This Market is a good news BUT it seems so much like an unfinish product. That another proof of the difference in the attention to details between iOS and Android.
Half the page is in the french, half the page is in english and IMO the worst is the "~" before the price (they convert $/€ so it's ROUGH price wtf! ). The website doesnt feel that it can be trust IMO if you look to it like a John Doe.
This is definitely a step in the good direction but please Google please polish a little more your android products so that they appeal the masses!!
While the localization issues are embarrassing, I was pleasantly surprised by the quality of the store; it's extremely fast, easy to navigate and feels quite polished.
The '~' has exited in Android for a while (before it would just list it in whatever foreign currency the developer accepts). Given that the currency conversion is passed on to the customer (whether that's a good idea is another story), the '~' is important to signal that currency conversion is occurring.
In fairness, their announcement does say:
"We are releasing the initial version of Android Market on the Web in English and will be extending it to other languages in the weeks ahead."
That's pretty hilarious considering it forces geo-location-based language localization on me, despite my google account being set to ENGLISH. Can't count the number of times that a google product has spit a local language UI back at me despite being logged in.
Yes, I was once again annoyed by a market partially displayed in German even while I was logged in, and other Google properties were just in English. The semi-random locale switching makes for a lousy user experience especially for expats.
Adding ?hl=en to the URL fixed it for me (just having it here once was enough).
I am visting the marketplace from China via a proxy server in St Louis, and the site is in half spanish, with Euro pricing. My Google account location is set to New York. There is clearly a bug somewhere.
It's worth noting that they announced a new pricing system too - developers will be able to specify different prices for different currencies, like with the App Store.
I get the feeling Google is using the same strategy Microsoft used against Apple in the late 1980's. They seem to want to create a market of shovelware in an effort to simply damage Apple's marketshare rather than creating truly unique products.
In the 1980's, Apple's technology was pretty bad. It's arguable if Microsofts was much better, but they hardly created any shovelware. Note also, that Apple's 1980s strategy of locking down devices, software, and hardware was a leading cause of their failure, even aside from their poor operating system offering. They almost went out of business, until the return of Jobs and the Next assets.
The same strategy may fail them again. I certainly would never have even looked at a mac laptop if it were as locked down as iOS is. Although people often argue that mobile products are different, I disagree. They are simply small form factor computers and you need look no farther than Android to see that an operating system as flexible as a desktop OS works just fine in this area.
I don't mean in terms of usability. Clearly a small screen and touch input changes things. By flexible, I meant that you can install what you want and from whatever source you want. You can modify the system files (with a little bit of work) and replace core components easily.
In this sense, it is every bit as open as desktop operating systems traditionally are.
It is a pain, whether the restrictions are carrier-induced or not, to do this. I had a truly open and flexible desktop-like operating system when I was running Maemo OS2008.. I could install and compile my own software, it was common to have desktop software ported to the device, there was tons of interest in hacking on different supports (I had Wiimotes on a NES emulator, a regular sized USB port, etc.). I have an Android-powered device.. and it is definitely not at that level, despite having a custom rom and the whole nine yards.
It looks like they've come up with a good compromise for the currency problem. Those who wish to will be able to set exact prices in the buyer's currency, while the '~' approximations will still be used for those who don't. From the email I just received from them:
We are introducing a new feature called Buyer’s Currency that lets you set prices for your apps separately in each of the currencies on Android Market. We are deploying this feature country-by-country over the next few months, starting with developers in the U.S. When the feature is available to you, we will notify you by email.
Yeah, I actually had to check that I wasn't on a spoof website. The site looks cheap and ugly. Not like a typical Google site. Just compare to the recent ebooks and art project sites. Glad I'm not the only one thinking the site needs solid polishing.
Just happened to go to the Chrome Web Store, and suddenly thought, why didn't they just imitate this layout? Of course they had different teams, but their own Chrome Web Store's layout beats this Android one by a mile.
this isn't a great reason, but perhaps this is because users of the Chrome Web Store are guaranteed to be using a modern web browser (Chrome), while regular computer users of the Android Market can be using any browser. (Does the new Market work in IE?)
The Chrome Web Store looks like the native iTunes store. That is not a compliment.
Despite that it is still better looking than the Android Market Web Store. The best thing I can say about the Android Market is that it is remarkably fast.
