Database Users

Marketplace???

Has anyone noticed how ridiculously expensive and overpriced applications are in the Windows Mobile Marketplace?
For one, their selection of applications are terrible. So far they're just a bunch of badly designed generic apps that don't feed any real purpose. The games are horrible too.
The only decent application I wanted to buy was Pac Man, but that's like £5 !!! for a measly game that probably only has 5 levels and I'm only going to play when I'm bored.
. I just want a decent Twitter application that has kinetic scrolling and doesn't show that horrid side-bar control.
. A decent media player with visualisations and coverflow.
. A few nicely designed touchscreen games including ones like Tweeter that makes use of the G-sensor.
It makes no sense for Windows to release all these devices and advertise that WM is a social device when their marketplace is a bunch of bollocks.

ilabstudios said:
. I just want a decent Twitter application that has kinetic scrolling and doesn't show that horrid side-bar control.
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http://code.google.com/p/pocketwit/

I agree. I am very disapointed with the marketplace myself. I was expecting thousands of high quality cheap and free apps but that's not what we have yet. I am hoping that this is only due to the fact that it's been 10 days since its release and must be hard to get thousands of apps ready to go in the first few months. I am confident though that microsoft is ready to compete with android and iphone so must surely have something more in mind than they currently have.

Unfortunately it has nothing to do with Microsoft. The WinMo software companies haven't adjusted yet to that fact that there is a central place for the average user to hit and find their competition. Something like SPB could be as pricey as it wanted, because it could take the average user forever to find any quality alternatives. They have the advertising dollars, placement on carrier websites, etc. Now there's a spot for a smaller competitor to get the same exposure. But it'll take time for them to pop up.
$30 for any mobile app is retarded. I'm really disappointed that since release day, I'm only seeing 10 new apps in the store. Maybe the "what's new" button is broken, but there's a couple on the results page I installed day 1 of Marketplace being open

The lack of apps is probably not helped by the fact that, as I understand it, Microsoft charge an extra $10 or so for each country to list the app in (and require that the app be localized for that country) so I'd assume that a good chunk of people developing apps in the US aren't going to push their apps beyond the US (I'm no developer so haven't read the full pricing details but that's the gist of what I've seen in some MS developer forums with people questioning why their apps aren't available)
It'll especially be true for free or cheap apps - if you've made a free app, would you pay out to make it available to other countries?
The only reason I can see for restricting apps to a country is if they are purely regional - TV schedules for a particular country, or train schedules or something.
Steve.

Well, I'm in the US, so not really an issue. Trust me, not missing much if they are actually holding out on pushing to other countries.
I'd also guess the word is out to developers that Marketplace is a good spot for their software to turn freeware and end up on a torrent so perhaps they are holding off until Microsoft fixes the security.

Jesus shoe tapping finger clicking Christ, give it a chance its only just started. I have already seen a lot on there for free and under 70p... just wait and be a bit patient.

give it a chance its only just started
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I would if that were the case. Unfortunately, Marketplace has been exposed to developers months before it was officially released, which is why I am confused as to why there are so many cheap applications. I'm sure that there will be more applications coming soon, but I'm more concerned about the pricing and quality of applications. When I watched the first keynote last year on the coming of Marketplace I had higher hopes than his.
I realise that some iPhone developers have investment from other companies and some of them even have a development team working on the apps, but still.. look at the type of stuff Android have compared with Windows, it's ridiculous. It's as if no real developer wants to develop on the WM platform.
I feel that their advertising campaigns are misleading. They're trying to get across the fact that WM is now social and more application orientated when so far all I can find on the marketplace are overpriced applications that seem like it was developed for WM5.
Personally I don't think 6.5 is going to be a huge success, TechCrunch has already given it a bad review. WM7 better be different.
Btw. In the world of technology, there's no room for 'Oh give it a chance' type attitude. Technology companies usually have once chance of pulling something off. Hence the reason why companies like Google or Apple spend millions of dollars on market resource, trial testing and development research.

Marketplace? Pah!
http://www.freewarepocketpc.net/
I've been relying on the RSS feed from this fine site for the past couple of years or so, since my original TyTN, TyTN II and now my Touch Pro 2. It's a great site, has introduced me to great programs like NoniGPSPlot, has new applications all the time and finally - it's all free (and not warez free, but genuine software).
Great stuff - Microsoft saw what Apple were doing too late and have done too little me thinks to succeed.
I love my Windows Mobile phone; but Apple's iPhone taught Microsoft and other mobile developers how important eye candy in a phone OS was. Google's Android OS will be taking the lions share of future mobile phone sales and I see Android phones surpassing the iPhone.
Unless Microsoft do something right, not many peeps will want a Windows Mobile device in a few years time...

