The survey conducted interviews with developers for Apple's App Store, Android Market, and Nokia's Ovi Store between June-October 2010. For Ovi, developer satisfaction was initially low in June with only 5% saying they would publish on it again, but this increased to 25% in October after Nokia made changes. While 75% of Ovi developers were aware of the changes like in-app purchases and advertising, 37% felt they did not represent major improvements. Common issues across all app stores included lack of response to user reviews, poor app visibility and promotion, unclear policies and slow app approvals. Developers want better app review processes, ranking systems, promotion opportunities and support.

1. Developer Satisfaction:
How does Ovi stack up against
the Apple App Store and
Android Market?
Preliminary Report
Presented at Slush Helsinki
October, 2010

2. Survey Details

3. • The Open-First research team conducted the surveys from
June – October 2010
• For each application store we asked a set of tailored multiple
choice and essay questions on the publishing process,
support, revenue and comparison to other app stores
• The respondents to this survey were found through a search
for TOP paid and downloaded apps for each store’s devices
• There were participants from Europe, Asia and America, with
a handful from Australia

4. • Android Market: The survey was conducted between July 15
and August 20, 2010 and 118 Android Market
developers/publishers responded
• Apple App Store: The survey was conducted between
August 30 and September 10, 2010 and 110 iPhone
developers/publishers responded
• Ovi: The first survey was conducted between June 1 and
June 18, 2010 and 100 Ovi store developers/publishers
responded
• The second Ovi survey is ongoing but these preliminary
results were collected between October 7 and October 15,
2010 from 75 Ovi Store developers/publishers

5. Survey Results

6. Overall Developer Satisfaction

7. Higher Revenue than Expected

8. Intention to Use Ovi in the Future
June 2010
October 2010
Percentage of top Ovi developers who would use it to publish again
5%

9. At Nokia World in London last month,
Nokia issued a press release stating that
they had made a number of changes in
developer tools, in-app purchase and beta
in-app advertising programs, updated Ovi
Store experience, which they claim makes
it "...simpler, easier and more lucrative for
people to build fantastic apps..."

10. Where you aware of these changes?
No (25%)
Yes (75%)

11. Do you think they represent major
improvements?
No (37%)
Yes (63%)

12. Would you use this store to
publish your application again?

13. • Inability to respond to user reviews and comments in the store
• Inadequate visibility and promotion opportunities for
applications in the stores, faulted search systems that prevent users
from finding apps, and unclear criteria for ranking and featuring
apps
• Bad technical and business support / poor communication:
Policies, rules, new agreements are poorly communicated and
technical or business related support requests from developers
often have to overcome automatically generated messages, long
waiting times to get a response, etc.
• For Nokia and iPhone developers, slow and inconsistent app
approval times also represent a major issue
Common Issues Across ALL Stores

14. • A quicker, definite, transparent and flexible
application review process
• A better ranking system based on customer
reviews or other criteria
•More opportunities for promotion and app
visibility
• Better support for developers and end users
• Ability to communicate with app users that leave
comments and reviews in the stores
What Developers/Publishers Want: