Developers Look Past Apple's Jammed iPhone App Store

Software programmers are designing apps for the Google-backed Android operating system, fired by frustration with Apple's rejections and delays

By Olga Kharif

Programmers at Ubermind are diversifying their app store loyalties. Once the company's mobile-phone software developers trained all their attention on making applications for the Apple (AAPL) iPhone. No longer.

The 34-person team at Ubermind, maker of the popular iLightr app that creates a virtual flame on the iPhone screen, recently began building apps for a rival mobile-phone operating system. They're now releasing two apps a month for devices based on Android, the software backed by Google (GOOG), in addition to the five monthly apps they release for the iPhone. "We have no plans to abandon" the iPhone, says Ubermind CEO Shehryar Khan, who says his company's sales have doubled in the past year thanks to iPhone apps. "But we are not going to put all our eggs in one basket."

Of the more than 125,000 programmers registered to create apps for the iPhone, a growing number are branching out to build apps for Android and other operating systems. The Apple App Store is still growing, with an inventory that recently surpassed 100,000 games, e-books, calendars, and other apps. It remains the largest downloadable mobile app store by a wide margin. But the larger the App Store gets, the harder it is for developers to make money from it. That, combined with sometimes long approval times and dismay over Apple's gatekeeping decisions, has led some developers to branch out or switch allegiances altogether.

When the App Store made its debut in July 2008, it was the first. Now developers can choose among plenty of operating systems. Apart from Android, there's BlackBerry App World for Research In Motion (RIMM) devices. Carriers are opening their own stores, too. The App Store's share of mobile app downloads may slip to 20% in 2014, from 70% this year, according to consultant Ovum.

"We Are in This to Make Money"

Android is garnering much developer attention. In October, the number of apps in development for Android jumped 94%, from September, while iPhone app volume rose by a mere 4%, according to mobile analytics firm Flurry. The number of devices running Android is surging, too. By 2012, Android is expected to become the second-most popular smartphone operating system after Symbian, leapfrogging BlackBerry, Microsoft (MSFT) Windows Mobile, and the iPhone, according to Gartner (IT).

With Android Market, developers can publish apps in a matter of minutes, without going through a review. And developers say it's a lot easier for users to find an app among 12,000 on Android Market than by rooting through more than 100,000 on the App Store. "We love the iPhone, but we are in this to make money," says Craig Hockenberry, principal at Iconfactory, creator of the hit iPhone Twitter application Twitterific. "It's hard to make money [in the App Store]." Hockenberry recently began investigating making apps for Android, though he hasn't turned his back on the App Store.

Business Exchange

Track and share business topics across the Web.