Canalys Survey: 18 Percent of Top 50 Paid iOS Apps Also in Android, But Incompatible with Tablets

A Canalys survey reveals that 52 percent of the iOS apps have versions in Android downloadable from Google Play. These are further optimized, at the least, to accommodate tablet users. However, only 18 percent of the top 50 premium apps from iTunes can run on an Android OS which make Android tablet users deprived of access.

While it’s true that Android has become ubiquitous in the mobile space, its application ecosystem still needs to grow its full potential. Google should, in a short term, find a way to encourage more developers to invest in designing superb-quality tablet apps for Android real quickly to avoid consumer disappointment caused by having weak app experiences.

According to Tim Shephard, senior analyst of Canalys, developing superior-quality app experiences for the Android tablet community is not actually one of their top priorities. To prove his point, he further stated that the Apple App Store currently has more than 375,000 apps which are originally meant for users of the iPad. This is in stark contrast with those apps that are only a fraction of the number, below tens of thousands, to be available in the Google Play Store.

Out of the 50 iPad apps in Apple’s App store, both paid and free, around 30 percent are not available in Google Play. The data is based on aggregated rankings conducted daily in the first half of the current year. Apparently, this is one of Google’s major deficiencies in its Android application ecosystem.

There are at least 52 percent of top popular apps that are accessible through Google Play and are optimized for tablets. These include six titles which belong to the top 50 paid iOS titles. As for their Android version, they are solely available as free and ad-supported apps.

The downside of getting an ad-supported offering is having a poorer and more often than not, a limited user experience. This further leads to different device issues such as high battery consumption, unstoppable videos, and other annoying intrusions.

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