains the entire application. Android Market downloads the file to the directory /data/app.

These files are only available to the Linux root user by default but using adb to connect to a root shell the user can access them and change their permissions.

APK files from this directory can be installed on other Android devices without using Android Market.

Security

In June 2010, a study performed on 48,000 Android Market applications by SMobile Systems Inc., revealed that 20 percent of applications asked users for permissions for accessing private or sensitive information which an attacker could use for malicious purposes, such as identity theft or mobile banking fraud. Five percent of applications have the ability to place a call to any number, without user intervention.[15][16][17]

When an app is installed, Android displays all required permissions. At that point the user can decide whether or not to install the application. The user may decide not to install an application whose permission requirements seem excessive or unnecessary. A game may need to enable vibration, for example, but should not need to read messages or access the phonebook.

See also

References

  1. ^ http://www.engadget.com/2010/07/15/android-market-now-has-100-000-apps-passes-1-billion-download-m/
  2. ^ Stephen Lawson (17 March 2009). "Android Market Needs More Filters, T-Mobile Says". PC World.
  3. ^ "Android Market Going Strong, Now Has 20,000 Apps". Maximum PC. 15 December 2009. Retrieved 15 December 2009.
  4. ^ http://www.engadget.com/2010/07/15/android-market-now-has-100-000-apps-passes-1-billion-download-m/
  5. ^ "Android Market Has 100,000 Apps & Passes 1 Billion Downloads". 2009-07-15. Retrieved 2009-07-15.
  6. ^ "Android Market Htis 1 Billion Downloads & 100,000 apps". 2009-07-15. Retrieved 2009-07-15.
  7. ^ "Android Market statistics from AndroLib, Androlib, Android Applications and Games". Androlib.com. Retrieved 2010-05-26.
  8. ^ "Google Android has double the number of free apps than Apple's App Store". Distimo. 15 July 2009. Retrieved 15 July 2009.
  9. ^ "Android Market Developer Distribution Agreement (USA)". android.com.
  10. ^ a b "Supported locations for merchants". Android Market Help.
  11. ^ "Why the operator Simyo in Spain is now banned/blocked to show paid appplications in Market? - Android Market Help". Google.com. Retrieved 2010-05-26.
  12. ^ "Issue 3852 - android - No paid apps in market after changing SIM card! - Project Hosting on Google Code". Code.google.com. 2009-09-10. Retrieved 2010-05-26.
  13. ^ "Banned from the Market... ok". False Dichotomies. Retrieved 2010-05-26.
  14. ^ a b Krazit, Tom (2009-04-02). "Google restores tethering app for Android users outside U.S. | Wireless - CNET News". News.cnet.com. Retrieved 2010-05-26.
  15. ^ "SMobile Systems Analysis of Android App Store Reveals Massive Potential for Malware and Viruses". prnewswire.com. 2009-06-22. Retrieved 2010-06-27.
  16. ^ "Threat Analysis of the Android Market" (PDF). smobilesystems.com. 2009-06-22. Retrieved 2010-06-27.
  17. ^ "20 % des applications de l'Android Market demandent l'accès à des données personnelles". Le Monde. 2009-06-23. Retrieved 2010-06-27.

Non-browsers

  • SlideME - Alternative/Complementary Android Marketplace (no country restrictions)
  • AndAppStore - Alternative App Store with its own download client
  • AppsLib - Alternative apps market provided by Archos

Browsers


Template:Digital distribution platforms

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