So far the only good to come out of the app store is Zenonia...badass rpg... 10 bucks though But well worth it in my opinion! If you like old school snes hack and slash rpg's, this game is for you. Full sound, decent story, just great overall. For me, there's point in playing my old favorite snes games on my phone because with sound, to me its pointless. and not using sound is the only way to get an snes emulator to run smooth; regardless of which one it is ( morphgear, smart-whatever its called, or pocketsnes

Paulplex said:
...
Great stuff - Microsoft saw what Apple were doing too late and have done too little me thinks to succeed.
I love my Windows Mobile phone; but Apple's iPhone taught Microsoft and other mobile developers how important eye candy in a phone OS was. Google's Android OS will be taking the lions share of future mobile phone sales and I see Android phones surpassing the iPhone.
Unless Microsoft do something right, not many peeps will want a Windows Mobile device in a few years time...
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I see plenty of commercials for iPhones and Google phones on TV but absolutely none for WinMo phones. MS really needs to start promoting itself in this market.
S

How about the annoying fact that I don't get a chance to choose where to intstall the app. They all go directly to device memory. That sucks balls!

Paulplex said:
http://www.freewarepocketpc.net/
I've been relying on the RSS feed from this fine site for the past couple of years or so, since my original TyTN, TyTN II and now my Touch Pro 2. It's a great site, has introduced me to great programs like NoniGPSPlot, has new applications all the time and finally - it's all free (and not warez free, but genuine software).
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nice one !

Theres a cab floating around here to fix that...
moSess said:
How about the annoying fact that I don't get a chance to choose where to intstall the app. They all go directly to device memory. That sucks balls!
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mpicart said:
Theres a cab floating around here to fix that...
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Click to collapse
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=568806

@Paulplex - Thanks for the link. I know I can get free applications quite easily, that's what I've done so far. However most of them aren't to 6.5 standards, the majority of them are still coded for use on old WM5 phones.
When you spend hundreds on a phone you expect to install applications on it that are intended for such a high-end device. The only application which is worth installing is the Myspace and Facebook app, and even those aren't great.
I regard my phone as my house in a way. When we buy a house, we intend to fill it up with furniture, usually the more expensive the house, the higher quality the furniture. The same should apply to phones, in that instead of furniture we require high quality applications. But where are they? SPB is the only one I can think of.

do you people think that bill gates and the people at microsoft are just gonna sit around and allow apple to dominate the app frenzy in the market for pdas and devices? dont u think that most people at microsoft all have winmo devices? do u really think any employee would have an apple iphone?...so of coursse thousands of new gsensor apps are on their way of being placed on the marketplace or in development...obvious with android showing that they have developers also who are pumpin out apps for them..microsoft is doin the same thing..give them time the winmo app store just came out..and a gsensor phone for a winmo device first showed up only a yr ago..so they have a bit of software catching up to do with these new devices. HTC thank god...droped 6 new phones for the north american market just this month alone..with the tp2 being the first in september..(htc pure,htc hero,htc tilt 2,htc imagio,htc mytouch) so basically with 6.5 also droped...htc has done their part by stacking microsoft with a heavy set and multy array of phones to crush the competition i.e iphone 3gs or whatever version its at now. microsoft is not gonna sit around and allow apple to dominate the app market..and they sure as hell arent gonna let android..a new OS that has no business gettin their OS on htc devices, surpass them either...remembr bill tried to buy out google but they rejected a couple yrs ago. And u all know bill gates has a winmo devices,prolly a htc touch hd or the new imagio...dont u think he wants a huge selection of apps himselve? trust..were not the only ones on the heals of microsoft to get these developers in line..and get these apps rolled out...plus half the apps apple has for the iphone are useless and they are just puttin them in commercials to show that they have a **** load of apps...half the apps they have could be bunddled up with other apps like how a spb traveler or mobile shell app is but they are just tryin to show off how many apps they have..plus most of all the developers for apple just have the change a couple scripts around in their apps and all the same apple apps could be made into cabs and become winmo apps...so the **** isnt hard..the microsoft winmo team execut8ves or w/e u wanna call them need to get their marketing department working full throttle and start shipping new apps with these new phones...i repeat HTC has done their part..now its time for the software to catch up...

"Windows" isn't a device, "Windows" doesn't release devices, and "Windows" doesn't sell devices. "Microsoft" isn't any of those things, either. Microsoft is a company that produces an OS that runs on LOTS of devices (some phones, some PDAs, and a whole lot of things that are neither).

Plenty of time for this thing to get up to snuff.
But that said, the real problem is that while there aren't that many WM OS out there, (5, 6, 6.1, 6.5) and most apps will pretty much install in either, the different hardware config makes it a different ballgame, especially with games, no pun intended. Some phones have buttons, some don't. Some games will work only in landscape, some will not, some will work on both. And not all phones are exactly finger friendly. They're meant to be used with a stylus for the most part, the finger's a secondary thing.
So yea, these developers will have their hands full, unless of course they want to limit their market to particular devices only.
So that being said, my gripe is that none of these apps are telling me they're to be used in a particular hardware platform.

