At this point in the game, you’ve probably come across Clear for the iPhone. The ToDo application, built on gestures, has been pretty famous around the web, getting digital print (can we call it print still?) more than most iOS ToDo apps that hit the market. Rightfully so, the app is fantastic. But, what happens when a developer doesn’t port its application to Android? Blatant Ripoffs, that’s what happens.
Call it what you want, a labor of love, or even the sincerest form of flattery, but I’ll call it what it is: “Koalcat’s Clear” (No link, because of douchery) is a blatant attempt at ripping off the hardworking people at Realmac Software. And that, no matter what platform you bat for, is wrong on every imaginable level.
Back in December, App Annie released an interesting report based on research the company conducted. The study focused in on iOS and Android revenues. App Annie found that, “The gap between monthly global revenues on iOS and Google Play is significant, but it’s gradually closing. Although iOS monthly revenues are four times larger than its counterpart, Google Play October revenues are 17.9% greater than those of September while iOS October revenues are 0.7% lower than its September revenues.” Or, in short, if you want to make money as a developer, people using iOS are more willing to part with cash for quality applications.
Is it surprising? I mean really, is it surprising that developers are reluctant to move their applications to Android, when the reality is that it’s only a matter of time before a clone shows up for free? Why would you waste hours upon hours moving your application to a new platform if the end result was someone would release a clone for free eventually?
I mean, the company even ripped off the application name in its entirety. That boils my blood.
Google, this one’s in your court. Want to court better, high-end developers to your platform? These apps need to stop. It’s embarrassing that the app is still available on the Google Play store at the time of publishing.
