Is it time to ditch your Android and switch to iOS?

CHICAGO - Feb. 4, 2015 - PRLog -- Is it time to ditch your Android and switch to iOS?

If you have an Android phone or tab and have tried to install an app from outside Google Play, you will probably stop after the warning message asking you if you trust the source of the app. You then need to make a change to your phone or tab to accept app installations from outside the Google Play market. This, apparently, is to protect the device owner from getting a virus, malware or adware on the device and to protect the users privacy, however, it seems that the real reason behind the warning is actually to protect Google and it´s share of the Android app market!

Every day, there are thousands of new apps released on Google Play by freelance app developers from all over the world. These developers have paid $25 to Google to open a developer account so that they can distribute their apps on Google Play freely. Unlike the iOS market, it seems that Google Play allows apps to go live without the same standard of inspection, which is why in the recent news, a card game app that has been installed on millions of devices has been found to be riddled with adware.  The card game is only one of a number of apps that has given Android users a massive headache with malware causing popups that send the user to malicious websites and apps. Similar malware has been found in apps such as an IQ Test and a History app.

This lack of care from Google Play has caused an uproar in the Android app developer world, one such developer, Simon Ward, has been fighting Google for some time now since his account was unfairly terminated, however, each appeal has fallen on deaf ears and he feels that it is a disgrace that Google can terminate any developer account at any time without reason whilst allowing malicious apps on the marketplace to thrive. Simon said, "I think it´s a disgrace that Google have a  warning on Android devices when installing an app from a third party marketplace, as if it´s not safe to install when Google Play has so many malicious apps available and downloaded by millions of people. I lost my Google Play developer account for no clear reason and without anyone from Google to talk to. This news makes me believe that the warning for third party installations is there to protect Google´s own profit. They (Google Play) make it very difficult for app distribution outside of their own market. The warning is obviously false now it´s proven that there are many malicious apps on Google Play. The only reason I can think that it is there in the first place is to prevent any other market distributing Android apps. I have tried to make human contact with Google Play to argue my own account termination but it seems that the entire Google Play setup is run by using software or robots and the system obviously does not work for developers or end users."

It seems that there are thousands of app developers who feel the same way, a petition on Change.org here https://www.change.org/p/sergey-brin-respect-the-efforts-... has been signed by over 2,600 people, including Steve Wozniak (co-founder of Apple), most of which have had their developer accounts terminated by Google´s system and can not get through to any human support. Simon also quoted "You would think that a corporation the size of Google that are one of the most tech savvy companies in the world with a billion dollar app marketplace would at least employ a team of staff to talk to developers and check apps before they go live, but it seems that even though Google is one of the richest companies in the world, they still want to cut costs at the expense of providing a good and safe service for both app developers and end users."

So is it time to ditch your Android and Google Play and switch to iOS and the iTunes marketplace? It may well be when you can also consider the fact that the market is bloated with Android devices and some of which are no longer compatible with many popular apps, however, iPhone users have a safer marketplace and if you own the latest iPhone, it has no compatibility problems. The only problem would be the price difference, however, like everything in this world, you only get what you pay for.

You can read the news report from Techcrunch here http://techcrunch.com/2015/02/03/new-adware-found-in-goog...

A petition has been setup to help change the way Google Play operate to help end users and developers here https://www.change.org/p/google-inc-change-the-way-google...