Google is getting ready to allow Indian developers for publishing paid
applications in the Google Play. Developers in the country were until
only able to release free apps via the app store.
While Google seems
to have included India in the list of countries currently supported for
distributing paid apps in Play Store, it is not allowing the developers
to setup merchant accounts in Google Checkout, a compulsory step for
selling paid applications.
It might be a last minute delay as the company sorts out final hurdles and we hope to see the feature live soon.
The
news of Indian developers being allowed to distribute paid apps come at
very important juncture in Android history, because it has just been
four years since the release of version 1.0 of Android SDK, a set of
development tools required for the creation of applications.
Given
the software and app development market in the country, we are sure
that ability to sell paid apps will be an added advantage for devs. It
will give them an additional way to monetise apps apart from just adding
advertisements, which are often not good for user experience.
There are currently 31 other countries from where devs can publish paid apps in Google Play.
Google
Play is the official application store for Android operating system and
compatible Android devices are allowed to use it to download
applications. According to the last estimates given by Google, there are
over 600,000 Android apps in the store.