@moegdaog, I'm a developer myself, so I realise the number of new applications that will come soon, however that's not what I was specifically talking about.
I'm more concerned about the level of development on applications and games. Why so many developers opt to develop for iPhone isn't because of a bias view-point, it's because the tools they provide mean that they can develop a high-end application and start earning money as soon as it's in the marketplace.
However the type of developers are not the same. iPhone developers are usually younger, multimedia orientated so they probably have skills in web, graphics and illustration, where as Microsoft developers are usually a lot older and more prone to developing utility (function) based apps and have very limited skills in anything else. Most developers aren't able to outsource and so they are left with a rubbish application.
My worry is that yes there will be many applications within marketplace but will they actually be worth all that money and will any investors support the development of these apps. Also how will these applications differ from what we have seen on Android and iPhone.

what do google and android want out of this?

I know that when Android began development their focus was on apple and they wanted to compete with the iPhone. Which is a commmendable goal because the iphone ineluctably changed the mobile device world for the better. This makes me think Android has a lot they want to do with the stock ui and not just fixes to further stabilize the software but to give the UI a seeker look and add functionality.
On the other hand I've read here that Google just wants to make a stable UI available for companies like MOTO and HTC to skin and for developers to customize and improve.
Id like to think that Android has big plans for my new nexus one.
So do you guys think Google looks at HTC's sense and says " its all going according to plan, companies are taking our software and vastly improving it so we do the leg work and get our software on mass amounts of phones and manufacturers can customize it to their liking and their customer preferences" or do you think they say " wow HTC has really made phenomenal improvements on our software so we need to step up our game and make 2.2 and on more competitive"
I do understand its open source implying the intention for third party customization. but if android didnt want their own ui to be the preferred ui i don't think theyd even offer phones that way, i just hope android isnt stopping short on purpose to let developers put the finishing touches, thats a great option to have but id rather not be compelled to root.
I'm not saying android stock isn't very solid. Other than sense its the best ui available. I'm just trying to clarify whether android wants stable software by them at the heart of every mobile device and customized by those manufacturers or if they want android stock to be competitive in and of its self. Personally I'm hoping for the latter.
Your thoughts?

I don't know if their focus is so much of pushing people to make their own but more of focusing on the availability. They seem to want to always have the availability of customization and freedom. I think they see Sense UI as "Hey people actually love our work and are willing to spend days/months on working to make something of our product."
Unlike with Apple, they're like "WTF? You're not allowed to do this! No you can't see the specs of our phones you have to guess!!"

Unlike with Apple, they're like "WTF? You're not allowed to do this! No you can't see the specs of our phones you have to guess!!"
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touche.....

i can't see google having any problems with sense UI, any improvement is great. Anything that will make more people use android and use google's services, im sure they will be happy with. Somehow i don't think they are happy with the deals the other companies have made with bing and yahoo though.

DMaverick50 said:
but if android didnt want their own ui to be the preferred ui i don't think theyd even offer phones that way
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You're completely missing the point about why Google wants Android.
They don't care if the stock UI isn't the best or most popular.
They don't care about Blur.
They don't care about Sense UI.
You're missing the big picture here.
Every time you search...
Every time you use maps...
Every time you use voice input, Google Goggles, Gesture Search, Listen, etc.
Every time, they're collecting that data, selling it, using it to improve their services even more and thereby making even more profit on their improvement in services..
Mobile ads within apps, and elsewhere within the UI...
Not to mention taking a cut out of sold apps.
Nothing is free, especially not data, and you can bet your ass Google is cashing in on it since that's what they do best.
Stop thinking about the UI, and start thinking behind-the-scenes. Look at the big picture.

O
Paul22000 said:
You're completely missing the point about why Google wants Android.
They don't care if the stock UI isn't the best or most popular.
They don't care about Blur.
They don't care about Sense UI.
You're missing the big picture here.
Every time you search...
Every time you use maps...
Every time you use voice input, Google Goggles, Gesture Search, Listen, etc.
Every time, they're collecting that data, selling it, using it to improve their services even more and thereby making even more profit on their improvement in services..
Mobile ads within apps, and elsewhere within the UI...
Not to mention taking a cut out of sold apps.
Nothing is free, especially not data, and you can bet your ass Google is cashing in on it since that's what they do best.
Stop thinking about the UI, and start thinking behind-the-scenes. Look at the big picture.
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I definitely understand what you're saying, that they want their software on as many devices as possible. That was actually the first of the two possibilities I offered. Officially google initially indicated they wanted to compete with apple (the second possibility I offered) and as a nexus owner I hoped for the second but it makes a lot more business sense to make their software/applications ubiquitous. And at the end of the day, google has a bottom line to worry about. So I guess in the end the manufacturers using android but customizing it probably offers a more thoughtful interface (though many, many prefer stock) but having stock android is more likely to receive updates fastest while some customized skins may not receive them period. Seems like a win-win for consumers regardless of android and Google's strategy.

I never saw Android as a competition to iPhone. There are huge differences between them. To start with, iPhone is a hardware and Android is an OS.
Android is not just targetted towards phone.. but also a more lucrative platform buisness. Android is targeted towards Windows and Linux and not iPhone.
Windows CE and Linux are pretty much the only choice for platforms. Many GPS units, car control systems, Controllers for many equipment etc.. are all Windows CE or custom linux. Android is targeting this market share. Therefore it is not surprising that Android has similiar policies like Win CE and linux to keep the core seperate from UI. Customers can choose their UI to adapt their implimentation. e.g. many of us don't even relaize that our car GPS has windows in it or our routers has linux in it.
Of course there are other advantages of controling a platform. They have been nicely sumarized by paul.

