Google Play is Now the Largest Application Store

Google-Play-Logo

After almost 5 years of its release, Google’s Play Store, formerly known as Android Market has finally overtaken Apple’s App Store to become the largest online application market in the world. The store now contains over a million apps compared to its nemesis’ 900,000+ apps.

The number of downloaded apps has also reached 50 billion and the amount of money developers are now making is almost 2.5 times the money which was made before. The figures are certainly understandable especially since Android is currently being used by several hundred manufacturers worldwide in millions of devices.

The figures are also better than those posted by the App Store and other online stores at this very moment of their lifespan, as Android has got apps quicker than anyone.

It doesn’t seem too long ago when Google changed the name of the store and added the “Play” button in the search engine, but the amount of development made on that front is quite incredible too. The company only recently redesigned the entire section again from scratch to make it more user-friendly.

Given Google Play’s lead now, it’s highly unlikely that the store will see its top spot snatched in the future.


    • Ofcourse achievement to get numerous “Widgets” or thousands of variants of applications which basically do the same thing.

      • Atleast Its Better then Giving Bucks for Buying Same “Widgets ” from Apple Itunes

        • ?…have u ever used iOS? your statement makes it clear you’ve never used it. you don’t know anything rather than android.

        • Most likely.

          Apple believe in Quality than Quantity. What Apple earns from a few million apps Google could not do with this number.

            • Actually you gotta admit that middle class in Pakistan is more concerned to pay their bills and earn to feed their kids than buying a frigging smarta$s phone

  • And the story goes like, Google had developed a Google Maps App for iphone and wanted to publish it on itunes ( Apple app Store). Apple somehow had rejected that app from being added to their store.

    Now Google was so angry that they brought a mobile platform which brought Apple on toes.

  • Who cares? Quality of apps available on iOS is no where near to what Android offers. I have used both…iOS rules in that area.

    • yeh you are right. quality of iOS apps may be better but publishing an app on appstore is hell of a process. plus every famous application must have an android version.

  • iOS with 2-3 devices has got more apps as compared to Zillion manufacturers & their Android cheapees…… Quite a ludicrous comparison if you contemplate on that…

    • Number of devices doesn’t count. Cheaper hardware means more users means more apps. Don’t look at the number of apps, look at the GROWTH in number of apps.

      • Growth? find a file manager or task manager in playstore there will be 10000 of apps which basically do the same things.. only two or three of those apps will worth the download others will be just a garbage. Definitely its a growth of garbage.

          • Not more than android trolls, and this is the most illogic response of my question… have you forgotten that apple has issued guide lines to developers since 2010 that they wont approve any fart apps.. Where are you living now a days? on hills or in Madagascar by the way?

            • Nice “guideline” but I know of a software house in Lahore that worked on a fart app in 2012. For iOS client. And it is on the store. Verified in person.

          • and keep counting it on un-official android search engine… there may be more than these on Play Store …
            appszoom*com/android_applications/fart?p=500

            • I suggest you actually try to see the innovation in recent Google I/O, and the app quality guidelines on android official developers site. There are good apps. Many good apps.

      • Which invariably proves the point! doesn’t it Shahid?! what if iOS was open source & Hardware Compatible like Android! Bet there would’ve been 3M apps by now in App Store!!

        • Yes, of course. Since iOS was there first, and had a huge advantage and still does. But you have the problem where if you look at where innovation is, you’re not seeing it on iOS any more.

          For example, Google now has an API that lets your application know if the user is standing still, or in a vehicle, or has tilted the phone (picked it up off the desk to check it). It is the Activity Recognition Client. This is incredibly useful for apps that update information off the internet, like cricket scores or stock market prices. For example, you can configure your app that when it sees the user standing still while the app is running, it means give them faster updates. When they are in a vehicle (it uses the accelerometer + location fixes to determine that), then give them slower updates (they are less likely to be looking at the screen).

          similarly, the new Play Game services are like GameKit on iOS but parts of it are multiplatform (web, iOS and Android all three). When you look at Apple, all Apple does it make stuff for Apple. When you look at Google, it makes stuff for web and iOS as well as Android.

