Android’s Play Media Experience Program incentivises app makers to go beyond phones
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Android’s Play Media Experience Program incentivises app makers to go beyond phones
Google is offering a reduced service fee of 15% on the Google Play Store (down from the usual 30%) if an Android app developer decides to support multiple Android platforms, beyond Android for mobile phones.
In a blog post by the Android team, the folks are implementing a new Play Media Experience Program on a global scale, enticing app makers to support Android across more devices: television (Android TV, Google TV, Google Cast), wearables (Wear OS), cars (Android Auto), and (gasp) tablets (Entertainment Space by Android).
Should an app dev decide to "scale beyond mobile and across all the form factors that are important to users", these developers get to see a bigger cut of their moolah.
The support for more Android form factors was a much-needed call to action. According to Ars Technica, app developers are more likely to create a phone-only version of an Android app. They are generally not as interested in supporting more types of Android platforms despite their vibrancy.
Of course, halving the service fee does have terms and conditions attached. The Play Media Experience Program homepage has a list of eligibility requirements:
- Primary app offering of premium video, audio, or books content (not user-generated)
- Over 100,000 monthly active installs on Google Play
- High-quality user experience with a strong Google Play rating
- Developer account in good standing
- Integration of specific Google platforms and APIs based on the type of media content
- Additional requirements apply depending on the type of media content
“Through these integrations, we enable new discovery and re-engagement opportunities for developers to accelerate their overall growth on Play and offer a service fee of 15% during the program term, all to help developers deliver premium experiences,” - Purnima Kochikar, VP of Play Partnerships, Google.
As heard in its YouTube announcement, the reduced fee applies to the first US$1 million of earnings for the app maker. You can learn more about it here.
Source: Ars Technica, Google (blog)
