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Where Are the Android Killer Apps?

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Re: Where Are the Android Killer Apps?

#101

Post by StavrosK »

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…

> Google Talk is already limited to those who use gmail.

You realise that Google Talk uses Jabber, and is, thus, the only IM I know whose protocol is open? You can use it with basically any client developed in the past 10 years. Trillian should work well...

Re: Where Are the Android Killer Apps?

#102

Post by [deleted] »

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…

[deleted]

Re: Where Are the Android Killer Apps?

#103

Post by YooLi »

cheald wrote: post #20

Gruber seems to make the assertion that a platform only has worth based on its exclusive "killer apps". He goes wrong there and never really recovers. Android's strength is not its suite apps, it's its flexibility. It runs on an enormous range of hardware, and doesn't require that you buy into a single vendor's toolchain to use it. The core philosophical difference between the two platforms is "Steve Jobs decides wha…

"Android's strength is not its suite apps, it's its flexibility. It runs on an enormous range of hardware, and doesn't require that you buy into a single vendor's toolchain to use it."

Gruber's point is that the average user doesn't care about this. They don't care that the OS that runs on their phone can be used on a robot or a microwave. They just care that there is some awesome app that will motivate them to buy a certain phone, and he's saying Android doesn't have that awesome app.

But, like you, if I wanted to use a phone as the brains for an autonomous drone, I would use an Android phone. But this is an edge-case.

Re: Where Are the Android Killer Apps?

#104

Post by shod »

jaaron wrote: post #69
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.

It's "Windows Only" logic: exclusivity through ubiquity. Why bother catering for the niche marget when you can score big with iOS?

Re: Where Are the Android Killer Apps?

#105

Post by StavrosK »

unoti wrote: post #41

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 suspe…

To express my support, I will buy well-made Android games even if I don't need them that much.

Re: Where Are the Android Killer Apps?

#106

Post by YooLi »

lusis wrote: post #97

I'd rather ask a different question. Who the hell cares? Seriously. Why is all this attention being paid to Android by various Apple-centric/Apple-leaning outlets? I'm not trying to be combative. If iOS is the superior platform then why keep drawing attention to something that, in your opinion, is inferior? Technically speaking Android and iOS are fairly even in features. Android has some things that iOS doesn't and…

Did you read the post? He doesn't phrase it at all as an iOS is better than Android argument. He's saying it's interesting that as large as Android is, why there isn't any good 3rd party apps exclusively for it. There are no "I must get an Android phone so I can run this" apps.

Re: Where Are the Android Killer Apps?

#107

Post by StavrosK »

ddlatham wrote: post #62
DeusExMachina wrote: post #43

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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

Apparently he meant "(A implies B) does not imply (B implies A)". Affirming the consequent and all that.

Re: Where Are the Android Killer Apps?

#108

Post by rchowe »

thwarted wrote: post #99
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…

You can't even view the iTunes store without iTunes.

You can view apps online.

Re: Where Are the Android Killer Apps?

#109

Post by mgcross »

unoti wrote: post #41

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 suspe…

I'm envious of iPhone games, but primarily due to the aesthetics of the games rather than gameplay. Developers (and designers) are still chasing iOS money. I think Android will get there. I'm hoping Unity3D will result in more cross-platform game development.

Re: Where Are the Android Killer Apps?

#110

Post by RickHull »

SoftwareMaven wrote: post #73
tomkarlo wrote: post #52

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If you read the article, he's not making that assertion about the relative worth of Android. (And opening up with that as the basis of your argument is a disingenuous tactic, if done intentionally.) He's arguing that the third-party software library is weak, especially away from "enhancement/tweak" type software. Flexibility is useful only insofar as it translates into capabilities of high value to end users. It's no…

The point you make about the killer app is very true. Halo on the XBox came to mind. I think Google hoped turn-by-turn navigation would be it initially for Android, but I agree that (for the average user) there aren't any killer apps. If you get into domain niches (such as medical), that might be different.

Google Nav is pretty friggin awesome. I had a TomTom for the first year I lived in NYC and the last year I owned a car, and Google Nav was comparable on all fronts, as demoed in rental cars up and down the Eastern Seaboard since then.

Notable downsides include battery life and built-in mounting options. Notable upsides include no upfront purchase, free updates, constant updates, better information density (pixels per meatspace volume, roughly), ease of ad-hoc "mounting" (e.g. next to the speedometer, behind the steering wheel), and automatic "straight-to-pocket-on-exit" theft protection.

It's free, it works well, and it integrates nicely with other Android apps (notably Google Maps).

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