Motorola Droid Hype: Android app restriction
Verizon has worked hard to get the new Android 2.0 packing Motorola Droid smartphone tagged as the new “iPhone killer” and has showered the device with hype which has led to the Motorola Droid shifting some 100,000 handsets in the first weekend of launch.
However, according to iphone help, what all that hype doesn’t say is that this supposed new iPhone killer doesn’t actually take full advantage of the thousands of Android applications available on the Android Market, the reason being application installation is restricted by a measly 256MB of memory.
In the past, many supposed iPhone killer handsets have quickly fallen by the wayside due to the lack of a substantial iTunes App Store competitor, and the Motorola Droid only allowing 256MB of internal applications storage space just doesn’t cut the mustard.
Furthermore, as Android doesn’t have the ability to support application installations on an SD card, Motorola Droid owners are stuck with that pitiful 256MB for apps, compared to the iPhone which packs a nice large 7GB of application space minimum.
The Motorola Droid’s GPU, a PowerVR SGX 530 is similar to that of the iPhone 3GS yet with no proper application storage capability it seems quite a waste and one that will make sure the Motorola Droid isn’t an iPhone Killer.
Comments
10 thoughts on “Motorola Droid Hype: Android app restriction”
It’s sad that the iPhone worshipping press seems to forget that iPhone-killer does not apply to the markets. Android Market is not a Apple App Store killer (yet). Everybody agrees with that. Check back 2 years from now on that point. But the features and functions of the Droid definitely exceed the iPhone. There’s no question about that.
The average Android and iPhone owner only downloads about 30 apps, with an average size of less than 1 meg, so your argument that the App storage is the only thing that matters is bunk (unless you’re a gamer and then the iPhone wins hands down). Android phones have unlimited storage capacity due to removable SD cards- unlike the iPhone. So you can carry with you as many movies, photos, files, app data, and videos as you want.
I agree with you totally. This phone will not kill the IPhone for more reasons than one. First, the Android symbol is not a selling symbol or eye catcher. Secondly, you can’t even view the store without having a headset. Finally, graphics on these phones, ease of use applications, and memory capacity. Who wants to spend all that money get stuck with a 2 year contract, and have a phone that doesn’t even measure up to the iphone. If they took the time to do this right like they do the commericals they would have something nice. Americans business heads are so out of touch with reality as to what the American people want. It’s pathetic. Why are they trying to hide their store? Because they want you to get stuck with that bill…
You should check your sources before re-printing something that is obviously not true.
This editorial is not accurate. The executable is stored onboard however data is stored on SD card. Since executables are generally quite small (~1MB), this leaves plenty of room for lots of apps.
The real reason that the iPhone, and EVERY Apple product is better than everything else in the universe, is because all of the hardware, software, and air, in, around, and on Apple products has been blessed by the Pope. The mere act of even TALKING about an Apple product in a good way makes you superior to every other living thing on the planet (save for other Apple minions), and guarantees you a trip to the glorious afterlife of your choosing.
I have a Droid. I have about 30 apps installed, and I still have 85% of the internal storage free, because all of the non-executable data gets written to the SD card. I suppose if one wanted to download pointless apps like pull-my-finger or strike-the-match, you could fill up the internal storage…maybe…but if you’re only downloading apps that have a point, I think you’ll be fine, and most of the useful apps that are on the iPhone are also in the Android Market, just with different names.
Seriously, neither of these phones will kill the other. They both have merits and flaws which will affect people differently. Now, whether Droid’s turn-by-turn with Street View is going to be a Garmin-killer…
I’ve downloaded plenty of apps over 1MB. The Droid is the best phone I’ve ever owned or ever imagined owning.
While I do agree that 256MB of internal storage for apps is a little on the small side apps run in roms…. If the poster of this article managed to research that then they would know that the initial app. downloaded might only be a couple KB. The rest of the app would then use the storage (SD card) to access the rom and play or do whatever it is you need.
Too bad for the iphone you can’t remove or add extra memory. So all I see is this article telling me that the Droid can support more apps as long as they have extra SD cards laying around. Instead of hitting that physical brick wall the iPhone has.
As for the speed of the apps running on the SD… SD is FLASH memory, so I’m sure it can handle the punches. Correct me if anything in the previous paragraphs is incorrect, thanks!
@Victoria lol… You’re joking right.. other than pointing out you can’t seem to differentiate handset* from headset, do a little research on the Motorola Droid and you might be surprised 😉 I found your comment amusing and if anything makes me think you might beat a chimp at tic tac toe.
<3 the iPhone, H8 the lies.
256 MB is a very limited storage. On the App Store nowadays we see a lot of new games that are ~100 MB or such and some that are ~700 MB (Myst for example). I have 167 apps that are stored in ~2.2 GB of memory and I don’t have a lot of games.
Ok… this is for all you sheep out there… apple has you all under their control just like the man… iphone only has 16gb max storage… the droid has removable. Media for storage and supports sdhc which in the future could support up to 32gb an beyond… the iphone is for pussys that don’t want to get their hands dirty with a little coding if. All the apple worshipping fatheads did a little research they would realize that android is the way to go with apps to sd and overclocking to nearly 1.5ghz… not to mention the screen and support flash 10.1 in android 2.2 froyo…