A little over a year ago, Verizon announced their intention to create a multi-platform app store for devices running on their network. This was met with a decidedly Chilly response because customers and commenter’s feared that Verizon would supplant native app stores to push their own.
Fast foreward to today. Verizon sucessfully launched their app store on Blackberry, with those devices still shipping with the native Blackberry App World installed, and now they want to do the same thing to Android. And no, this isn’t the end of the world (At least, it doesn’t have to be).
The VCast App store promises to bring several much needed improvements to the Android Ecosystem:
- Carrier Billing: Dangerous for little kids, but often requested by Developers and Consumers alike. A lot of customers don’t like the idea of putting a credit card on file with Google Checkout.
- Curated Experience: Apps in the Vcast store have to pass an approval process, which will help cut down on the spam apps. I’m also assuming there will be content guidelines, which will mean a much safer browsing environment for kids. The Guidlines will be detailed and Verizon will have a full time support staff to assist developers in getting their applications approved
- Marketing: Verizon will use their marketing team to promote these applications, meaning that customers won’t have to “stumble” upon them like they do in the current android market. (and to anyone who questions the value of this, remember that it is Verizon that sells “Droids” and what that campaign did for Android as a whole)
- Subscription Billing: Are you a magazine/newspaper looking to get your content onto mobile devices? Once the VCast store goes live, you’ll have it. (Though this could pose a problem for other carriers until the market proper is updated)
I’m not saying that this idea is perfect, or that there’s not a danger here, but it’s also not something that we should just write off and ignore because of some deep seated hatred of carriers.
It is free for developers to submit apps (there is no fee like iOS), with clearly listed guidelines, a 70/30 split favoring the developer in revenue (which is about as good as it gets when it comes to app stores). A competing app store could be just the thing Google needs to force them to clean up their market, and an alternative like the Vcast store can allow a Curated “walled garden” approach to android for those who want it.
That being said, I feel there are a few things the Vcast store must do if it wants to remain a positive addition to the Android ecosystem and not an “evil action” by a carrier like the Bing on the Fascinate fiasco.
- No Exclusive Listing Requirements: Apps submitted to the Vcast store can also appear in the Android market at large. I’ll go so far as to say that Verizon should make sure doing this is as painless as possible for Developers. The Vcast store will ALWAYS be a supplement to the Android Market (if for no other reason than it is locked to the carrier) and Verizon should acknowledge this. If Angry Birds wants to be in boths tores, Verizon should allow it.
- If an app is exclusive to Verizon, it should be in the Vcast store, not the Market: The other side of the coin to my first post is that there are exclusive Android applications just for Verizon customers. Skype is the most controversial one. Applications like this (as well as Vcast Video, My Verizon, VZ Navigator, etc) should appear only in the VCast store. If Verizon wants to be really nice, they should allow customers to delete these apps off their phone (though not the Vcast store) if they wish, because they’re easily re-downloaded using the Vcast store, but I doubt we’ll get that lucky.
- Android Market is still pre-loaded on all Android devices: This one is a no brainer. Like I said above, Verizon has to realize that at best, the VCast store will ALWAYS be a suppliment to the Android Market, not an equal alternative. Locking their phones out of the tens of thousands of apps that don’t appear in their own store can only hurt them, and I think they’re smart enough to know that (Look how quickly they came out and said that bing preloaded and locked on android wouldn’t be the norm for android phones after the Fascinate fiasco)
If the above three conditions are met, the worst the Vcast store can be for customers is an additional icon in their app screen, and it has the potential to be a boon for consumers, developers, and android as a whole. If the Vcast store proves profitable, it will force Google to fix their own market because they’ll see the profitability of doing so. It also gives serious developers another portal for their apps to reach consumers, one that could be a boon for those quality apps that are buried by crappy applications with similar search terms in the current market.
I also think Verizon should keep the 24hr Trial period and the “your apps move to your new phone with you” mentality that the Android market has. One of my biggest gripes with the Vcast store as it currently stands is that the applications you purchase are JUST for that device, and when you get a new one you have to rebuy the application. That’s not how users expect android to work, so if they do the same here, they risk killing the concept before it starts.
But what do you think? Is the Vcast store something that Android could benefit from, or do you think Verizon will somehow use it to further lock down their devices? Let me know.
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