          • “Apple does it make stuff for Apple. When you look at Google, it makes stuff for web and iOS as well as Android.” So what? do you think they are loyal with customers or these platforms? no! google wedging down the google plus, google maps, youtube, gmail, adsense to your throat for what? to expand their services.. … to show ads on apps…. to make money … just like apple… every company has own way of doing its business. Google prefers open plat forms apple does exclusive things.. We all know that open platforms will probably be always on top rather than closed platforms …So who is more hungry? apple or google?

            • Apple charges more for their products, and always has. Clear answer to your question about who is hungry.

              • You don’t say that? Of-course they will, their services are not wide as google… every closed platform charges more than open platform when they develop something exclusive, like blackberry was doing infact apple is more better than blackberry, apple offers more content and services than blackberry.. … Apple has not something like adsense. Premium things come with quality…. come with zero ads…. comes with more security..
                o*canada*com/2013/03/07/android-devices-are-very-suseptable-to-viruses/
                bloomberg*com/news/2011-01-12/google-s-android-more-vulnerable-to-viruses-than-iphone-trend-micro-says.html

                • And also it would not be appropriate comparison if you started comparing iAd with Ad-sense :D

                  • Would it be appropriate if I talked about custom roms for Android (built from freely available source code) that do not talk to Google and thus are not vulnerable to PRISM?

                    Who’s secure now?

                    • You are completely off to the point now… that’s another issue.. what if on those roms i use Facebook.. Gmail… Youtube… Ebay… Twitter.. i know how these companies share information with agencies.. but atleast I know while im sharing my personal details myself with these companies.. but its different from a trojan and spam..virus.. Virus can be of any kind.. It can harm.. …slow my device… steam my information… shut my phone off or something more malicious execution..

                    • Are these roms come without Gmail.. Youtube… Google Maps? And adsense is almost in 70% apps. up to what extent i can use it without a google account?.. zero?

                    • Adsense in application ads has nothing to do with Google accounts. Wow, learn something before you post.

                    • Google is just sharing its revenue in adsense with you because you are a source to publish ads for Google..

                    • WAKE UP. THINK. ONCE AGAIN: if you install a custom rom so Google, Facebook, etc cannot track you, then WHY WOULD YOU INSTALL GOOGLE APPS???

                      And if you don’t install Google apps, then you can still 100% use the phone as a smartphone. There are alternative stores.

                    • That’s what im saying how many of android users do it? please argue on something which majority does rather than only minor possibilities.

                    • If you use those services on those roms, then you’re the idiot. You would not in fact INSTALL those roms if you were going to use those services. The mythical person you are describing is just that: does not exist.

                      As far as viruses and trojans, if you don’t install them, they can’t get on your phone. That’s all there is to it. And it does not have to be virus or trojan to be bad. Remember Path, how it uploaded your contacts to their servers? Remember how everyone used UDID for years and years to uniquely identify phones & users before Apple deprecated that?

                      Install your custom roms (legally). Build your own version of Android if you want (legally). End result: you are safe.

                      Apple gives you **NO SUCH GUARANTEES**. and never will.

                    • As far as it concerned with Path… an issue from 2012.. Since then apple has added more restrictions for accessing adressbook or anyother data in iOS updates. Security holes or slips might exist in every system if its closed or open but point is there are more chances for an open source. Still better than Android where there are no such restrictions…. how can you guarantee that the app you are installing have no virus…or Trojan . Google care less about you.. You can install anything even from Unknown Sources. If you are digging past stories like Path then why you forgot about “DroidDream Light”? … and recent survey found that two thirds of the apps in the android market steal user’s information including messages, contacts and call logs. Apple provides you **SUCH GUARANTEES** that the app you are installing is safe… for your smart phone… its processor… its memory… It doesn’t allow you install any “Unknown Source” app. And i think you’ve not read the post of my given links in which clearly mentioned that for an Attacker it is much easier to develop a virus or trojan for Android because its open source one can optimize its application based on its open architecture and there are more chances that he might get succeeded too.

                    • Not everyone is that kind of geek to find, install or build those custom roms to protect himself from viruses, trojans or apps that steal information even when they exist in Market. There are customization benefits in open source … but it comes with the security drawbacks too, … for example the ProPakistani’s today’s post that how FBI hiring hackers to activate your android device microphones.

                    • Clearly you know nothing about custom roms.

                      Custom roms let you control INDIVIDUAL PERMISSIONS given to apps. So if an app needs internet access (but only for ads), you can disable internet access for it.

