About 30% of the top 50 free and paid iPad apps in the US are not available in Google Play store, according to a new report.
However, Android offered 18% of apps but they were not optimised for tablet users, as they did not offer a smart phone app that expanded up to the size of a tablet screen.
52% of apps had Android versions both offered through Google Play and optimised for use in tablets.
Canalys senior analyst Tim Shepherd said that quite simply, building high-quality app experiences for Android tablets has not been among many developers’ top priorities to date.
"That there are over 375,000 apps in the Apple App Store that are designed with iPad users in mind, versus just a fraction of this – in the low tens of thousands – available through Google Play, underscores this point," Shepherd said.
The research firm suggests Google to encourage developers to invest in offering high-quality Android tablet apps, or else it would fail user attraction with weak app experiences in the interim.
Of the 52% of top apps offered through Google Play and optimised for tablets, about six of them were top paid titles on iOS, while are only offered as free, ad-supported versions on Android OS.
Unavailable apps include the game Angry Birds Star Wars HD.
Canalys analyst Daniel Matte said that while nominally free, set against a paid version of the app, ad-supported offerings typically deliver a poorer and often more limited user experience, sometimes taking a considerable toll on device battery life and often subjecting users to unskippable videos or other unpopular intrusions.
"Improved consumer willingness to spend will increase developers’ monetisation potential and options, and help to reduce their reliance on in-app ads, leading over time to an increase in app quality," Matte said.
The trend could boost the tablet opportunity for developers, while increasing the revenue potential of the Play store and Google’s ecosystem.
"To take the Play ecosystem to the next level, Google needs more than just a large addressable base of devices," Shepherd said.
"App developers need to see clear potential to build robust and sustainable business models around apps built for the platform, so increasing monetisation potential must be a priority.
"And for tablet apps in particular, Google should go further with changes to the Play store to ensure more rigorously managed, high-quality, optimised experiences are highlighted, to the benefit of consumers, and to reward those developers who invest the time and resources in building them with improved discoverability."
