Android Paid Apps not available in many countries. Reason people turn to piracy?
filed in Ecosystem Android on Aug.10, 2010
Now here is something interesting to think about. These companies like to complain about this piracy problem and took so much efforts to stamp them out. But are they doing enough?
Since 2007, when Android Debuted, many countries have yet access to paid apps. And only developers in Austria, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Netherlands, Spain, United Kingdom and United States are able to developed and sell paid apps.
So what happens if you are a developer living in Singapore or Hong Kong? You need to find a partner in these places.
AndroidPublisher is one of them. What is the price for these service? Google Essentially will take 30% of your earnings, and on top of this Android Publisher will take 19% of your earnings. So essentially you make only 50% of what you came up with.
Good Deal? Of course not, but you really have not much choices to sell.
If you are a user of Android phone in Singapore or Hong Kong how do you get these paid apps?
For one thing, many of these apps are sold through App Market. But there are numerous third party markets that lets developers publish their software to sell.
SlideME
Have an application that Google prevents you from stocking in the Android Market, leaving you and your app stranded? Are there users desperate to buy your application but they don’t have access to Google Checkout or the Android Market? Do you want to show off your app but feel limited by not having screenshots or video in the Android Market?
If so, then you’ve found the right place at SlideME, the Original Market for Android (We launched our portal and mobile client in April 2008). What we do for the developer is simple. We provide a way to market, deliver and download content to users that you wouldn’t have access to in your traditional channels.
From the moment you stock an application, we provide you a web page where you can add a description, screenshots and videos showing off your application. You can have a discussion with your users or they can review your application right on your page.
Your application also shows up in SAM, our mobile client for discovery and download of Android applications. You can include up to three screenshots and a YouTube video within the mobile catalog, giving potential users a good idea of what your app does. No more trying to cram that into a 325 character description with ascii art.
So give SlideME a shot and start interacting with your users, showing them what your application is all about.
Pirated Forums
These are sites where the hackers have manage to crack open the apps and users are able to get these paid apps for FREE.
Sounds very unethical but the fact of the matter is that many people still prefer to free load on other people’s hardwork and are un-willing to pay for them.
Such forums have exist for a long time and fact of the matter is that they act as advertisments to promote these Apps as well, believe it or not!
