Many consumers enjoy smart phones, due to the entertainment factor and the ability to play interactive games on their hand-held devices. Android, which runs on many current smart phones, has become an extremely popular and widely-used operating system (OS) for mobile devices. Its status as an open-source platform gives it a variety of advantages over other closed-source systems like the iPhone and Blackberry.
One advantage of Android over other operating systems is that it is open-source and thus customizable, which allows developers to create new applications free of restrictions. The appeal for consumers is the possibility of a wide variety of games and applications on an interactive user interface.
Games developed for Android are becoming more popular as well. For instance, consumers can play certain games for real money as well as slots online, as the users’ accounts can be directly linked to the game device. There are other games from simple arcade and adventure games, to puzzle applications. The interface provides an interactive and immersive experience.
In comparison with platforms like Blackberry, Android pulls ahead with the sheer number of available applications and games. Blackberry has a robust number of applications for download in their marketplace; however with the surge in popularity of Android, Blackberry cannot compete there.
While initially slow to turn their attention to Android, developers now are focusing here because Android allows them to release applications without the long approval process that Apple has. As this may degrade the quality of these applications initially while amateur developers may flood the market with beta applications and games, it does allow a higher level of freedom that other platforms do not have at the moment.
Further disadvantages for using Android over other closed-source operating systems include that users run the risk of their systems being attacked by viruses and other malicious software since it is open-source. Applications are not screened as closely and the quality may not be as high as closed-platform systems, who can monitor their developers and approve or deny developed applications. Top games and other applications may also run differently for users since Android has been adopted by several manufacturers who use different hardware, compared with Apple and Blackberry, who use one kind of device for their platform.
Overall, Android has a lot to offer in terms of applications, and continues to rise in overall popularity because of its versatility and open-source environment.