App Store-ul este cel mai mare magazin virtual de aplicatii de pe glob, el gazduieste peste 700.000 de aplicatii si este in continua crestere. Analizand modul in care evolueaza aplicatiile in App Store, cei de la ABI Research au aflat ca dimensiunea medie a unei aplicatii din App Store a crescut cu 16% in ultimele 6 luni, in categoria jocurilor inregistrandu-se cea mai mare crestere, de 42%. La aceasta crestere a contribuit si ridicarea limitei privind dimensiunea aplicatiilor care pot fi descarcate printr-o conexiune de date, dar si lansarea iPad 3 cu Retina Display, un ecran ce necesita elemente grafice de rezolutie dubla fata de cele folosite pana in acel moment.
The iPad 3’s Retina display and Apple’s more liberal submission policy have caused the file sizes of leading iOS apps to grow substantially, especially in games. The latest data from ABI Research shows that the global average app size across all categories was 23 megabytes in September, 16% more than in March. For the most popular app category, games, the average size was 60 megabytes, meaning a six-month increase of 42%. Meanwhile, the size of leading Android apps for a similar sample was around six MBs in September, representing an increase of 10% against March. The games, however, nearly quadrupled to over 40 MBs in reported size, as Google also revamped its own submission policies.
Cresterea dimensiunii aplicatiilor sugereaza faptul ca acestea au grafica mai buna, iar in cazul jocurilor vorbim despre elemente grafice comparabile cu cele disponibile pe console, unele jocuri din App Store avand o dimensiune ce depaseste usor 1 GB. Desigur ca aceasta crestere are si o parte proasta, deoarece jocurile de dimensiuni mari reduc posibilitatea de a instala multe aplicatii in iDevice-uri, iar in curand un terminal cu spatiu de stocare de 16 GB va fi ineficient pentru persoanele carora le plac jocuri precum Infinity Blade, N.O.V.A. 3, FIFA 13, etc.
