Google has added a feature to the Android Market Webstore that lets users see if an application they want to download will run on their Android smartphone or tablet.
Google
(NASDAQ:GOOG) has quietly added a feature to its Android Market Webstore that
tells users whether an application is compatible with their registered Android
handsets and tablets.
On the left
side of any application's Web page in the Android Market online store, users
may see a line with a plus button that says, "This application is
compatible with all of your devices."
Click the
button, and Google produces a full list of devices a user has signed into with
his or her Google account.
This is a big
help in an era where Android has flooded the market with over 300 devices in
more than 100 countries.
There are over
200,000 applications in the Market, and there are 450,000 Android developers
writing programs for more than a handful of Android OS versions.
These include
Android 1.6, 2.0, 2.1, 2.2, 2.3, and now Android 3.0 and 3.1 on the tablet
branch.
Obviously, not
every application will work with every device, so the new feature will help
solve any mysteries for users and keep them from wasting time adding an application
that won't run well on their device.
This is just
one of the many steps Google has taken this year to improve the Market.
Google
launched the
Android Market Webstore, which lets users find
and purchase applications from their desktop computer and install them to their
Android device. Google has also added
application download stats, merchant sales reports,
in-application payment support, among other
improvements.
The company
still has a long way to go to catching Apple's App Store, which has
400,000-plus applications and has turned into a
cash cow for iOS developers all over the world.
Google is
banking on the continued popularity of Android devices to buy it time to match
Apple's chops in application sales, availability and deployment.
Via GigaOm.
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