Who says iOS has all the apps? According to new data, Google isn’t just kicking butt when it comes to market share, but also mobile apps as well. The search giant’s Play Store now offers a great selection of titles than the App Store, but Apple fans will argue that quality is more important than quantity.
Stats from the appFigures intelligence platform show that the Play Store was home to 1.43 million apps at the end of 2015, while the App Store offered just 1.21. Both stores have seen significant growth over the past year, with the Play Store up from around 700,000 apps, and the App Store up from 750,000.
Amazon’s Appstore, which is available on both Android and BlackBerry 10 devices now, now offers 293,000 apps.
Of course, it’s not necessarily the numbers that are most important at this point; both the Play Store and the App Store are giants now, so the size of the app catalog isn’t what consumers look at when deciding between Android and iOS. Instead, it’s the quality of those apps, and I have to say, Android is still falling behind there.
I use both Android and iOS devices on a regular basis, and I continue to be disappointed by titles I download from Google Play. It certainly has its gems, and cross-platform offerings tend to deliver the same experience no matter which device you’re using. But iOS definitely has a bigger selection of standout titles.
Apps like Tweetbot, Fantastical, Clear, and many more are simply unmatched on Android. Sure, there are some decent substitutes for these things, but none of them really match the level of polish and finesse that you get on Apple’s platform.
Don’t get me wrong; I’m not criticizing all Android apps; I’m a happy Android user. I just feel iOS still has better third-party software, at least when it comes to design.
