As far as Lame Castle goes the app store is proving to be way way better in terms of exposure and sales compared to the Android market. LC isn’t doing record breaking sales, but the first 3.5 days have seen roughly 350 downloads compared to just under 300 for Android (minus returns) during a much longer time period.
Apple has a bigger market share and has been running the app store for quite a bit longer so it definitely makes sense that the app store would generate that many more downloads. Let’s break down the markets:
Android Market:
1. Has 1 short page listing featured apps
2. You can instantly publish any app to the market
3. Adult content is allowed
4. Much larger pool of hardware to deal with
App Store:
A. Has a somewhat lengthy featured apps section (iTunes included)
B. Apple must approve your app
C. Apple doesn’t allow adult content
Lame Castle came out in the Android market first simply because you can instantly publish apps. This is both fantastic and horrid at the same time. It’s fantastic because as a developer you don’t have to wait around for a couple weeks hoping to get approved. It’s horrid because you’ll see things like Butt Slapper #47 pushing your app out of the “New” section.
Due to the various hardware (and Unity3d still in development for Android) the game crashes for a decent amount of Samsung phones. Supposedly the 2.2 firmware update will fix this but until then I have to deal with it. LC was getting its fair share of 1 star reviews due to the crashing, but once I put a message in the description telling people they need 2.2 the 1-star reviews mostly stopped rolling in.
With Apple’s bigger market share, a larger featured section (especially in iTunes), and a lack of trash apps by the boatloads, Apple is still by far the app king. I hope the Android Market picks up and becomes a little more streamlined but until then I’ll focus much more attention on Apple’s app store.