People have long compared the Google Play Store and Apple’s App Store primarily because they service two of the most widely used mobile platforms in the market. Given Android’s open-source nature and licensing the platform is ahead of iOS in smartphone market share but now it appears that for the first time the Google Play Store has overtaken the App Store in overall app quantity.
According to a report by appFigures, which leans on data collected from thousands of iOS and Android developers that use its intelligence platform, Google passed the total number of apps available in the App Store. It now stands at 1.43 million against 1.21 million.
Many would agree that even though Google Play Store has more quantity the App Store has more quality. Malware is rampant in Android apps and a significant number of Play Store apps are utterly useless, that’s not to say there aren’t any good apps, but Google’s lax policies mean developers can get away with much more as there’s comparatively little scrutiny.
On the other hand there are strict approval guidelines for the App Store which means the quality of apps available for iPhone, iPad and iPod touch is significantly greater.
appFigures data also showed that during 2014 Amazon’s Appstore saw 90 percent growth as it played host to more than 293,000 apps. This is great news for people who use Amazon hardware, and even the latest BlackBerry devices, as Amazon Appstore is now the second source of apps in BB10.
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