Google opens Android store to paid apps

[SteveW]

Google opens Android store to paid apps

Previously, the Android Market only allowed the distribution of apps for free, but now, developers can start charging for their wares

By Stephen Lawson, IDG News Service
February 13, 2009

Developers of Android applications finally will be able to charge consumers for them, ending a few months of free Android downloads and potentially making Google's mobile platform more attractive to developers.

U.S. and U.K. developers can now go to the Android publisher Web site and upload their applications along with consumer pricing. Paid applications will go on sale in the U.S. starting in the middle of next week and in additional countries in the coming months, Google's Eric Chu wrote in a blog post Friday.

The Android Market launched in October when the first phone based on the platform went on sale. But until now, it hasn't had any checkout or payment system, so application publishers have only been able to offer free software. Google had said it would start allowing sales early this year.

The post did not indicate how much the applications might cost, saying only that developers would be able to "upload their application(s) along with end-user pricing." Unlike on the App Store for Apple's iPhone, developers don't need to get their products approved by Google or by service providers. All they have to do is register for $25 and upload their apps.

The payment and billing tool for Android Market will be Google Checkout. That platform, launched in 2006, allows payment through major credit cards and lets users save their payment information on the site.

Later this quarter, developers in Germany, Austria, Netherlands, France, and Spain will be able to offer paid applications, and by the end of the quarter, additional countries will be announced, Chu wrote.

Also on Friday, Chu wrote that Android Market for free applications will become available to phone users in Australia beginning Sunday, Pacific time. Singapore users will get access in the coming weeks.



SW

[RadioRaiders]

Unlike on the App Store for Apple's iPhone, developers don't need to get their products approved by Google or by service providers. All they have to do is register for $25 and upload their apps.

...wait, I'm a little confused. Why would aplication developers for Android need to pay Google $25 to sell their apps? Can't app developers just sell their apps directly from their own websites? Or is this fee just to have it being sold on the official Google app website, and therefore gets bigger exposure? If so, then it's kind of a kick in the teeth to the "open source" feeling, but then I guess everyone needs to get their piece of the pie. There's no free lunch I guess

...and Google should really somehow at least test all apps uploaded to their official site, otherwise it will be total chaos. They should have something like Linux repositories with "stable" and "unstable" catagories...

[SteveW]

...wait, I'm a little confused. Why would aplication developers for Android need to pay Google $25 to sell their apps? Can't app developers just sell their apps directly from their own websites? Or is this fee just to have it being sold on the official Google app website, and therefore gets bigger exposure? If so, then it's kind of a kick in the teeth to the "open source" feeling, but then I guess everyone needs to get their piece of the pie. There's no free lunch I guess

The $25 fee is to register as an Android Developer and have the right to publish applications on the Android Market. I'm not sure how they chose the number $25, but it is a one-time fee and the same for free apps and paid apps, as far as I can tell.

As you indicated, the advantage is greater exposure. You don't have to publish on the Android Market. You can sell your software on your own site, Handango or any of a number of mobile software sites. But the Market is built into every phone and works over the air. I haven't tried to buy an Android App on Handango, but it must require some kind of PC sync and installation.

The Android SDK, development tools, documentation and storage space on the Android Market are free. The operating system, middleware, and key mobile applications are open source. Google also maintains a forum for Android developers, is continuing to update the OS, and is working with handset manufacturers and carriers to make the platform attractive (and thus increase the sales potential for apps). I'd say this has an "open source" feeling.

For paid apps, they are also providing a credit card processing facility, although there is a transaction fee for credit cards, and you have to have your own payment processing account.

Google's "piece of the pie" isn't really the $25 fee. It's increasing the number of people who search, see advertising and buy things using Google.

....and Google should really somehow at least test all apps uploaded to their official site, otherwise it will be total chaos. They should have something like Linux repositories with "stable" and "unstable" catagories...

I am sure that Google does not intend to test or verify all apps on the Android Market. That would be expensive, time consuming, could create a liability for Google and would very likely inhibit the growth of the marketplace far more than a $25 fee.

According to the Android Market Developer Distribution Agreement:

7.2 Google Takedowns. While Google does not intend, and does not undertake, to monitor the Products or their content, if Google is notified by you or otherwise becomes aware and determines in its sole discretion that a Product or any portion thereof or your Brand Features; (a) violates the intellectual property rights or any other rights of any third party; (b) violates any applicable law or is subject to an injunction; (c) is pornographic, obscene or otherwise violates Google’s hosting policies or other terms of service as may be updated by Google from time to time in its sole discretion; (d) is being distributed by you improperly; (e) may create liability for Google or Authorized Carriers; (f) is deemed by Google to have a virus or is deemed to be malware, spyware or have an adverse impact on Google’s or an Authorized Carrier’s network; (g) violates the terms of this Agreement or the Market Content Policy for Developers; or (h) the display of the Product is impacting the integrity of Google servers...

SW

[RadioRaiders]

T
I am sure that Google does not intend to test or verify all apps on the Android Market. That would be expensive, time consuming, could create a liability for Google and would very likely inhibit the growth of the marketplace far more than a $25 fee.

According to the Android Market Developer Distribution Agreement:

Thanks for the replies. I'm against "over-regulation" of apps (ala Apple), but I still think there needs to be some kind of control, otherwise people will just throw up apps that don't work or have bugs and people will pay for them and get ticked off that they just paid $20 for a program that crashes the OS of their phone.

A repository system ala Linux would be nice to differentiate stable from un-tested apps. The open source community has done this with Linux for years, why not with Android? Or if not a repository, then some kind of "feedback" system ala eBay should be used to seperate working and popular apps from the garbage.

PS- While on the topic, a new Android phone is out. HTC again...I wish some other vendors would make Android phones, as I'm not a big HTC fan

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/7894516.stm?lss

The touchscreen HTC Magic will feature a 3.2 Megapixel camera, Wi-Fi, and GPS, but no slide-out keyboard.

[SmArTeStChIlD421]

interesting.....but dare i say it.....the video on that site actually makes the Pre look better