We’ve always advised a degree of cynicism whenever a phone or tablet manufacturer proclaims how many apps it has available. Here’s another reminder why that principle matters: it looks like 10 per cent of the apps available for Surface RT are all variants on a single app from a single developer.
At WP Down Under, Sheeds notes that of the 56,000 apps available for Windows RT, more than 10 per cent are from a single developer, Fanfinity. That number has been going up rapidly, and the apps (which are ‘fan’ apps for musicians) appear to be essentially the same code, with the only difference being the performer involved.
The reality is that most consumers will only use a handful of apps on any platform, and sheer volume doesn’t help. I’d use my Surface RT a lot more if it had Chrome on it, but that seems unlikely.
Is Microsoft contracting out its Windows App volume targets in the US? [via Fat Duck Tech]
Comments
2 responses to “Duplicate Apps Make It Hard To Count How Many Each Platform Has”
Thanks for the shout-out Angus.
I see from the screenshot above that you are using the Windows 8.1 preview. It caps search results to 1,000 (cue more cynicism). If you searched for the same text string on windows 8, you will get >5,000 results.
Sheeds.
Hahaha yep, the number of apps is nowhere near as important as how many of the top 20, or top 50 apps are on your platform. WP8 doesn’t have Candy Crush Saga or official Instagram or Vine apps, not to mention Google’s explicit abandonment of the platform.
This is pretty rubbish though. 10% from one sole developer?? Sheesh…