A growing list of SaaS providers are launching Android apps. iPhone apps still dominate but the shift to mobile is forcing companies like Smartsheet to extend their mobile reach as much as possible.

Smartsheet is a SaaS provider that markets a collaborative spreadsheet application for the enterprise. Today the company launched its first Android app which it did for two reasons. More than half of its customers access its service from mobile devices and the apps are a major business driver.

Mark Mader, CEO and President of Smartsheet said in an email that 50 percent of customers sign up for the service after trying the iPhone or iPad app during its 30-day free trial. The conversion rate is three times the rate of similar trial users who only access Smartsheet via the website.

Smartsheet designed its Android app as a tool for doing work more so than just for read-only purposes.  It has a spreadsheet look and feel with collaborative web functionality and project management features like Gantt charts and calendars.

But Smartsheet is not exactly breaking new ground with its new Android app. Companies like Zendesk have offered Android apps since 2010.  It’s now not as much an advantage to have an Android app as it is to offer one with rich functionality that users will actually find of value.

Mhelpdesk  Co-Founder Ryan Shank said on Twtter that half of their customers are on Android. He said they would prefer to use Android tablets for their field techs because they are less expensive. The growing popularity of Android in the enterprise is supported by research from Strategy Analytics that shows Android tablets are becoming increasingly popular as the security improves and its cheaper price becomes more appealing. Additionally, as more people buy Android tablets they will increasingly bring them into the workplace.

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