OpenAppMkt: an alternative App Store, without the Jailbreak
There’s a lot you can do with mobile optimised web apps, and this place is making them easier to find.
Posts tagged app store
Posted 1 month ago
Independent mobile app store GetJar now second only to Apple's iTunes
3 million downloads per day and counting.
Posted 2 months ago
Why you don’t use automatic translators for your iPhone app.
I almost wet myself laughing.
Posted 7 months ago
Radiance: the £59.99 Flashlight App for the iPhone.
Someone’s really trying it on. How did this beauty slip by Apple’s zealous approval process? ;)
Posted 7 months ago
The new Facebook App for iPhone (v 3.1) lets you download your friends photos and store them as the profile images for your Phone’s address book. This is definitely pretty cool.
It also now has push notifications, also cool.
Posted 10 months ago
Augmented Reality app Wikitude Hits the UK App Store
But with Layar already out, does anyone still care? Admittedly, Wikitude’s comparatively uncluttered interface gives it some usability points over its rival, but the app’s limited data set may have some users opting for Layar’s more varied and open information base.
Posted 10 months ago
Posted 1 year ago
Prolific App Spammer banned, 943 apps removed
At last, an App Store cull worthy of its name. Apple has just banned developer Khalid Shaikh and his Pakistani ‘app sweat shop’ for repeated copyright violations.
Incidentally, Shaikh’s 26-strong team of ‘developers’ also released some of the App Store’s most pointless applications (iRihanna, Tupac Quotes, Miley Cirus Updates…) at the rate of 5 a day.
Good riddance to bad rubbish, and may this be the first of many.
Posted 1 year ago
Apple’s (AAPL) new iPhone 3.0 software includes features that, if activated by Apple, may let users share software with one another, according to a person familiar with the technology. Eventually, iPhone users may even get a commission when they’ve induced someone else to make a purchase, says Richard Doherty, director at consultant Envisioneering Group.
Posted 1 year ago
Where can the iPhone replace a desktop?
For better or worse, the vast majority of my day is usually spent in front of a Mac. Whether it’s my work laptop or my home iMac, the familiar OSX desktop is pretty much a steady feature of my weekday.
Yet, I have recently noticed that there are a few common tasks for which I instinctively reach for my iPhone, even when I’m right in front of a computer screen. For example:
Google analytics: The excellent Analytics App on the iPhone provides me with a quicker overview of site visits for the current day than Google’s own pages, and does not require me to go through a login. When I need to check out how many hits a particular story has gathered, the iPhone is my first port of call.
Twitter: For some reason I seem to prefer using Tweetie on the iPhone than any of the many desktop Twitter clients available on the mac. The iPhone experience just feels more personal, like sneaking a quick peek at what’s going on in the twittersphere within the privacy of a small screen. Tweetie’s uncluttered interface has a lot to do with it.
The Calculator: Yes, it’s ridiculous, but I find myself reaching for the iPhone’s calculator application rather than firing up the desktop version.
Movie Times: The Flixster application is a perfect example of an application upon which I rely on almost exclusively when it comes to checking movie times in my local area. honestly can’t remember the last time I used the web to find out where a movie was playing.
Last.fm: I find it easier to dedicate my iPhone to the role of Last.fm player than to dedicate a browser window to the desktop equivalent.
Xbox Live: When it comes to checking is any of my friends are online for a game of Gears of War 2, the iNXEs app on the iPhone provides a faster, better alternative to many of the dedicated apps and dashboard widgets I have found to perform the same function.
If there is one characteristic all these applications share is that they are streamlined to the achievement of one sole purpose, and designed to provide quick access to one specific set of information at the expense of all else.
In effect, their presence on the iPhone turns the device into an extension to the Dashboard concept, whereby each application (or widget) provides an optimised interface to one specific type of function or information.
As a result, the overall user experience for a given task on a device like the iPhone can, sometimes counter-intuitively, be superior to its desktop counterpart. Add this to the more private, personal experience provided by a handheld device, and you have a powerful combination for repeated use.
Reader Question: Where has your handheld device replaced your desktop?
Reviewing technology with an occasional sprinkling of art and humour.
