Originally Posted by
hc5duke
The minimal process certainly doesn't involve any real person. I uploaded my application in the marketplace, and when I didn't see any "pending" messages, I was curious. I went to my phone and was able to find it in the Android marketplace. Within maybe 2 minutes of uploading my application. My guess is the only thing they do is make sure the application bundle is compiled correctly and the signature matches.
As an aside, I hate how there are tons of fake apps titled "Facebook Browser" or "Yahoo Browser" -- pretty sure it's all from the same Indian or Chinese company. All it does is load up an app that is a web browser (which takes no programming) with a home page set to yahoo or facebook, and every time the app loads, it displays an ad. I tried out the "Yahoo Browser" because it had the official-looking Yahoo icon, and I wanted to check out another browser. If there was any kind of a QA process, this type of dispicable behavior would not have been allowed to continue, but it does, because there is no review process, at least not one that is stringent enough.
The main reason (as far as I can tell) developers get upset about the iPhone platform is its closed nature, in that you can't download some random app unless you jailbreak your phone, which can also void your warranty and whatnot. The Android platform allows you to download anything you want already - what it needs is not a flea market that the current marketplace is, but a mall like the AppStore.
Alternate idea: Maybe there is room for the current Android Marketplace, but if they are serious about continuing the Android platform for phones, there also needs to be a secondary store, perhaps one that charges developers an annual fee (iPhone = $99/yr) and guarantees X amount of QA per app submitted. They can also publicize the app review status and reasons for rejection, and rejected apps can fall through to the current marketplace, and everyone is happy (or maybe just me and 2535Miles).