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Where Are the Android Killer Apps?

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Re: Where Are the Android Killer Apps?

#41

Post by unoti »

I, too have been amazed at the crappy quality of available games for Android. It's why I quit my wonderful job at Linden Lab, makers of Second Life, and started working full time on Android games. You can see my work in progress on my RPG here in a couple of videos here http://tango11.com/?cat=6.

I'm not really sure why there aren't better games out there yet. Certainly one problem I've had with Android that I suspect would be better with iOS is the limited amount of memory that I have to work with on Android. Android doesn't give you all the available memory to work with, so it's an adventure to make a 2d game (bitmaps with a transparency layer get big fast). This might explain part of the delay on better games.

I think better games are coming, but I can't really explain why they're not already here.

Re: Where Are the Android Killer Apps?

#42

Post by bitsm »

As I read it, what Gruber's exploring is the idea that it's the app store ("app console") that matters now, not the OS.

Every week seems to bring another article about how Android is kicking ass in market penetration, but who really benefits outside of the carriers who get a free OS for their phones? The Android market is so fragmented that these market stats are meaningless.

Love 'em or hate 'em, Apple has been incredibly successful with iOS. They have lots of apps, lots of paying customers, generating lots of money for developers and Apple. That's something worth emulating on Android. The more money going to Android developers, the better for the platform.

The Android Market is far behind and that needs to be fixed. You can't even get to it without an Android phone. And where are the "Get it in the Android Market" buttons? Google's branding guidelines state that you can't use the Android logo to promote your app. How does that even make sense?

Google's dropped the ball on Android Market, big time.

Re: Where Are the Android Killer Apps?

#43

Post by DeusExMachina »

necubi wrote: post #22
Garbage wrote: post #2

"If quantity of app titles were all that mattered, we’d all be using Windows, not Mac OS X, right?" Err... Wait, are we all using Mac OS X?

His logic is sound, but you're misreading him: he's saying that (quantity of app titles all that matters) => (we're all using windows). We're not all using windows, so by contradiction quantity of apps is not all that matters. He's not saying that everybody is using OS X, just that not everybody is using windows.

Exactly. This is a logical error that I keep seeing being made from people, and having a logics background I can't help to notice.

A implies B does not imply that not B implies not A.

Re: Where Are the Android Killer Apps?

#44

Post by trjordan »

marze wrote: post #18

Ok, now that's funny... "The first app in the list that’s exclusive to Android is #6, Lookout — an anti-virus app."

Sure, that's one thing it does. But it also lets you track your phone from the web (even if it's off -- it'll email you when it wakes up), and it'll let you force the phone play a loud sound so you can locate it (and potentially the person who took it).

It's an interesting app, and I really like the idea of being able to locate my phone if I lose it by forcing it to wake up and email me. Dismissing it as just an anti-virus app is willfully ignoring how useful this app is (and that it could only be built on Android).

Re: Where Are the Android Killer Apps?

#45

Post by DeusExMachina »

knurdle wrote: post #3
Garbage wrote: post #2

"If quantity of app titles were all that mattered, we’d all be using Windows, not Mac OS X, right?" Err... Wait, are we all using Mac OS X?

In Gruber's world we are.

No, I think this is not correct. Most of the Gruber audience are, but he is of course well aware that OS X does not reach the two digits in market share.

EDIT: spelling.

Re: Where Are the Android Killer Apps?

#46

Post by runjake »

Here's a list to start off with:

Any home screen widget, because you can.

ConnectBot

PDAnet (no shady jailbreak needed)

Barcode Scanner

My Tracks

Swype

Google Navigation

Google Voice (better than the new iPhone version)

Layar

Scripting Layer 4 Android

Google Speech To Text (Voice Search)

Slide Screen

Chrome To Phone

Dropbox (whoah, not limited by a weird file sandbox!?)

Whatever system software that allows you to mount an Android device as USB storage

Re: Where Are the Android Killer Apps?

#47

Post by NickPollard »

mcantelon wrote: post #6

It's not that hard to unsterstand. iPhone had a lead on the Android and a lot of people invested heavily in iPhone. Now that Android has caught up in terms of marketshare it will take awhile for these people to catch up on their Android investment. As Android outpaces iPhone in the market, the app situation may end up reversed.

Also, remember he ignores apps which are available on both systems.

Since iOS was big before Android was, it stands to reason that many apps would have been developed for iOS and then not ported to Android. Whereas now Android is a huge market that most will want to develop for, but they're not going to stop developing for iOS - so I would expect a vast majority of apps to be on both platforms.

Since there was never a time when Android had a large market but iOS didn', it not surprising that the only Android-exclusive Apps are ones that can't be done on iOS.

Re: Where Are the Android Killer Apps?

#48

Post by arron61 »

bitsm wrote: post #42

As I read it, what Gruber's exploring is the idea that it's the app store ("app console") that matters now, not the OS. Every week seems to bring another article about how Android is kicking ass in market penetration, but who really benefits outside of the carriers who get a free OS for their phones? The Android market is so fragmented that these market stats are meaningless. Love 'em or hate 'em, Apple has been incr…

This is all getting fixed probably really soon. Android developers have been getting constant emails about upcoming Market changes.

Re: Where Are the Android Killer Apps?

#49

Post by zmmmmm »

mcantelon wrote: post #6

It's not that hard to unsterstand. iPhone had a lead on the Android and a lot of people invested heavily in iPhone. Now that Android has caught up in terms of marketshare it will take awhile for these people to catch up on their Android investment. As Android outpaces iPhone in the market, the app situation may end up reversed.

Yes, I think it's entirely understandable that developer adoption lags marketshare without reading giant implications about the platforms into it. Apple undeniably is brilliant at marketing their products and got developers wildly enthusiastic about them - normal laws of "physics" just don't apply to Apple in this space. For Android reality applies and this looks pretty much like a normal developer adoption curve for a platform to me.

Re: Where Are the Android Killer Apps?

#50

Post by smhinsey »

shib71 wrote: post #29

There is a killer app for me: Tasker ( http://tasker.dinglisch.net/ ). Being able to set up different configurations of my phone based on where I am, what time it is, what apps I'm running is very useful.

Have you used Locale? I've used it for awhile and haven't seen Tasker before.
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