Like many developers, Marco Arment was not initially a fan of the secretive review process for Apple (AAPL)’s app store.
But in a blog post today Arment says he’s changed his mind, perhaps motivated by some of the problems he’s been seeing in the Google app store.
“Another day, another batch of Instapaper trademark infringers in the Chrome Web Store, with Google still doing nothing,” he wrote on Twitter last month.
By contrast, Arment writes today, “For software makers and trademark owners, Apple’s review process significantly cuts down on name squatters, illegal clones, piracy apps, legally risky apps (for better and for worse), and trademark infringers.”
Arment is also pleased with the how comfortable consumers are spending real money on the app store.
“So we have a huge number of potential customers who are very comfortable installing a lot of apps and can buy ours by simply entering a password. Without app review, that market would be very different.”
Again, this contrasts poorly with Google’s app market, which just brought a new payment system online this week.
Taken as a whole, Arment’s post is a powerful reminder that, despite its flaws and controlling, sometimes arbitrary nature, Apple’s marketplace is preferred by developers and consumers.
bpopper [at] observer.com | @benpopper