Who is switching to WP7?

Who is switching over to Windows Phone 7 if Gingerbread is not what it is hyped up to be. (No new UI, broken features, market not fixed up... ect.)
If Google doesn't fix it up. I prefer a polished, fully working OS compared to a bunch of ROM's that each have their own features, and no one ROM has all the features in one.
Windows Phone 7 will integrate with Windows 7-8, Xbox 360, home servers, and will have Xbox Live marketplace support. I find all this integration a huge feature that will probably bring me over. Microsoft is also said to be creating their own cloud for WP7, Skydrive, and if all Microsoft system's have Xbox Marketplace, why wouldn't Windows 7?
I love tight integration and the ability to share with ease. I find Android takes a while at moment to do simple things, like search the market for that one great app, or have a music player that is feature packed and has the ability to share with desktop speakers.

I am waiting for gingerbread, then i will make my decision...unless it has a MAJOR UI rework, some serious gaming capabilities, new media player ecc. I'm switching to WP7...
very sad to see snapdragon wp7 devices running cool ui and games with advanced graphics while our nexus can't because of generic drivers and fragmentation of hardware platforms in the Android panorama...it's like consoles vs pc's
consoles: you do what sony or nintendo or MS decide you can do, but code is fully optimized and developed for that platform, meaning better performance, no waste of power
pc: you can do what you want but code isn't optimized because of the infinite hardware configurations, so you need more power to run same games.

Completely agree with you. I am against Apple's policy for the iPhone, but WP7 is in between Android and iOS. It hits the sweet spot IMO.
If you want to talk about PC OS's though, I have OSX running on my Windows Gaming PC, so it is technically more open then to just their systems. That why I like it too.

Looks nice, but no copy and paste? Until they get that sorted, I'm ooooot!

Glad you like XBox integration x986123 and are switching to a better OS for your needs.
I will stay with Android and Google's developer baby
In my opinion Google has shown that are willing to give their users more value with free toy's that really help out in everyday life (Google Voice, Google Maps Navigation, Tethering etc) that other giants like Microsoft and Apple just don't seem to care about. This lets me know that Google really cares about bringing value to their customers rather than just selling them a phone and wanting to make more money and so I can trust Google to continue to do this in the future much more than I could with Microsoft.
Also it seems from your 1st post that your main argument for switching is xBox integration wheareas I could care less about that... I don't have an xBox

Yup! I certainly giving it some good thought. I'm also going to decide after the Ginge, but i'm not going to hold my breath.
Also i'm very unhappy about google's attitude towards privacy and data

ap3604 said:
Glad you like XBox integration x986123 and are switching to a better OS for your needs.
I will stay with Android and Google's developer baby
In my opinion Google has shown that are willing to give their users more value with free toy's that really help out in everyday life (Google Voice, Google Maps Navigation, Tethering etc) that other giants like Microsoft and Apple just don't seem to care about. This lets me know that Google really cares about bringing value to their customers rather than just selling them a phone and wanting to make more money and so I can trust Google to continue to do this in the future much more than I could with Microsoft.
Also, it seems from your 1st post that your main argument for switching is xBox integration wheareas I could care less about that... I don't have an xBox
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Lol. You dont need an xbox for xbl integration, clueless.
I doubt ginger will fix androids peoblems. It will just further fragment android and lots of people will be surprised when they find out the carrier/manufacturer will not update their phone. Happy hacking?
Btw google voice is close to useless after you get over the "new toy euphoria."
Everyome knows Bing has had voice guided navigation forever (out of beta before Google's), so I don't know why you're mentioning that...
Sent from my SGH-T959 using XDA App

Why would you bother using XBL integration if you didnt have an xbox? Just curious?

stinkypete said:
Yup! I certainly giving it some good thought. I'm also going to decide after the Ginge, but i'm not going to hold my breath.
Also i'm very unhappy about google's attitude towards privacy and data
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Yep, and the market is terrible. Allowing developers to put permissions on their apps that make no sense whatsoever, and change them in updates.
I want a phonr I don't have to load up with apps, and an os that doesn't let everything run as a service. I'm about to factory reset again because my phone cannot sit idle for 6 hours without dying from a full charge, and I've pretty much uninstalled all my apps, lol.
Not even funny. Worst mobile platform I've used - ever.
Sent from my SGH-T959 using XDA App

tameracingdriver said:
Why would you bother using XBL integration if you didnt have an xbox? Just curious?
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Why bother asking rhetorical questions?
Google is your friend. We aren't here to hold your hand, sweetie.
Why get an iOS device for gamecenter if you don't have a mac? Etc. It's just a dumb, rhetorical question, especially coming from an android user, who can do nothing but wish this platform had decent games, neverming anything comparable to gamecenter or xbl.
WP7 games go not require an xbox. Xbox integration is perk, not a requirement. Ciao!
Sent from my SGH-T959 using XDA App

