Google has turned Android into the most popular operating system for smartphones. And yet the platform may be losing ground to Apple's iOS in a major area:new applications. Relative to Apple, fewer apps were created for Android in January than a year earlier. A year ago, they created two Android app for every three Apple apps. Apple has more than 550,000 apps in its store, compared with over 400,000 for Google's Android Market. Both companies count on the array of apps to make their phones more enticing and lock in consumers who are already using the devices. Google has made quick gains on Apple since the first Android phones went on sale in 2008. In 2011, though, the growth in new apps for Android was about half the level of Apple, according to the firm, which tracks more than 55,000 developers. The study measured more than 65,000 new software projects over the course of the year. A survey of about 2,000 developers conducted by Appcelerator and IDC found that fewer programmers were "very interested" in developing for Android phones and tablets in November than June, while their interest in iOS devices remained unchanged.
