Android Market Closes Gap on App Store

Google’s Android Market is closing the gap on Apple’s App Store, taking away what used to be a big advantage for the iPhone and iOS.

The Mountain View, Calif.-based company’s platform’s mobile app store has had more than half a million apps published, gaining ground on Apple’s App Store’s 600,000.

Apple has reportedly removed 24 percent of those apps for reasons like not being updated to work with the newest version of the OS, violating the company’s terms of service, and poor overall quality, according to data from research2guidance.

Although Google does not have as many stipulations on app approval as Apple, the company also removed its fair share of apps due to performance issues. Google later removed just over 37 percent of those apps published in the Android market.

The final count cuts into the advantage Apple had in total number of apps at the end of the third quarter of 2011, when a little more than 450,000 of its apps were active, compared to Android’s 319,000.

Analysts expect the Android Market to surpass Apple’s App Store in total number of apps by the middle of next year, but that may not be the advantage many expect it will be.

Even if the predictions come true, Apple’s mobile store will likely still offer more peace of mind than the Android Market. the company’s walled-garden approach keeps out viruses that come in the form of fake mobile apps, while Google’s more open model leaves the Android Market susceptible to malware.

High profile and successful apps like “Angry Birds” and “Cut the Rope” will also continue to come to both platforms. Developers are interested in selling as many copies of their software as possible, and gain little by making an app Android- or iOS-exclusive, unless Google or Apple offer monetary compensation.

The ability to offer more mobile apps than competitors was important when Apple’s App Store offered 200,000 apps and Android Market was just getting off the ground, but now that both sides will soon exceed a half million active apps, one side having even 100,000 more than the other means much less.

Now that the mobile app stores appear to be close to equal footing, other features of iOS and Android may become more important when users consider which platform is best for them.

This post originally appeared at Mobiledia.