Android News
Angry Birds GetJar flop shows Android Market is the lesser of all evils [OPINION]
October 15, 2010 | by Andrew Kameka
Android OS
We give the Android Market quite a bit of grief on this site, but the recent troubles of dealing with market alternatives has me thinking that Google may deserve an apology. It’s not as easy as it looks.
Angry Birds is set to debut in the Android Market today, but developer Rovio Mobile has decided to first make it available in the GetJar store. Thousands of excited users have rushed to get it and the site has not surprisingly crashed. Instead of finding the right angle to launch birds and earn points, users are dealing with 502 Bad Gateways.
I’m sure the app will be available soon, but is this what we can expect every time an anticipated title is released? Even when GetJar was up an running, we fielded plenty of complaints from readers unable to locate titles or figure out how to download games.
The frustrating experience of dealing with Gameloft has been even more maddening. Their purchase process is very inconvenient and I’ve decided not to venture it. I’ve repeatedly said that no one makes better 3D games than Gameloft, but the world will never recognize that until they wise-up and sell through the Android Market.
Google says it’s not threatened by market alternatives, and if somebody could somehow manage to deliver a decent competitor, I’d welcome the option. But every time I actually consider purchasing from outside the Market, the experience is horrible enough to make me stick with the Market for the following months.
There have been several documented cases of the Market failing to download, not processing orders, being difficult to search, and providing a poor experience. However, it is on track for improvement and better than the experience of other stores. The Android Market is the lesser of 2, 3, or however many evils we can expect to have by the end of the year.
my mirror for angry birds: http://bit.ly/aP05xI
I had been trying to download it from getjar, however I keep getting site is temp unavailable. It had been about 2 hrs now, and all I can get is broken download (max I can get is download up to 4MB, then it stops) thus I highly doubt that the site is holding up ok.
lolz…This is some mild karmic retribution for Rovio getting snarky for the free publicity MS gave them
Probably like what I experience, the apk was not fully download (check the apk file size, complete download should be 12.9MB)
Thanks for reminding me how much I hate the Gameloft web store. I wish they would let me give them my money so I could play their games.
The amazon rumor was intriguing. They certainly know how to make a store
Guys, No matter what you suffer i am in more deep hell, no alternative markets and i don't even have access to paid section in the Google market —-> Hell first time that i want to pay money and i can't
This along with the ease of refunding in official market makes me never wanna leave it.
you can get it off market. browse games -> arcade -> just in
No problem here. Just got it from the market.
app brain should host some files, and simple web install. Appbrain ftw
I'm glad you posted this. I realized this as well that on the launch day the app was not available in the Android Market. My recent post FxCamera Android App Review
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