                      Alternatively, you can watch closely each and every access your application makes with custom roms. You can install OUTGOING firewalls on your phone to control what apps can or cannot do. And with newer phones, there is no FAT filesystem if you don’t use SDCARD (and internal storage is 16, 32 GB), so there is no problem with one app looking at files saved by another app.

                      LEARN SOMETHING ABOUT ANDROID FIRST.

                    • Why i need to learn android to be secure … why i need to build my custom rom..first i spent my money then later i should spent my time time ?. i am a normal user not an edge cutting developer… that’s what majority is. Its not about only Shahid Saleem..

                    • And here we have it, another apple loving techie who couldn’t compile two lines of code if his life depended on it.

                      You know what, do whatever APPLE lets you do on your precious iOS device. I’ll do whatever **I** want to do on mine, without any constraints from Google or anyone else.

                      Honestly with all the scared you are about “open architecture” like Android, I wonder why you are not scared to use the most open architecture of all: THE WEB.

                    • Wow, you started arguing from the whole users base of platform to an individual use. I m not talking about you and me. Again im asking, is android only secure for a developer who can compile at-least 2 lines of code (including the FBI and hackers?) first buy android device then find the secure custom roms or develop your own …. then root your device then install it…. shit.. you are mentioning only 15% of the users… may be more less than 15%.. That’s why Android doesn’t feel like a finished product it always feels like something beta.. Did i argued anything over web? did i? .. please stick to something which you are defending.

                    • Wow, you started arguing from the whole users base of platform to an
                      individual use, I m not talking about you and me. Again im asking, is
                      android only secure for a developer who can compile at-least 2 lines of
                      code (including the FBI and hackers?) first buy android device then find
                      the secure custom roms or develop your own then root your device
                      then install it? you are mentioning only 15% of the users , may be more less than 15%, That’s why Android doesn’t feel like a
                      finished product it always feels like something beta, Did i argued
                      anything over web? did i? please stick to something which you are
                      defending

                    • You want to talk real world? Talk about growth of markets. Not one word you say can avoid the truth: android market growing faster than Apple. You can make comments about spyware and trojans and you know what? No one you know has ever been affected by them.

                      The majority are spied upon by Apple and Google and Microsoft, when the companies are forced to turn over information to intelligence agencies. It’s not companies fault, but the end result is the same: you don’t want to be spied upon? Don’t use their services. You want a smartphone but don’t want to be spied upon? Use a custom rom. Your **ONLY** option for installing and using custom roms today is Android.

                      Not iOS.

                      Not W8.

                      That’s it.

                      If you paid $500 for a phone, why should you let someone else control what you can and can’t do with it? I cannot understand your logic here for supporting Apple. All because they curate apps? That makes them better? You cannot even develop apps FOR YOUR OWN iPHONE until you pay Apple for the priviledge, after paying $500+ on the phone, and you have to keep paying them every year for provisioning certificates.

                      No one buys computers with Linux preinstalled, but are you going to complain that users cannot understand Linux because everyone uses XP? I don’t pay anyone extra in order to use my Linux desktop, or browse the internet from my computer. I don’t need “permission” of anyone. I don’t pay anyone when I use custom roms. I’ll take my freedom over your “concerns” any day of the week. All your comments about “develop root” ignores the fact that Many new android phones ship with easy to enable root access and unlockable boot loaders. HTC is like that. new LG is like that. It’s not an issue AT ALL.

                      Which you would know if you knew what you were talking about.

                    • K. :D Its simple … i don’t need to be a developer to buy a smart phone…neither the rest of world. or one should hire you to do the rest of the work for him.

                    • And how would you guarantee that the custom rom which people install
                      is
                      secure? if developer has not injected any malicious code into it or
                      they should start looking for people who build a secure for them. And
                      would you stop looking the world from your developer’s small box
                      hole? You should start your own company to build such devices, inform me
                      when u did i’ll buy one. Which will most likely be closed,
                      like iOS. Till then i trust apple more than Google or any XDA developer.
                      Iam not that retard to compare the market share of an open source with a
                      closed system for the obvious reason. Its not android where developer
                      earn more its App Store where they do. And you should know that 98% of
                      PRISM production is based on Yahoo, Google and Microsoft.


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