<div>Seems like the Google Play store has been around so much longer than a year. Of course it was the Android Marketplace before that. I remember all the discussion around the decision to call the store Play and the guesswork on what the name was telling us about what would be available in the future. Well, the Google Play Store not only has 700,000 apps, but some 5 million ebooks, and 18 million songs; it even sells hardware and it’s thought that by the end of the year, 1 billion smart device users will have access to all of this. Google will be getting into music services as well. To celebrate the sheer spread of Android and the one-year anniversary, Google is giving away freebies and reduced prices for a week. But so much more is needed to take Android to the next level.<br /> </div><div>As far as an Android app is concerned, a rude four-letter word that rhymes with it is most often used when describing the experience faced by the user. On the one hand, no one can deny that the Play Store has really been sexed up and it’s getting more interesting by the day. Soon, gifting options will be available. But it’s also equally true that there are enormous and serious problems that Google should tackle. A report from security firm F-Secure says that Android accounted for 79 per cent of malware in 2012. Compare that with Apple’s 0.7 per cent and you can see why Apple fans have a right to crow. Of course, the sample size for this study seems to have been 301, so one can’t say whether these percentages would be as dramatic if one were to do a larger study. <br /> </div><div>Fragmentation has long been a problem with Android in general and it shows up in the app store as well. Even at the top-end of Android, there are apps one just can’t have because they belong to the next minor upgraded version and won’t run on versions prevalent on the most popular Android-based phones – not without some serious tampering anyway. Many of the apps that were once the sole domain of iOS — Instagram, Instapaper, Flipboard, and many others — are today on Android. But they often don’t work as well. <br /> </div><div>But most serious of all is the fact that despite there being so many Android tablets, there are barely any tablet-optimised apps. This is a stark difference from apps for the iPad, which more often than not, offer up a compelling experience. So right now when the world has more Android tablets than it can handle, there’s often little to do on those tablets but customise the home screens.<br /> <br />Smartphone apps just don’t give the same experience on a tablet and it’s the user interfaces and extra features that some manufacturers put in, that improve the experience rather than anything the Play Store has done. Customising smartphones and tablets is sheer joy and nothing matches what’s available on Android to let a tech inclined user do this. There is zero room on all seven of my screens for more widgets and apps, but even this is not as easy to do for the average user as it should be. Launchers and themes available on the Play Store can lead a user into a labyrinth of settings and changes that can be quite confusing. <br /> </div><div>Even though so many people own Android phones, not quite as many manage to use the apps and widgets available to them. There’s absolutely no way of knowing which of these are fakes and which are safe to use. Apps and widgets also don’t necessarily get along, so you could end up with instability and crashes and lag in the device’s functioning that will be difficult to diagnose and fix unless you’re very comfortable with Android. There are Google staff recommendations but those can stay the same for months on end with nothing new showing up to interest a user. <br /> </div><div>So, while we wish Google’s Play Store a happy first birthday, as we blow out the candles we can’t help wishing it becomes a friendlier, easier and safer treasure house of great apps for all that fantastic hardware going around.<br /><br />mala(at)pobox(dot)com<br />Twitter: (at)malabhargava<br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(34, 34, 34); font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: normal;">(This story was published in BW | Businessworld Issue Dated 08-04-2013)</span><br /><br /> </div><div> </div>
BW Reporters
Mala Bhargava has been writing on technology well before the advent of internet in Indians and before CDs made their way into computers. Mala writes on technology, social media, startups and fitness. A trained psychologist, she claims that her understanding of psychology helps her understand the human side of technology.
