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SoCoder -> Blogs Home -> Blogs

 
Cower
Created : 13 July 2010
Edited : 13 July 2010
System : Windows

Android Market Spam
I've been working on a live wallpaper for Android for about.. a little under two days now. Not very long - it really doesn't take a lot of effort to get something to look nice if you know what you're doing, read docs, and happen to be an artist - and Android is pretty flexible about how you do things, too. It's not really important what I'm writing though, just some background for why this even came up. Essentially, I've written some software for Android and I like it. I don't know if it's great, I'm still trying to get input from other Android users about it.

<plugForHelp> Speaking of which, if you have an Android 2.1 or greater phone and can install unsigned packages*, you can PM me and I'll decide whether or not you can help test the live wallpaper. </plugForHelp>

Considering I have this software I've written, and I like it, I think it's reasonable to consider selling it. If it meets my own standards for what I like, after all, I think it's a foregone conclusion that I must think it's worth something. So I took a look at Android's market and such and getting on there seems to be easy. Google is very liberal about what you can publish - this isn't Apple's walled garden, though, there aren't quality checks. Garbage does get in.

The problem is that these days, spammers tend to go all-out with mass producing crap that will make money if even a few unfortunate people buy, click, or otherwise expose themselves to something. Android is no exception. $25 gets you the ability to publish whatever you want, and I don't think you ever have to renew your status as a developer. This is a fairly small investment to make, since you don't have to actually buy a phone to make garbage, you could just test on the emulator. I suspect this is the case for a lot of spam apps on Android, where they are tested in the emulator only long enough to find out they show the first screen, and beyond that it's reproducing them with minor differences and flooding the market.

Live wallpapers are a damn good example of this, unfortunately for me. Most people when searching for a live wallpaper would probably try to open up an app category for them in the market, but there isn't one. Google's sort of neglected the market's actual design. The only really easy way to find a live wallpaper is to search for 'live wallpaper' in the market.

The search then produces some number of results, 70 or so of which are at the top and have the title "Live Wallpaper" (with some variation in case and spacing between words), all by about two or three developers. All of these wallpapers are more or less the same with minor differences in color. Most of them are flags or have the Android mascot in them, and most of them have less than 50 downloads. The American flag is the rare exception to the download count, since some people decided to pay €3.99 for an American flag. All the other wallpapers are all €2.99 to €3.99. I imagine the plan was that quantity would win out over quality if enough people paid that much for a wallpaper.

The big problem is that this shoots every other live wallpaper waaaaay down on the search results, because popularity has no sway in Android market searches, and only affects category listings and the featured section (and since nobody can find live wallpapers in a category..). This means that all those arguably better live wallpapers that were not mass-produced by those few people from wherever-in-Europe are not going to be seen, even if they get more downloads and better ratings than the spam apps.

So, my point in all this is that even if I want to sell my live wallpaper, the chance of it being successfully found in the market by your average individual is very, very low. I have no intention of sinking to the level of the people mass-producing apps and spamming the market, and I plan to make things I consider to be good, and yet it appears that focusing on making good things is not any way to be profitable on Android. It seems like spam is the winner here if you don't have a marketing team.

As it stands right now, I'm trying to figure out how I can get my software into the hands of others and not have it drowned by the spam on Android's market. I want people to like it, because I've spent a good deal of time trying to ensure this runs damn well and looks good, and most importantly because I think it's good. Ultimately, I want this to be worth the time I spent on it, and I want to be able to make some money off of it so I can inevitably fend off starvation and homelessness if necessary. Obviously an interactive wallpaper isn't going to do that alone, but a little is better than nothing, I figure.

That concludes my rambling. Again, if you have an Android 2.1 or greater phone and can install unsigned packages* and want to have a free copy of the wallpaper regardless of whether or not I release it, PM me. (Note, this does not guarantee you'll get a copy - it counts for a lot if you happen to be trustworthy.)

* People with Android phones on AT&T cannot do this.

 

Comments
Tuesday, 13 July 2010, 07:58
Jayenkai
 		Bloody AT&T!

The iStore used to have a lot of the same issues, but lately Apple seem to be doing a lot of good, in that their chucking out all the "Same app, different picture" crap.
Hopefully Google can sort that kinda stuff out.

Good luck with the wallpaper thingum!
Tuesday, 13 July 2010, 19:29
mindstorm8191
 		Yeah that does kinda suck. Well, maybe you could try your own advertising? If people can find your specific app you could perhaps list all the features of your app in other places. It'd be kinda hard to do, but possibly still worth the money.