One of the big advantages Apple has over Google is its support for third-party apps across its devices. iPad and Apple Watch have a wealth of apps available, and in many cases, developers have improved the iPhone experience for smaller and larger screens. and larger screens. [If third parties don't provide a lot of apps for Android tablets and Wear OS watches, people may not buy them. But if people don't buy, there is less incentive for developers to create custom-made apps.

Google may have found a clever way to break this cycle. If app developers can make the Android phone experience support other areas of Google's ecosystem, eligible developers can earn more revenue as a result.

For now, Google is targeting three categories: video, audio, and books. Video apps that offer live news, sports, and movies will need to integrate with Android TV, Google TV, and the Cast platform, as well as cross-device playback and sign-in integration. Audio apps offering subscription services need to integrate well with WearOS, Android Auto, Android TV, and Google Cast, and "premium books," audiobooks, and comics, tablet and folderable devices, Entertainment Space, and the "Premium Books," audiobooks, and comics must be optimized for tablets, folderable devices, and Entertainment Space. Audiobooks also need to be optimized for Android Auto and Wear OS.

If this is done, Google will earn 15% of the revenue instead of the usual 30%, but with some caveats. Because Google recently lowered the revenue it gets from the app to 15% for the first $1 million. Second, Google requires a "strong Google Play rating" and "at least 100,000 monthly active installs on Google Play." In other words, the company seems to be really targeting the big boys to improve support on the various Android platforms. [But as Ars Technica points out, Google has done a pretty poor job of setting an example in this regard, which doesn't send a good message to developers who are open to the idea of creating more Google-friendly apps. YouTube Music is Wear OS does not work on Wear OS, Google Chat does not work on tablets, Wear OS, or Android Auto, and the Stadia Android TV app took 18 months to appear.

Still, if you are a media app maker, earning huge revenues from the estimated 3 billion Android devices, it would seem obvious that you would reduce your fees by expanding support to other Google platforms. The question is whether this will encourage consumers to consider Android tablets and Wear OS watches, or whether Google is just needlessly reducing its revenue.