Looks like it's working (kind of) now. I clicked sign-in and Chrome gave me a certificate warning because it's signed by *.google.com. I ignored the error and Chrome started churning, eventually give me an 500 error or something of the sort. Hitting refresh finally got me logged in. I was able to install an app at that point by sending it down to my Incredible.
Had the same problem with all browsers in the morning (Chrome, Opera, IE, Firefox). But it seems to be working now (no certificates/cookies issues). Tried pushing a random app to my phone, and it worked seamlessly.
Very clean and simple overall. The green and white make it feel a bit XBox to me, but that's neither here nor there.
The details page probably needs some tweaking. The Related column takes up way too much space and shouldn't be on the left side commanding so much immediate attention. That should come visually last in the flow of what the user is looking for on this page. The main column with details, images and reviews thus feels awkwardly scrunched, particularly with the thin About This App column seeming haphazardly floated right. The worst is the lightbox function when enlarging an image, which forces me to click the small X button to close the lightbox, rather than being able to click in any dead space.
But overall, I think it's fantastic this is finally available and a great first iteration.
Not only is the store 8 months late (announced at Google IO last May), it's buggy and I can't log in. I'm not quite sure what took Google so long to get the store up and running, but it's been really frustrating to wait this long for it.
I like it, and it's certainly about time. What's going to happen to AppBrain, etc now? They were definitely filling a niche and now will be forced to compete with the source.
One feature that would be nice would be the inability to hide applications that don't work on your device (as is done in the android market) I've gotten all excited for certain apps only to be told they can't be installed on my phone.
Also needs to discriminate better between 'install' and 'installed'; perhaps with colors or just outright hiding installed apps
A big problem I see is the focus on popular apps, instead of a mix of new apps, curated lists, etc. The home page solely focuses on top and popular apps, just like category pages. This might not be good for new apps to enter the system and get discovered through the market
Popular is not JUST by number of downloads, or else it'd be a self-perpetuating problem. Age, number of downloads, number of ratings, actual rating, and I'm pretty sure the delta of all of these play a part (as in how rapidly it's growing).
[edit]Not to say I don't agree with you. There should be some sampling of new applications there too.
First thoughts.
Seems neat.
Cannot login.
Some useful details listed - last update date, minimum android version.
much easier to browse the reviews than on the mobile version.
search has spell-corrector.
related apps listed on details screen. useful.
Is it just me or do the product "posters" look really pixelated? Like they were done at 3/4 the resolution and then scaled up to what they're at on the screen (64x64?).
That's probably because they were. Developers previously have uploaded various promotional images at resolutions suitable for the mobile Market, but the web market seems to use resources at a range of different resolutions. Whilst I haven't tried it yet, I imagine that there will be a few more fields to upload appropriate images to, and frequently updated apps and popular apps will not suffer from this within a few days.
Quality is definitely lacking compared to the App Store in a number of ways.
I wonder if the poor quality stems from the fact that Android is probably not even paying for itself internally at google and they don't properly account for all the mobile web traffic it brings to google.com, so the team size is really small right now. This is certainly not the place for using the whole "beta for 5 years" concept because the competition is already polished.
Google has kept a record of all of the apps that you have downloaded over the life of your Google account. What does that mean?
If you loose your phone and need to re-populate it you know what you had. Nice, paid apps as of now will re-download after a few clicks. I have not found a easy way to re-populate my android with the unpaid apps, hopefully that is coming soon.
Update; You can remotely updated apps from your computer: Awesome.
We should take a breath and mark this day as when Google fully jumped into the mobile app business. Apart from giving Android apps the visibility they deserve, this site will be a great boon for the in-market app rankings, since Google can now use their magical web ranking algorithms to rank apps using the rankings of their corresponding pages. Brilliant.
So, is this meant to be accessed from only Android devices? Is there a use for using it through Chrome on a desktop? Would I be able to purchase an app from my desktop, at which point my Android phone would (potentially) automatically download and install the app?
A rather big problem in my browser: on any given page of apps, the entire bottom row shows only icons; the "buy" buttons are cut off no matter what font size or zoom I use.
So basically, they make 4 apps per page impossible to purchase due to shoddy web design.
