There are over a billion devices out there that are powered by Android but countless surveys show that Android users don’t spend nearly as much as their iOS counterparts on digital content such as applications, movies, TV shows or songs. Google, which gets a cut of all such purchases made through its portals, obviously sees this as a problem. A new report claims that the company is now testing a new form of app trials for Android, dubbed as “micro app” trials.
The idea is that instead of making users download an entire app for a limited time before asking them to purchase it Google would simply allow them to select a part of feature of any particular application that they want to try.
So by testing out a core feature as a micro app users might be able to make up their minds about whether or not they should purchase the app. If they do the developers earn money and Google gets its cut, which means that everybody wins.
Micro app trials would entail substantial bandwidth and time saving, so users don’t take a hit if they’re downloading on a cellular data plan. Its a good system in theory but there’s not much information right now about exactly how this will work. We’ll have to wait for official word from Google on this but so far it hasn’t said anything yet about debuting a new form of app trials of Android.