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Where Are the Android Killer Apps?

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Re: Where Are the Android Killer Apps?

#121

Post by kenjackson »

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.

The problem with Gruber's argument though is there are no killer apps on the iPhone either. He lists a bunch of iOS apps in his story that I've never heard of. There's no Netscape. There's no Excel, Word. There's no Lotus 1-2-3.

Today I've only really seen four killer apps on a phone... email, SMS, mobile web browsers, and GPS. Facebook would be a marginal fifth. Everything else is stuff that frankly most people would barely notice if it was missing.

Re: Where Are the Android Killer Apps?

#122

Post by PostOnce »

Being able to point my phone at a sign written in a foreign language and having it translated into English instantly is not only a killer app for me, it blows my mind that we've gone from no cellphones 20 years ago to this.

I can also point it at the sky and know which star I'm looking at, or at the cover a book, not the barcode, and have it tell me the lowest price nationally. It can tell me exactly where on Earth I am, for free.

I have SL4A on my phone also, so not only can I call anyone anywhere on earth at any time, I can solve ridiculously complex problems in a few moments that would've taken people years to do by hand less than a century ago.

It takes pictures of people, has a compass, an entire encyclopedia and set of maps without being connected to any cell or wifi network, and can tell me exchange rates, how far it is to the nearest Chinese restaurant and theater, and play complex, interactive, three dimensional games.

I don't know what other people consider a killer app, but I just can't get over the fact that I'm living in the future right now. This is so crazy. I can't believe all this crap fits in my pocket. It feels like between this and a multitool, I can accomplish pretty much anything.

The device itself is the killer app for me. I'm glad we as a species have made these ridiculous advances possible. 20 years ago, phones didn't have screens on them. If you had caller ID, you were pretty much on the cutting edge.

Re: Where Are the Android Killer Apps?

#123

Post by blinks »

5teev wrote: post #95
callahad wrote: post #82

Earlier quoted context omitted.

When speaking of passing data between applications, I'm specifically thinking of the use cases enabled by Android's intent system. Applications can register their ability to respond to and fulfill certain interactions, and then the OS mediates between them. Say, for instance, you're in the Twitter app and click on a link. Instead of embedding a UIWebView, the application fires off a message saying it needs something…

Not all applications embed a UIWebView, and many that do also offer opening in Safari as an option. There are also between-app communications like Twitter's "Save Draft to Birdhouse..." or sending addresses to the Maps application. Not as flexible as the workflows you describe in Android, to be sure, but in that data is being passed between its apps, I believe it was overly broad to describe iOS as focusing only on "…

What about opening in Opera? Skyfire?

Re: Where Are the Android Killer Apps?

#124

Post by chc »

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?

"We are all" is not the same as "everybody is…" — it just means that everybody in some group that the speaker counts himself a part of shares the following attribute.

But even that is a stronger claim than Gruber made. He simply said that not everybody in the group he was talking about preferred Windows — a majority could even prefer Windows and his point (that the Mac's software selection appeals to some people even though it's unquestionably smaller) would stand.

Re: Where Are the Android Killer Apps?

#125

Post by cheald »

gcb wrote: post #119
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…

excuse-me. last time i checked i couldn't even use the ssh client that is installed by default in my phone. pretty much all the good things you mention are for rooted phones. The stock one is just as dumb as an iphone. Android could be the PC-revolution all over the mobile industry. but it choose to start with baby steps :(

The only thing I mentioned that requires root was the FM Radio. I intentionally didn't mention root-only apps, given that your average user won't be running a rooted phone, but if we want to get into that territory, SetCPU, JuiceDefender, and Titanium Backup are all incredible apps that have no peer in the iOS ecosystem.

Re: Where Are the Android Killer Apps?

#126

Post by StavrosK »

gcb wrote: post #119
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…

excuse-me. last time i checked i couldn't even use the ssh client that is installed by default in my phone. pretty much all the good things you mention are for rooted phones. The stock one is just as dumb as an iphone. Android could be the PC-revolution all over the mobile industry. but it choose to start with baby steps :(

Hmm, which things are for rooted phones? Mine's unrooted and I have everything he mentioned except FM listener (I don't know what it is).

Re: Where Are the Android Killer Apps?

#127

Post by cheald »

StavrosK wrote: post #126
gcb wrote: post #119

Earlier quoted context omitted.

excuse-me. last time i checked i couldn't even use the ssh client that is installed by default in my phone. pretty much all the good things you mention are for rooted phones. The stock one is just as dumb as an iphone. Android could be the PC-revolution all over the mobile industry. but it choose to start with baby steps :(

Hmm, which things are for rooted phones? Mine's unrooted and I have everything he mentioned except FM listener (I don't know what it is).

It's a part of the Cyanogen 6.1 ROM which enables me to listen to FM radio via the dormant-on-stock FM transceiver in my Nexus One. I specifically denoted that it was available via Cyanogen because it is the exception.

Re: Where Are the Android Killer Apps?

#128

Post by StavrosK »

cheald wrote: post #127
StavrosK wrote: post #126

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Hmm, which things are for rooted phones? Mine's unrooted and I have everything he mentioned except FM listener (I don't know what it is).

It's a part of the Cyanogen 6.1 ROM which enables me to listen to FM radio via the dormant-on-stock FM transceiver in my Nexus One. I specifically denoted that it was available via Cyanogen because it is the exception.

Ah, my Desire has a Radio app, so I don't need to root it for that either... Do you know if there is a compelling reason to root an Android phone? I haven't found anything I can't do yet, and the phone is close to supplanting my computer (especially with Swype/Swiftkey, K9 email and Skype/Meebo).

Re: Where Are the Android Killer Apps?

#130

Post by Tichy »

StavrosK wrote: post #100
zzzmarcus wrote: post #24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Well, the games are pretty big. I don't play any PC or Console games but I've somehow amassed about 30 games on my iPhone, very few on my Nexus One though. Apart from that though, what I miss from the iPhone when I'm using my Android phone are OmniFocus, GoodReader/iBooks (I haven't found an Android PDF reader that comes close), GuitarToolkit, TabTookit, OmniTuner, MobileRSS (again, haven't found a close competitor o…

There's a tuner called gStrings that looks very good, but I haven't had a chance to try it in action yet.

I'm a happy user.
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