Android Ain’t ‘Appy

It’s not fair being an Android user. Not only are our social lives ‘less fulfilling’ than our iPhone toting friends and colleagues, we can’t get an official BBC News app. Or The Guardian. Or Time Out. Or Football Manager. These aren’t niche apps, they’re well respected news outlets and one of the world’s most popular gaming franchises, yet all are available for iPhone and not one for Android.

It goes without saying that in the UK (and the rest of the world) there are currently more mobile phones running iOS than those running Android, but for how long? UK sales of Android handsets quadrupled in the most recent quarter from a 3% share of smartphone contract sales to 13.2% . By comparison, iPhone market share fell from 75% to 64%; still impressive but a pretty sharp drop nonetheless. In the US Android is making similar strides and the Google backed OS is predicted to surpass the global installed base of Apple in 2012.

Why then, do corporations like the BBC continue to ignore what is forecast to soon be the dominant mobile OS when developing their official apps? Even at present there is a user base large enough to justify the investment. It’s fair to assume that Android/Symbian/Blackberry users pay their TV licenses just the same as iPhone owners so it’s only fair they get access to the same services. In this sense the BBC is fairly unique but other app developers are equally guilty of overlooking other OSes . While other app developers don’t have the same obligation as the BBC they are limiting their market potential with every day they neglect Android in favour of iPhone only.

It’s interesting to consider where the iPhone app bias comes from. Apple is largely responsible for the popularity of mobile apps, with the App Store a major selling point for the iPhone. Where Blackberry has email or the Palm Pre has had multi-tasking, Apple has a rich catalogue of varied applications. The popular conception of the typical iPhone user also contributes to this; a consumer of premium, high-end products who has the disposable income to spend on apps. Someone also recently suggested the people commissioning these apps, particularly for news outlets such as Time Out and The Guardian are more likely to have iPhones themselves. All these factors contribute to a mentality that iPhone is the only platform to develop Apps for.

Perhaps the news that Android handsets are outselling iPhones will make developers sit up and take notice of the opportunity being missed. Android will soon make the move from sizeable minority to clear majority and those who act on this quickest are sure to benefit in the long run. But maybe the tipping point has already been reached. We’ll start to see apps for both Android and iOS and I won’t have to shoot jealous glances at the App Store while the Android Market isn’t looking anymore. Here’s hoping.