The Android Market is Not Broken

Look, I'll be the first to admit the Android Market has some issues, but some have claimed recent events mean the model is fundamentally flawed. They claim that the open model has led us down a dead end. I assert that the events of the last 24 hours prove beyond a shadow of a doubt that the Android Market is working as intended. Let's look at what went down, and why that's cool.

First up, this morning we were all greeted by an Engadget editorial highlighting a Nazi theme app available in the Android Market. Don't be fooled; these were not happy Buddhist swastikas, they were the scary Nazi kind. How did this pile of hateful code make it in? Well, Google doesn't review what goes in the Market. What happened? Google pulled the app because it is in violation of their terms of service to upload apps that are designed to promote hate speech. 

Would it have been better if it hadn't been there in the first place? Sure, but the community around Android found a problem, and Google acted. This is how the Market works. You don't get a ton of scrutiny as apps are posted, but there is a little more care taken to control things on the back end.

The other issue of the day was a fake TweetDeck client in the Market. Surely this was timed to take advantage of the hype surrounding TweetDeck's beta release (hosted outside the Market). Certain people *cough Scoble cough* claimed that TweetDeck "revealed a MAJOR problem with Android app store that Apple doesn't have." A bad actor uploaded the fake TweetDeck app, and started charging for it. But guess what. The app was pulled almost immediately. If you search for it now, it's not there.

This is another example of the community working together to do their own app review. It doesn't matter if Apple has the problem or not, because this is how the Android Market works, and it works just fine. The app is gone, and presumably people got their money back. Additionally, TweetDeck didn't reveal the problem, things like this have happened (and have been dealt with) before.

The Android Market provides freedom, and that comes with responsibility. A vibrant developer and user community can keep everyone safe and the Market clean. There's no need for a draconian approval process for apps. If anything, today's events illustrate how good the Android community is at policing the Market for themselves.