Google plans update to Android Market

04.09.2009
Google is promising changes to the Android Market, the same week that a prominent application developer complained about issues with the store.

The changes, to be introduced "soon," address some of the common developer complaints, but not all of them.

With the updated store, developers will be able to better market their applications by featuring screenshots in the description of the application, Google said in a . That was a simple shortcoming that Larva Labs wondered about earlier this week in a where it outlined the poor revenue potential for games in the Android Market.

Google will also make it easier for users to find paid apps in the store. Currently, it's extremely difficult to find the folder in the Market that includes applications that users must pay for. "It is possible to get to the paid-only apps in the Market now, but it requires some tricky navigation through a submenu," Larva Labs' John Watkinson on the blog.

The Market will also include new subcategories for applications including sports, health, themes and comics.

The update does not address a couple other issues that developers have long complained about, including the application return policy. While the policy, which lets anyone return an application for any reason within 24 hours, sounds great for end-users, developers say that it's too easy to game.