It's could be taken as a sign of Android's open ecosystem in action, or evidence studios are finding it increasingly difficult to monetise their titles on Google's platform.

Either way, Appscribe CEO John Tipton believes the firm's new platform – a subscription-based service that allows users to download both games and apps to slots on their handset – is a solution to Android's problems, rather than an indication as to the OS's health.

Yes, making money on Android isn't necessarily easy, but developers would rather look for solutions rather than talk the platform down.

We caught up with Tipton for his take on Appscribe, and why he thinks it can serve up a valuable additional revenue stream for studios looking to spread their bets on Google's OS.

PocketGamer: What made you go the subscription route?

John Tipton: We've been involved with Android since the start. During that time we have talked with many developers that are frustrated with sales and exposure on the Android Market. The market is flooded with apps and games and the majority of them are of low quality.

We decided to try and bring users quality apps and games they can trust while also helping developers promote their apps and earn extra income.

Users have a hard time finding quality applications, and developers have a hard time getting the attention they deserve; we hope to change that with Appscribe.

There are many ways to promote your app - like Amazons app of the day - but they require most developers to give away their app for it to be featured. We are a free service for developers to use, and require no exclusivity meaning they can sell their apps anywhere they choose.

How does your platform differ from Gameloft's own subscription service?

Gameloft does have some impressive games, though with their subscription only offers access to two new games a month.

Our subscription will offer unlimited access to all our apps and games as long as users remain subscribed. We also offer a variety of games as we have developed a relationship with many developers.

Yours is just one of a number of monetisation platforms and models being pitched at Android developers at the moment. Do you think there's a genuine problem with monetisation on Google's OS?

In short, yes. We’ve spoken to well over 100 developers in the past month alone and the main two things that keep getting brought up are they difficulty they face trying to get noticed on the Android Market and because of this the lack of sales.

Google has succeeded in bringing a lot of apps to their market, but because of their low barrier to entry, many of them are spam or low quality. This really muddies the market and makes it hard to get noticed for many developers.

You've opted to give away prizes to encourage users to sign up. Is this a permanent strategy?

We gave away a Xoom before launch in exchange for feedback from potential subscribers. We asked potential subscribers to fill out a survey to tell us what they wanted to seen in Appscribe.

We are also offering our service at a reduced price to early subscribers as we build a subscriber base.

Do you think offering up to eight slots is enough?

In an effort to simplify our service for our subscribers we have eliminated slots from the subscribers point of view. Subscribers will get unlimited access to all of the apps in our library.

We continue to use slots in the background to help track usage. This way we can fairly compensate our developers based on the usage of their app.

You estimate one in ten apps will hold a slot for a month, bringing them in $3,000. Even taking into account multiple users, do you think that's enough for a studio to get by on?

We do not intend our service to be the sole source of income for developers; our service is meant to supplement their income. By bundling games and apps together our service can help bring developers new users.

Many of these new users would not have otherwise purchased or even found the developers apps in the over-crowded market.

That being said, our service targets indie developers as well as large studios. Larger studios may offer multiple apps in our Appscribe to earn even more. Many indie developers trying to promote their apps would welcome the extra income.

How much are you looking to charge consumers?

The service will be $3.95 a month with discounts for quarterly and yearly subscriptions. This includes every game and app we have in our catalog with unlimited usage.

We are also offering $1.95 per month subscriptions for a limited time. Our free trial allows users to try out our service for 3 days to see what we offer.

The model you lay out seems to focus on apps being able to sustain slots on user's handsets, staying put for months on end. Do you think this might work against games with shorter appeal, like short and sweet puzzle releases?

Game and apps that maintain their playability or usefulness will most likely earn more than simple games that are finished quickly.

As we continue to bring on new subscribers, the simple games should still earn revenue. Our goal is to bring in quality games and apps that our users will enjoy.

If we find that some of our apps are not performing well, we will look to replace them in the future.

Do you plan to roll out Appscribe outside the US?

We are open to anyone that wants to sign-up via Google checkout regardless of country.

The same is true for developers; most of our developers are actually outside of the US with games coming in from companies in Russia, Germany and France just to name a few.
Thanks to John for his time.

You can find out more about Appscribe on the platform's website.