The Android Market, now known as the Play Store, launched on this day in 2008. Here are a few things you might not know about it.<\/b>
\nThe Google Play Store has been around for over a decade now, but it wasn\u2019t always called the Play Store. It originally launched on this day in 2008 as the Android Market, roughly coinciding with the T-Mobile G1 Android phone. This original app store launched in a very different state to the current Play Store. Here are a few things you might not know about the Android Market on the anniversary of its launch.1. It only had free apps at first One of the more notable things about the Android Market was that it initially launched with only free apps. That\u2019s right, developers couldn\u2019t initially offer paid apps or even in-app purchases when the storefront launched in October 2008. Developers still had to pay a one-time $25 registration fee to publish their apps on the store though. Google originally announced that the Android Market would have over 50 apps available at launch. That\u2019s not a high number by any measure, but it turns out that the actual number of apps available to download was even lower than this claim. The number of apps at launch was far lower than initially promised. According to PC World at the time, an \u201cill-timed software change\u201d meant that only 13 apps were available to download at launch. Of course, Google\u2019s store has way more apps these days, numbering in the millions. So things have turned out well for the storefront since then. When paid apps landed on the Android Market in 2009, developers were allowed to keep 70% of the revenue from each app purchased. This sounds similar to the current-day situation, but there was a fundamental difference. Google claimed that it wouldn\u2019t take a percentage of sales from each app sold at first. Instead, the search colossus said that the remaining 30% went to \u201cbilling settlement fees\u201d and carriers. Android Market\u2019s name seems rather weird now that we\u2019ve got numerous app stores instead, such as the Play Store, Amazon AppStore, Apple\u2019s App Store, and more. But back in 2008, Google said it deliberately avoided the word \u201cstore.\u201d What does that say about the decision to choose the Play Store name several years later then? Who knows. Nevertheless, it\u2019s also worth noting that Apple went to court against Amazon a few years later over the latter\u2019s AppStore branding. Today\u2019s Play Store has a variety of screenshots and videos to help you make up your mind about downloading items. This seems like a no-brainer, as text alone isn\u2019t really enough to figure out if a game or app is worth grabbing. App listings were once just text. Well, the Android Market actually lacked screenshot support within app listings when it first launched. This omission was particularly perplexing as Apple\u2019s App Store already mandated screenshots for app listings at the time. Thank goodness Google would follow suit in September 2009. Those are some of the little-known facts about the Android Market at launch. Are there any other bits of trivia you know about Google\u2019s first take on an Android app store? Let us know below!<\/p>\n