Maybe the second generation, but really the wp7 phones that are coming are unfinished. It is missing so many features.
I believe they shouldn't release wp7 yet, but I can see the want to make money while they finish developing. But releasing it unfinished will prob put a bad taste in peoples mouth's and turn out bad for what could be a decent platform
Rellikzephyr
Sent from my Nexus One using Tapatalk

N8ter said:
Lol. You dont need an xbox for xbl integration, clueless.
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Check your attitude at the door when you come to Xda... it aint welcome here, got it?
N8ter said:
Btw google voice is close to useless after you get over the "new toy euphoria."
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Yeah your right... free text messaging, voicemail transciption, and having an all in one number for all of your phones in case of an emergency sounds like useless features.
N8ter said:
Everyome knows Bing has had voice guided navigation forever (out of beta before Google's), so I don't know why you're mentioning that...
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I'm mentioning it because for anyone who has actually used Bing's voice guided navigation like I have, it really pales in comparison to Google's more polished product:
- Doesn't work when screen is turned off to save battery / less heat like Google Maps Navigation does
- Doesn't turn off music when saying directions so you can't hear the directions over your music like Google Maps Navigation does
- Doesn't give you alternative route options to avoid traffic like Google Maps Navigation does
- Doesn't give a 3d point of view like Google Maps Navigation does

Well,
should I switch from my beloved Nexus that provides me with great features neither mom's iPhone nor my former WM6.5 phone had for an OS made by Microsoft?
That would ruin my statistics (no Win PC in my household)
So - of course I will never switch to Windows Phone whatever
(I do not like the "homescreen" of win phone 7 either and as mentioned above - no clipboard? wtf? who would release something like that?)

After getting used to the ability to fully customize our phones, I don't think I could make the switch to wp7. Just the lack of homescreen customization is enough for me to reconsider. Unless they allow for different launchers, it will not do.

tameracingdriver said:
Looks nice, but no copy and paste? Until they get that sorted, I'm ooooot!
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Click to collapse
You mean the missing copy and paste in Android? It is a shame that Google has been unable to fix that even in 2.2.1.
How anybody can create a mobile OS in 2010 without copy and paste is beyond me, especially if they just have to copy Apple's copy and paste which works really well.
x986123 said:
Who is switching over to Windows Phone 7 if Gingerbread is not what it is hyped up to be. (No new UI, broken features, market not fixed up... ect.)
I know I probably am, if Google doesn't fix it up. I prefer a polished, fully working OS compared to a bunch of ROM's that each have their own features, and no one ROM has all the features in one.
Windows Phone 7 will integrate with Windows 7-8, Xbox 360, home servers, and will have Xbox Live marketplace support. I find all this integration a huge feature that will probably bring me over. Microsoft is also said to be creating their own cloud for WP7, Skydrive, and if all Microsoft system's have Xbox Marketplace, why wouldn't Windows 7?
I love tight integration and the ability to share with ease. I find Android takes a while at moment to do simple things, like search the market for that one great app, or have a music player that is feature packed and has the ability to share with desktop speakers.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Could not have said it better myself. Android has hundreds of features but only half really work well. Until that gets fixed, less is more ... and I rather have 50 features that work well and work all the time than hundreds that don't work at all.

man this dude is full of hate toward android and mind you hes prolly still running touchwiz on that vibrant
I hope that we get a w7 port for our n1's so we can all try it out at least or even better, dual boot! I doubt I will switch though, new market to develop and populate and prolly a smaller pool of dev's for customization as well...

Lets hope Google gets their act together and makes Gingerbread a worthy competitor for Microsoft. These broken features and (5 year old) designers need to step up their game.
I left Apple for Android because it was more open, but now having used Android for almost a year, I find it's so open that it is unoptimized for super devices and low end. We have a bare looking OS with almost no animations and unused features. WP7 is the midway point, it is closed, but has a greater phone choice than Apple, while Microsoft is know for being slightly more open than Apple.

No way
I would never leave Android for an unproven OS, plus the tiles thing is so unproductive.
Sent from my Nexus One using XDA App

Tethering not allowed, copy&paste doesn't work, 7 apps in store, developers not happy w/closed os, not backword capatible, 1st generation, ...Good Luck!

One word - Never

i'm kinda disappointed

the quality of the android market is really disappointing. the ratio of quality apps to apps that are pointless and just...there, is staggering.
ugh.

I felt that way all the way back when I had my G1 lol. I have a few core apps that I use on all of my phones though, and they are pretty much all I need.
Sent from my T-Mobile G2 using XDA App

I guess I've never had a problem with sifting. Between poking around here, doing some web searches for popular/interesting apps, and and looking at apps from the developers whose apps I like, I've yet to get completely bored with the market and checking out apps.
Sent from my HTC Vision using XDA App

urfavoritemazn said:
the quality of the android market is really disappointing. the ratio of quality apps to apps that are pointless and just...there, is staggering.
ugh.
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Keep in mind that android is fairly new. They are right next to apple which has been out for years. They are trying new things don't worry bro things will turn around. The thing I like about Android is that its not as territorial as apple is. You have a lot more freedom.
Sent from my HTC Vision using XDA App

the open sourceness is definitely an upside. i just wish there was a way to filter out all the sh**ty apps that are in the market.

urfavoritemazn said:
the open sourceness is definitely an upside. i just wish there was a way to filter out all the sh**ty apps that are in the market.
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Click to collapse
I agree. You should be able to sort them by ratings or number of downloads.

