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Where Are the Android Killer Apps?

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Re: Where Are the Android Killer Apps?

#61

Post by dejb »

lukeschlather wrote: post #19

The entire article reads a bit like the scene in The Life of Brian where the Jewish rebels enumerate all the things the Romans have done for them, and then say "but aside from that, what have the Romans ever done for us?" I get where Gruber's coming from, and there seems to be a legitimate point in here about the difference between consoles and ordinary computers. But I'm not really seeing anything listed under the i…

> there seems to be a legitimate point in here about the difference between consoles and ordinary computers

I still can't for the life of me understand why any self respecting geek would cheer on the 'console' model as the future of mobile computing. Sure, as a developer you have to make practical decisions about which platform to develop for. But as the platform you chose to use yourself? It's like saying that you've decided to use xBox as your main environment instead of Windows/OSX/Linux.

Re: Where Are the Android Killer Apps?

#62

Post by ddlatham »

DeusExMachina wrote: post #43
necubi wrote: post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

Actually, (A implies B) does imply (!B implies !A). It's the contrapositive.

For example, from Wikipedia, "All birds are animals" does imply "All non-animals are non-birds". http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Contraposition

Re: Where Are the Android Killer Apps?

#63

Post by 5teev »

lukeschlather wrote: post #19

The entire article reads a bit like the scene in The Life of Brian where the Jewish rebels enumerate all the things the Romans have done for them, and then say "but aside from that, what have the Romans ever done for us?" I get where Gruber's coming from, and there seems to be a legitimate point in here about the difference between consoles and ordinary computers. But I'm not really seeing anything listed under the i…

> Gruber's assertion that it's intrinsically better doesn't have a lot of weight to it.

I didn't read it as his specifying one that's intrinsically better than the other, but as which platform will succeed in the long run because it has more compelling software, i.e., Rage HD will sell more iOS devices than task managers will sell Android.

Re: Where Are the Android Killer Apps?

#64

Post by RyanMcGreal »

DeusExMachina wrote: post #43
necubi wrote: post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

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

Wait, what?

Every time I eat a hard candy, I get a toothache. I don't have a toothache, therefore I didn't eat a hard candy.

Re: Where Are the Android Killer Apps?

#65

Post by darklajid »

I would like to suggest to the author that he should give "SpecTrek" (not affiliated, just a user) a try. I cannot comment on iOS apps (don't own a device, don't care much), but this game should've been the one that leads the android top 10 game list. And I guess it's unique to android as well.

Killer app? Nope. Interesting and a good example for something "different"? Yep.

Re: Where Are the Android Killer Apps?

#66

Post by Legion »

cletus wrote: post #30
Tichy wrote: post #4

Funny, my impression is that all the useful apps tend to be on Android. For example, I use Google Talk a lot, as it saves costs for sending SMS. I keep begging my iPhone 4 friend to use it, but he never even comments. I am not sure if it is not available on iPhone (multitasking problem?), or if he just doesn't care enough. Alternatively Twitter DMs are free, too. What am I missing out on by staying on Android (except…

I used to use Google Talk a lot. On the desktop it's handy. On my Android phone (HTC Desire) it seemed to work well. Since getting an iPhone 4 however I've pretty much stopped using it entirely. I simply cannot find a good app for it. The ones I have found seem to sign out after 4 hours (making them useless) or just don't seem to work reliably (eg I'd get home and find a message on my desktop that hadn't made it to m…

Meebo. It is the only IM app on the iPhone that I've found that is worth anything.

Part of the reason why it works so well is that it does not maintain an active connection on the phone. Most IM apps fail as soon as the phone loses its connection for even a moment.

Meebo keeps you as logged in on their servers, and then sends push notifications to your phone when you receive messages. The result is that you don't go "offline" when you experience any phone connection hiccups.

Try it if you haven't. I use Google Talk and Yahoo IM on my iPhone all the time.

Re: Where Are the Android Killer Apps?

#67

Post by bjelkeman-again »

5teev wrote: post #59
callahad wrote: post #28

Earlier quoted context omitted.

But you have to admit, there's a cultural divide between Android and iOS. Android is extremely well suited for working, passing data seamlessly between applications, etc. It makes it easy to get things done in the same way you might interact with a desktop computer. iOS, however, takes a different tack, focusing on self-contained, bite-sized apps. You hop into something, use it, then leave. And when you're in that ap…

I don't understand how Android allows you to pass data between applications while iOS does not. I'm under the impression that I can use copy/paste and custom protocols to pass information between applications on my iPhone. Am I missing something? If there's any cultural divide Gruber alludes to, it's that iPhone users tend not to know a whole lot about how the phone works deep inside, and whether by necessity or curi…

You say "iPhone users tend not to know a whole lot about how the phone works deep inside, and whether by necessity or curiosity, Android users do."

I don't think that is true. Most Android users have no idea how their phone works inside. They are not techies, they are just smartphone users. Most people have no idea what a computer does inside. Don't think that all Android users are techies because many on HN are.

Re: Where Are the Android Killer Apps?

#68

Post by commandar »

5teev wrote: post #59
callahad wrote: post #28

Earlier quoted context omitted.

But you have to admit, there's a cultural divide between Android and iOS. Android is extremely well suited for working, passing data seamlessly between applications, etc. It makes it easy to get things done in the same way you might interact with a desktop computer. iOS, however, takes a different tack, focusing on self-contained, bite-sized apps. You hop into something, use it, then leave. And when you're in that ap…

I don't understand how Android allows you to pass data between applications while iOS does not. I'm under the impression that I can use copy/paste and custom protocols to pass information between applications on my iPhone. Am I missing something? If there's any cultural divide Gruber alludes to, it's that iPhone users tend not to know a whole lot about how the phone works deep inside, and whether by necessity or curi…

Applications on iOS aren't allowed to touch storage outside of their own data store or the photo roll. Some developers used to backdoor around this by passing data via the photo roll, but Apple started denying app approval for this a while back.

Re: Where Are the Android Killer Apps?

#69

Post by jaaron »

ddlatham wrote: post #27

So he is asking, where are the apps that are available for Android, but not iPhone that meet the following criteria 1. Not made by Google or built-in 2. Popular and well made (no long tail) 3. Don't take advantage of things Android can do but iPhone can't (home screens, notifications, deep integration, background services, etc.) Suppose you had such an app, or were developing one. While Android has passed iOS in new…

Ah, but switch the question around and you have grubers point: Why wouldnt you have an Android version too...

It's the iOS exclusivity that is interesting. iOS has exclusive apps that should be able to run on Android. The reverse isn't as much the case.

Re: Where Are the Android Killer Apps?

#70

Post by RyanMcGreal »

runjake wrote: post #46

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 mou…

ConnectBot has saved my bacon on more than one occasion!
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