Me: Most cell phone users have the perception that apps made for the iPhone and iOS are of higher quality than that of Android. Is there truth to this? Did this effect your decision to produce first for Apple?
Relay: First of all, and at the risk of upsetting a few folks, the perception is generally accurate: Apple has better quality controls as compared to Android, whose marketplaces vary and result in many questionable products being made available. However, as a developer, Apple’s quality controls can be a double-edged sword, simply because you can be approved for the Android platform almost instantly in some cases, but Apple’s more thorough check to ensure some level of quality can make the process seem daunting for new developers. In online forums, we saw that some developers expressed concerns over how opaque and sometimes lengthy the approval process can be. Apple should provide more visibility into this to placate concerns.
Me: What was your submission process like?
Relay: Looking back, I think we felt like the initial App Store submission was a bigger hurdle than it turned out to be. We’ve had some bumps in the process, but we’ve managed. We found the best way to understand it is to just do it. It really isn’t as big of a deal as it might initially seem.
Me: Do you believe that having the best app store gives Apple a competitive advantage?
Relay: Absolutely. The more apps, the higher the user engagement, the less likely current customers are to switch platforms. The more value you offer developers, whether it be what we perceive to be the better or more affluent customers Apple has, better support for developers, or the larger potential customer base (where Android has the advantage) the more we’ll develop for you. The intense competition of course leads to a better user experience.
Me: Now that Research In Motion Ltd (NASDAQ:BBRY) has released its new phone, do you have plans to develop for them?
Relay: Honestly, if we developed for any platform besides Apple it would be Android and then maybe Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT). Blackberry just doesn’t have the user base at the moment, nor do I foresee the Z-10 (Blackberry’s new phone) being a huge game changer. Too little, too late in my view, but I could be wrong. However, more competition keeps everyone on their toes.
Coming up
Thanks to the guys at Network Anomaly for taking the time to really explain to me (and therefore hopefully all readers) the ins and outs of the App Store. Tomorrow, we will examine a potential pitfall to the huge revenue Apple derives from its App Store. If any of you have a thought, a comment, or a question, feel free to post it below.
The article What Makes Apple’s App Store No. 1? originally appeared on Fool.com and is written by Margie Nemcick-Cruz.
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