Try to use alternative market interfaces like AppBrain.com , they filter the crap out for you, you can chose apps on PC and then sync them to your phone in a batch and more. Definitely makes the experience much closer to appstore.

Yeah...because the iApp store doesn't have any **** apps.....anyone need another fart machine?

Sure the iStore is not far behind in crapps but at least the search function results have *some* relevancy. Finding apps on android market without knowing the exact name is very unpleasant.. hell even if you know the name you get 50 less relevant results up front sometimes.
That's where appbrain comes in

I love android but our apps are nowhere near the same quality. The only app i have seen properly ported to android is angry birds.

Well I'd hate to say it but fragmentation has a lot to do with the lack of quality apps. IMO devs just don't want to get involved as they have to code for some many different slight variations of our OS and devices vs just one from you know who.

opensourcefan said:
Well I'd hate to say it but fragmentation has a lot to do with the lack of quality apps. IMO devs just don't want to get involved as they have to code for some many different slight variations of our OS and devices vs just one from you know who.
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But is that not just the same as having different iOS firmwares?
I have a iPhone 3G with firmware on iOS 3.1.3, an iPod touch with firmware on iOS 3.1.2, an iPhone 4 on firmware iOS 4.1 etc?
Its not as if they are coding for a completely different platform are they? and its not even the back end of the software which I feel android is weak. In fact I think the working function aspect of a lot of the android software is superior because it can be (without all those restrictions that the AppStore has), however its the User Interfaces/User Experience where very little time has been spent. It seems like in some apps its still just an afterthought.
I guess I will see how it goes.

urfavoritemazn said:
the quality of the android market is really disappointing. the ratio of quality apps to apps that are pointless and just...there, is staggering.
ugh.
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This statement could probably be made about nearly anything you can buy in America. When you shop for books or music or clothing, or anything, 99+% of what's available are "pointless" to any given individual. Do we need 1000 cereals to choose from in the grocery store? No, but Choice comes with the downside of having to filter and hone in on what fits your needs.
AppBrain is the easiest answer to your concern for now. Not only are there various ways to sort and filter the apps, but recommendations are made based on your personal app selection history.
Though it takes more work, reading forums and reviews of apps (and asking others for advice) gets you all the information you'd ever need.

crysalis786 said:
But is that not just the same as having different iOS firmwares?
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Yes but in a much smaller scale. Here we have the same different os versions as well the addition of manufactures own software tweaks ie Sense, Touchwiz etc... all on top of many different devices with lots of different major components.
Sent from my HTC Vision using XDA App

A Rant: Anroid, Get your Shiz Together!

This is what I type at 3 in the morning. Please read for a minute, I'll keep it short and get to the point. I feel NS owners should see this since they seem the most enthusiastic.
This is generally for Android as a whole, targeting Google. Wow, so it's been how many years since Android first came out? And what is the only other competitor in the market - oh right, iOS. iOS has been destroying the market with only one phone which rarely has any lag/bug/glitch issues, namely the 4S or the new 5 (minus the Maps).
The only reason Android has a large market share is due to the large number of phones at reasonable prices. That is all. There are only two competitors in this oligarchy, and one still can't do it right. Google engineers are apparently among the highest paid, yet they decide to constantly release updates which constantly has bugs. It is a pity, to look at many of you Android enthusiasts that are giving a lot of attention to Android development and are contributing to this world, when Google themselves is not treating you right, thus I feel that you are the reason that the brand is remaining strong. You guys have the capacity to overlook its bugs/lags and see what Android is there truly for. On the other hand, I doubt iOS users actually care about that topic since it is rarely seen.
Next, the phones. So we have like a thousand phones running Android from like 20 different manufacturers. What the..? Alright, phones that are aimed for a low budget do not count, but the Nexus devices that Google works on - they should be at least revolutionary. Google has to partner up with different manufacturers each time when creating the next Nexus? Talk about inconsistency, and inviting a lack of hardware acceleration with its software. Google can even build their own phones if they have to, but just get it right! I mean their latest phone, the Galaxy Nexus, is still not a stable phone (although I thought it would be). Samsung is actually holding it down and implementing their own stuff to create a good user experience (thus the success of the Galaxy line). Other than that, ALL other manufacturers are literally wasting money (but producing profits) by adopting Android and Google themselves are getting much more love than they should be getting.
Creating new updates and naming them after the alphabet and weird food names is quite cheesy. That's not the issue though, it creates hype by many users - the anxiety of waiting for the next update that will 'fix all problems' - but what happens? Promises are broken, and the software is bad once again. Like the JB update - turns out it's bad and many/most users tend to agree. So much for project butter haha. It's simply not worth it, not worth stressing or wasting time on it. I realize I am doing that by typing this post, but it needed to be done. People who are making money off of it - you're fine actually.
The message I am trying to get across is that Google's android software is not worth it, we all know it's bad, and Google seriously needs to get it right before everyone hops on the iBoat. There are actually multiple little things that I tried to get across in the post. That is all.

