A Request for the Android App Market – Compatibility
In researching apps for our new Android App of the Week posts, I’ve found one quirk of the Android app market that is fairly aggravating.
Apps aren’t marked with any device compatibility.
See, this isn’t a problem for iPhones as Apple only needs to support two different aspect ratios, but Android phones come in a VARIETY of shapes, sizes, and hardware configurations.
This was brought to a stark realization when it took me five tries to find a flashlight app that would use the LED flash on the back of my phone (you’d be surprised how useful that would be, I use it more as a flashlight than I do as a camera flash). Either the app would use the screen instead of the LED, or it wouldn’t be compatible with my phone.
The app market KNOWS what kind of phone I have! App developers know what kind of phones their apps should run on! The situation is not dis-similar to the way programs were purchased on Windows Mobile. Services like Handango would at least TRY to steer you in the right direction by asking what kind of phone you had, then listing apps they knew were compatible.
A phone’s greatest strength will often also be it’s biggest weakness, and in the case of Android, the flexibility of the platform can make it more difficult for consumers, especially those who don’t want to do a lot of research, to make good choices. Here’s to hoping future versions of the app market can guide consumers just a little bit more…
By the way, for those of you with the Epic 4G who need a good LED flashlight app, I’m really liking Tiny Flashlight + LED.
Lastly, thanks to bharathp666 on DeviantArt for the great Market Logo used in this article.
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