iOS downloads are more frequently for paid apps.
In doing development for smart phones, those creating the apps want to make money. But it is quite often that those apps downloaded for Android devices are the free ones more often than not. In the chart here, provided by Statista.com, you can see the disparity between the Android OS and Apple's iOS. The numbers are startling, especially if you are trying to make a living selling apps for the Android OS. From the chart, 66% of the downloaded Android apps are the free ones. That is not a good number to see. For Apple's iOS, the number is down at 30%, more than 50% less.
Given that trend, it is interesting that smart phone users are willing to pay for getting content on their smart phones. This information is based on an OPA survey reported in a Folio article. Smart phone owners show that 24% of them are willing to pay for the content they receive on their smart phones. And while that number may translate to apps as well, it is not a balanced view between Android and iOS apps.
We have been hearing from some as to just how hard it is to create and sell an app. Many do not make much money, especially in the Android world. Given the chart, it would appear to be the case and one wonders how this will impact the future for quality Android apps. If some of those are on Amazon's Android Store, they also have to contend with being selected as the free Android app of the day.
iOS developers are more likely to make more money and we have been hearing that for a few years now. Some of that came up as Microsoft worked to attract developers to the Windows Phone 7 OS. This looks to be a clear dividing line between the type of people who purchase Apple products versus those who purchase Android OS products. Does that mean that iOS apps have a higher quality? It could. Or it could be the willingness of that group to spend money.
Either way, it spells trouble in getting Android app developers to produce quality apps when the percentage of paid downloads is so low. Given the total number of Android phones out in the world, there is hope for the future for paid Android apps.
I don't know about others, but I seem to have the mentality to 'test' a game first before I buy anything. So I will always download the free version first before I get along to buy in-app purchases or get the premium version of the app. The most I have spent is on a game called Little Empire, a total of 300 usd until now. In-app purchases are also revenue to developers and should not be ignored. Apparently any android developers are mainly targeting audiences like me with freemium. Play store as a results has more free app than ios. 75% $0 on playstore store compared to 30% $0 on app store. So common sense tells that android users will download more free apps.
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