Google pushes harder on apps for both Android and Apple iOS devices

Google pushes more app sales for Android and Apple iOS - Dallas Business Journal

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See the little gift box? That's Google driving to take advantage of all the new devices… more

Google hopes your post-holiday app shopping starts on the Google homepage.

The search company set aside space on its homepage to advertise and link to its Google Play Store and the Apple App Store. The ad includes a small red gift icon and the phrase "unwrap the best of Google for Android and iOS."

See the little gift box? That's Google driving to take advantage of all the new devices… more

While Google obviously wants to push Android apps, why link to Apple? Don't forget that Google has more than 60 apps for iPhone and almost 50 for the iPad on the Apple App Store. The Android link pushes apps such Chrome Browser, Google Maps, Google Photos and Google Translate. It also includes Snapseed, Gmail, Hangouts and Google Drive. Many of these are apps already pre-installed on a new Android phone.

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The Apple link provides a few pages worth of all the Google apps that users can find within the Apple App Store. Many iPhone owners use Google productivity products, such as Gmail, and watch content on Google-owned platforms, such as YouTube.

Christmas is one of the biggest download days of the year due to the number of new devices consumers receive over the holiday. Many of the apps on the Apple App Store were on sale this weekend for 99 cents, while Google slashed prices up to 90 percent on some games.

Last year, U.S. consumers downloaded 2.5 times the number of apps on Christmas Day as compared to an average day in the first three weeks of December, according to research by Flurry Mobile. Games and messaging apps saw the highest increase in app installs. Apple accounted for 51 percent of the new device activations worldwide around the holidays in 2014, according to the study. Samsung came in second with 18 percent of new device activations and Microsoft (Nokia) rounded out the top three with 5.8 percent, mainly for Lumia devices.

But it may not be a happy new year for either Google or Apple — both are reportedly looking at decreasing sales when it comes to smartphones. Last week, it was reported that Samsung plans on reducing its number of smartphone shipments in 2016, according to Android Authority. Apple stock has dropped on reports that Bank of America cut its estimate for fiscal 2016 iPhone shipments by 10 million, per Business Insider. Shares of Apple are down nearly 18 percent from April's record highs. Many believe market saturation is adversely affecting the smartphone market and newer generations of phones aren't offering substantial upgrades to entice consumers to buy.

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