It is widely known that developers on the Android platform are frustrated to say the least due to the piracy phenomena that are taking place on a very large scale. This fact, combined with the fragmentation of Android devices, has made many seriously consider even not programming for this particular platform again.
Essentially, Fragmentation is the name given to the variety of different devices that are released with Android. These devices have different versions of Android, but also different technical characteristics (screen resolutions, processor/gpu, etc.)
The results are even more disappointing if one compares the piracy rates between Android and Apple's iOS, as the ratio is 14 to 1.
A typical example is the application/game Towerfight 2 which was simultaneously available on both the Google Play Store and the App Store at the price of $0.99. On iOS, its piracy reached 5% which translates into 2,438 illegal downloads while on Android the number had reached 34,091!!
The only solution at the moment seems to be the creation of freemium: partially free applications and games in their basic version with built-in in-app purchases to exploit their full functions if the user wishes later.
Dimitrios Georgoulas @ GreekAppleNews
