News

Google Increases Android Guidance Beyond Coding

• By David Ramel
• June 29, 2016

Google has been bolstering its non-coding guidance for Android developers who are trying to get their wares noticed on the increasingly crowded Google Play app store.

According to Statista, Google Play has an inventory of about 2.2 million apps, while rival Apple's App Store has about 2 million. However, a recent report by App Annie indicated that the Apple store generated almost twice as much revenue for developers in the first quarter as did Google's store.

Google reportedly matched Apple's new initiative to share more store proceeds with developers to alleviate that situation, and has also picked up the pace on business-related advice to help Android devices fare better.

Last week, it introduced the Playbook for Developers mobile app to help Android devs pay more attention to the non-coding side of things. "The app helps you stay up-to-date with the features and best practices to grow your business on Google Play," Google said in a blog post.

Google said developers can use the app to:

• Choose topics relating to business interests to personalize My Playbook with curated articles and videos from Google and experts across the Web.
• Explore the in-depth guide to Google's developer products, with articles grouped by task: develop, launch, engage, grow and earn.
• Take actions on items -- complete, share, save or dismiss them -- and read saved articles later, including offline if they're written in the app.

The app garnered a positive review from XDA Developers. "In summary, the Play Console application brings a lot to the table," XDA Developers said. "With a clean and familiar design as well as quick access to a lot of information, it's clear that this will be a useful tool in any developer's arsenal. The app is so good, however, that the user begins to yearn for just a couple of enhancements to truly unleash the potential."

And last month, Google introduced yet another business-oriented mobile app, moving its Google Play Developer Console to the device.

"Access your Google Play Developer Console data from your Android device," the app store page says. "Review your app's performance statistics and financial data. Be notified about your app's status and publishing changes. Read and reply to user reviews on the go."

The two new mobile apps for Android developers follow up on other business-related initiatives Google has launched, such as the ebook, "The Secrets to App Success on Google Play (Second Edition)," which is also available on Google Play.

"Read this business playbook for app and game developers to learn about the best practices and Google tools that will help you improve the quality of your app, grow a valuable audience, increase user engagement and retention, and earn more revenue on Google Play," the store page says.

Last week, Google thanked those who helped test the Playbook app during its six-week beta program and invited Android developers to check it out and provide feedback via e-mail to [email protected].