Based on my experience using the iTunes App Store, it is quite usable and looks a lot better than none at all.
Some things that make it instantly better than purchasing iPhone apps from your computer:
1. This web interface is lightning fast, iTunes is horribly slow.
2. You get to use the standard browser controls over the random clutter of controls in iTunes.
3. Pressing "install" installs to your phone without having to plug it in, or sync, or worry about losing your shit.
I think it's a great first iteration, and it's definitely something that has been a long time coming.
You get to use the standard browser controls over the random clutter of controls in iTunes.
This is an important point. Every time I have to use the iTunes store I'm annoyed at how sluggish it is, how poor the search is, how odd the navigation seems to be, and how much I miss having tabs.
Works on my 2.1 HTC Hero. It surprised me, didn't think it would be so simple. I'm a bit concerned over the privacy and security implications of this feature though. How is it guaranteed that only Google can trigger app installations? What else can Google trigger on my phone?
They can trigger remote uninstallations as well. I can't find a link, but when the apps which were sending private data to some server in China were discovered about 6 months back, Google remotely uninstalled the app from users' phones. It's my least favourite feature of Android.
I can report that it doesn't seem to work on my 2.1 Sammy Captivate. It complains about content filter settings, yet I haven't set any content filter, can't seem to find where to set it, and regardless of all that it was just a newsreader app (Pulse).
As a long time iOS user (I had the first gen iPhone before the App Store existed), I really don't see anything missing.
The tabbed interface for the app description/screenshots, user reviews, update info and permissions info is patently superior to the messy iTunes app pages.
The Market is really orders of magnitude faster than iOS's app store, too.
I also got the invalid request error. I just watched the Honeycomb event, and am boggled that Google can't be bothered to hire decent graphic designers. The icons and general feeling on Android looks unpolished compared to my iOS devices. The app prices on Android market seem to be x2 what they are on iOS. I've probably spent 100 bucks on apps on my iPad/iPod touch. Money spent on apps for my Nexus One (shitty phone) and Nexus S so far: $0.
I also don't understand why they need a web store. I buy apps on my iOS devices all the time. Is the point that general usability on Android devices is so bad that you need to use a desktop to purchase apps that will then get transferred to your mobile device??
First, I sell apps in the Android Market and do well. Lots of people pay.
Second, having a web interface just makes it easier for people to search and find apps with ease from their computer.
It will REALLY help me because I can now easily link to my apps from Facebook and Twitter, and it looks like users will be able to click INSTALL and have the app go right to their phone so the next time they are ready to play, it's there waiting for them :)
That's why I like it, I remember reading about Google Translate on HN (on my desktop). I got out the phone and searched, but linking to https://market.android.com/details?id=com.google.android.app... would definitely improve the conversation (and conversions).
dpcan: You make a good point about linking to apps from Twitter and web sites. I didn't think of that. Thanks for your thoughts.
Glad to know you are doing well on Android Market. I'm still confused at my personal tendency to readily make app purchases on my iOS devices but not on my Android phones. But then again, I guess we aren't the average mobile user these days.
I have a feeling you don't use your N1 all that often since you think it's a "shitty phone", so why would you buy apps for it over your iOS devices. Your logic is flawed, and you clearly have a bias toward iOS devices, so your opinion is pretty moot at this point.
I make far fewer purchases on my Android devices over my iPhone as well. It's just that the AppStore continually updates their Featured pages, and I'm constantly buying from there. On Android, the same scrolling apps at the top have been there a long time, and all you have are the categories that seem to stay the same (like the AppStore, BUT there isn't a Featured This Week section or anything)
if you install the new market widget, which came by default on my Nexus S, you'll see a new featured app every time you swipe to the homescreen with the widget on. I've bought about 5 apps from this alone.
Once I bought my first android app (a $.89 game or something) I opened the floodgates, and now buy more apps for my android than my iOS devices (kindle books notwithstanding), so each to their own.
This is a screenshot of the Market from France: http://i.imgur.com/lchpI.jpg
Half the page is in the french, half the page is in english and IMO the worst is the "~" before the price (they convert $/€ so it's ROUGH price wtf! ). The website doesnt feel that it can be trust IMO if you look to it like a John Doe.
This is definitely a step in the good direction but please Google please polish a little more your android products so that they appeal the masses!!