37% Of Published Android Apps Were Later Removed, Compared To 24% Of iOS Apps | Hacker News Reader

37% Of Published Android Apps Were Later Removed, Compared To 24% Of iOS Apps

techcrunch.com

20 pointssunsu6 comments

The majority of the apps were removed by their publishers, not by Apple/Google. Currently, my Android Market account has about 20 apps in it, of which only 1 is actually public. I've unpublished the rest because:

1. they just weren't successful enough to be worth supporting them

2. android OS updates broke them

3. services (both web and OS) that the apps were depending on have disappeared

4. some were beta, which were unpublished once the final version was released

I'm sure that's the case with most unpublished apps too.

edit: formatting

I would have thought the primary reason an iOS app would be removed from the store (once already approved) is that the developer stopped paying the $99/year to renew their account.

This is definitely a contributing factor, but apple are also known for aggressively culling apps which are too basic or too numerous. (E.g. flashlight apps) The quality of the apps available are infinitely more important than how many apps are available. The exclusivity of iApps on the mac was one of the most important factors in the resurrection of the mac platform.

That said it's in the consumers interest to discontinue apps which the vendor is no longer supporting, aka abandonware. The annual subscription fee is a nominal cost to professionals (and a tax deduction) and clearly not an apple revenue strategy.

Overall: The advice given is to developers who wish to get out of the app store/ publishing business is to sell or license the rights to their mobile app, creating a win/win situation for both the parting developer and the consumer.

It's important to note in passing that the App Market isn't the only way to install an app on an Android device.

In fact, there are apps that have been or currently are exclusive to non-Google stores (e.g. Angry Birds Rio when the Amazon Appstore launched or the Dolphin upgrade at GetJar right now).

When reports like this talk about total number of apps (which is almost always less than what the platform holder announces) I often wonder if the report is only looking at a single region.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com