Cool story. Feel free to jump on the iOS wagon. I, for one, really like android.

I'm with android for the customization and freedom. I came from Windows Mobile where you could change anything you wanted and fell in love with flashing custom ROMS and even had a duel boot of WM6 and android 1.0 when I first came out (hated it back then, by the way.)
I bought an iPhone 3g when they came out and sold it by the next day. As you said, it was "flawless" as far as the operation of the OS, but when the OS imposes so much control over user input what do you expect? The iPhone tells you what you're allowed to do, it's not the user that defines what the phone can do.
After dropping my Tilt 2 flat on its face and tearing the ribbon for the screen, I hit the market for a new phone. Windows Mobile was still in the hundreds, but android was a cheaper alternative. I got a Samsung Moment and never looked back.
Maybe coming from Windows Mobile to android is why I don't have as many bug complaints. WM was mostly ALL bugs and glitches. That's not why I had the phone though - I had it for the features. Namely the ability to tether, which took android AND apple several releases to incorporate into their builds, but which was plug-n-play on every WM device I owned YEARS before. I also really enjoyed Windows Voice Command, better recognized as the Sync system in Ford vehicles. I could wear my bluetooth headset and make calls, open programs, listen to music and change songs all without having to touch the phone. Once again, it took apple and Google several editions to add useful voice commands to their systems.
I still miss remote desktop. I stopped having to store music and movies on my device because I could open a program and directly access every file on my home computer and stream anything to my phone screen.
So ultimately I'm with android for the freedom. The openness. The fact that they ALLOW outside developers to exist at all! It's the creativity found in the android community that has kept me, not the hope for a "fix all" update. Personally, the only problem I've ever had with my Android phones is the actual phone app itself. Delayed ringing and sometimes the inability to answer to even slide and answer the call due to screen freezing.
That's MY rant at 5 am lol
Sent from my Nexus S 4G using xda app-developers app

I'll have a Lamborghini Gallardo, Olivia Wilde and a cherry Coke, while we're at it (dreaming).

When you buy a new phone it should be completely yours not locked down by the manufacturer. If I want to brick I want to be able to do it.
If you really don't like it there a lot of rotten apple phones out there for you to buy.

anyway, I was on stock JB for a while, I haven't encountered all this **** your talking about. It could be faster, nicer, with more options but it is working quite well
Envoyé depuis mon Nexus S avec Tapatalk

Go get lost. Steve Job is waiting there to pay you for this iPhone advertisements in an android thread. You are required there not here. Lol....
Sent from my Nexus S

madd0g said:
I'll have a Lamborghini Gallardo, Olivia Wilde and a cherry Coke, while we're at it (dreaming).
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Scratch that lambo make it an Aston Martin Vantage V12. Regarding the other two: Plenty of cherry coke around, but we're gonna have a problem with Olivia: I won't share, no crossing swords!

I love when people try to tell me how I should feel about the products I enjoy.

Logomotph said:
Cool story. Feel free to jump on the iOS wagon. I, for one, really like android.
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I know right?
madd0g said:
I'll have a Lamborghini Gallardo, Olivia Wilde and a cherry Coke, while we're at it (dreaming).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Can I get that with no cholesterol burger and fries?
p.pavljasevic said:
When you buy a new phone it should be completely yours not locked down by the manufacturer. If I want to brick I want to be able to do it.
If you really don't like it there a lot of rotten apple phones out there for you to buy.
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Click to collapse
I've said this before. I hate when companies wanna slap their branding all over my 4 to 600 dollar smartphone and load it up with their crap I am never gonna use.
styckx said:
I love when people try to tell me how I should feel about the products I enjoy.
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My best friend is a iPhone fanboy. I have to show him once a month why my Nexus S 4G is better then his iPhone 4s.

to each his own, i don't mind jb's quirkyness, it's also a matter of finding just the right rom/kernel combo... can't speak for stock JB.
aokp JB 4 + marmite 4.8.7 is doing quite nice, steady & haven't had weird reboots yet

I will admit that the Nexus S has a hard time with stock Jelly Bean. It pushes the NS basically to its limits in terms of hardware capability. That said, as a daily driver, it's still very, very usable. If you want to see Jelly Bean run like a f**king champ, run it on a Galaxy Nexus or Nexus 7. It's pretty amazing.

Okay I'm not favouring iOS or anything and no I'm not jumping on their wagon, and I am also not hating on Android's customization/community. I've had my Nexus S for almost 1.5 years now and I still believe it's not outdated (great camera, front-facing camera, good screen, good touch sensor)
I appreciate that Android lets its customers customize the phones more than Apple. But what about the 'majority' who don't root or install 3rd party keyboards, etc. and like to run stock? I for one am running stock and native since I believe it should give the best performance as it is made by the manufacturer. But I'm not getting that! There are the red flags going off.
Additionally, when I was referring to iOS, I mean to say mainly iPhone 4 and up. The iPhone 3 was quite bad (although still better than android at that point in time). But with iOS 5/6, sure it takes away user customization, but the majority does not anyway - they just use their phone for their intended purposes and yet experience difficulties? That's a no no. However, ONE thing I do enjoy is widgets over having iOS.

Plenty of people dont run stock as per your definition. Plenty of people use or at least tried different keyboards / launchers / messaging apps etc
Root is not required and installing those apps is no different then installing any other app like Pandora. They are also often editors choice and top selling / top free apps in the play store. People know about them and use them. You don't need a to be a hardcore user to know about and use them.
People actually do change up there apps all the time and on all platforms. Its like saying people with a iPhone shouldn't use instagram because the phone comes with a camera application out the box.
Bottom line is if the user has a option to try different apps they will. Especially if its easy for the average user to install like a normal app. Imagine for a second if winterboard was freely available in the app store and functioned the same way it does on a jail broken device. I'd bet within 24 hrs it would become the most popular app in the app store. Your argument just seems silly to me. People will and do change things are freely and easily changed

albundy2010 said:
Plenty of people dont run stock as per your definition. Plenty of people use or at least tried different keyboards / launchers / messaging apps etc
Root is not required and installing those apps is no different then installing any other app like Pandora. They are also often editors choice and top selling / top free apps in the play store. People know about them and use them. You don't need a to be a hardcore user to know about and use them.
People actually do change up there apps all the time and on all platforms. Its like saying people with a iPhone shouldn't use instagram because the phone comes with a camera application out the box.
Bottom line is if the user has a option to try different apps they will. Especially if its easy for the average user to install like a normal app. Imagine for a second if winterboard was freely available in the app store and functioned the same way it does on a jail broken device. I'd bet within 24 hrs it would become the most popular app in the app store. Your argument just seems silly to me. People will and do change things are freely and easily changed
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Wonderfully said.

Another tiny bit to add on to my previous point.
The focal point of apples marketing strategy used to be " there is a app for that". Of course this is after they decided to even include a store. Who can forget the air traffic controller getting the weather from his iPhone?
But this doesn't seem to apply to things apple thinks its users shouldn't change.

What are you going to use your nexus to do as you write it has a hard time using jelly bean? - I my self have not got complications - I think I have used jelly bean nearly from when it was free - and I for my part - find it fast and free from lack - it play film - I read a lot news on it - it is very nice to read ebooks - see tv - you name it - ok - I do not use it for play - as all play for me are more or less the same - but ells I injoy jelly bean on my nexus s
Sent from my Nexus S using xda app-developers app

albundy2010 said:
Plenty of people dont run stock as per your definition. Plenty of people use or at least tried different keyboards / launchers / messaging apps etc
Root is not required and installing those apps is no different then installing any other app like Pandora. They are also often editors choice and top selling / top free apps in the play store. People know about them and use them. You don't need a to be a hardcore user to know about and use them.
People actually do change up there apps all the time and on all platforms. Its like saying people with a iPhone shouldn't use instagram because the phone comes with a camera application out the box.
Bottom line is if the user has a option to try different apps they will. Especially if its easy for the average user to install like a normal app. Imagine for a second if winterboard was freely available in the app store and functioned the same way it does on a jail broken device. I'd bet within 24 hrs it would become the most popular app in the app store. Your argument just seems silly to me. People will and do change things are freely and easily changed
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I don't understand, you're going off on apps when I am not talking about customization. I am just talking about the performance of the phone and the bugs it has. Let me be specific - as I unlock my phone, i swipe through home screens = lag. I open my camera, it takes a while at times = lag. I scroll through a list, and it lags on me. Even though it is minuscule Google needs to clean it up, since I never see it on an iOS device which is a fair comparison as it is the leading competitor.
I am not talking about apps or anything, I think we and everyone has already established that it has more customization. I know most users have 'tried' some customizable app that is not available to iOS but that is no excuse for the actual performance bugs it has. I don't play games (like rarely maybe) on the phone and don't have a huge load of apps installed either. Things just aren't nifty..and it is taking them years to get it right but they'd rather focus on other feature additions which also work poorly.

You are the one who brought up that entire what about the majority of the people out there that don't run third party keyboards etc.
You brought it up. I said it was rubbish.
Android has always been laggy compared to iOS. Apple did a good job with that from the beginning.
The majority of your op is simply not worthy of responding to. Actually I re read it just now and I consider it all entirely flame bait/ trolling. You joined the forum 3 days prior to that as well. Not bothering with that type of silly debate/flaming.
Your 2nd post in the thread actually had something I felt was worth giving a legit response to.

It can be due to Google not paying enough attention to this device, however, I urge you to try new phones like the Nexus and this upcoming LG Nexus. For me, Jelly Bean have been smooth all the way through. Lag is inevitable on this device due to its old single core cpu.
We are atleast fortunate to retain nearly all the features from the latest Android version, Apple withheld features from old phones on purpose so you have to buy their newest and most expensive device.