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Since you asked, Gruber, here are my Android "killer apps"

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Re: Since you asked, Gruber, here are my Android "killer apps"

#21

Post by taylorwc »

jamesbritt wrote: post #19
kyleslattery wrote: post #15

To me, the biggest killer app for the iPhone is iTunes integration. I know many people with Android phones who don't use it for music (myself included) because it is fairly difficult to put music on it. And, given the fact that something like 75% of the media player market is iPod, that means that a lot of people have iTunes installed, and getting an iPhone set up is pretty painless. I know there are several music sy…

"I know many people with Android phones who don't use it for music (myself included) because it is fairly difficult to put music on it." You plug it in into a USB port and drag files over to the mounted drive. Conversely, any app or product that requires me to use iTunes is pretty much out of the running for me because it is too damn annoying to work with.

that sound unnecessarily painful. what about the amazon mp3 integration, as well as good syncing through stuff like doubletwist

Re: Since you asked, Gruber, here are my Android "killer apps"

#22

Post by mithaler »

tptacek wrote: post #14
mithaler wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The only point I really care to make with my list is that Android's app offerings do not lack superb content, no matter how much other catalogs may have. Does Android appear to suffer in comparison to iTunes? Maybe, but that doesn't stop me in any meaningful fashion from finding apps I love on my Droid.

Then the only point you care to make is orthogonal to Gruber's question. He's asking, where are the apps that: * Are standouts, * Are exclusive to the Android platform, * Have high production values, and * Aren't system enhancements. You're entitled to say "that's a dumb question", but you can't claim to answer the question by rejecting it.

That's a great point, and it really gets at the heart of the difference in design goals between iOS and Android.

'Course, I would argue that all of the listed apps fit all four of those criteria (even if some of their features exist in other apps on iOS), but I'll admit there's some room for disagreement there. ;)

Re: Since you asked, Gruber, here are my Android "killer apps"

#23

Post by weaksauce »

mithaler wrote: post #20
YooLi wrote: post #13

None of those are "killer apps" in the classical definition of the phrase. Those are apps that are awesome to you, but not killer apps. People use killer app now to mean any good app, kind of how every model today is a super model if you know their name. Halo was a killer app for xbox 360. People bought xboxes to play halo, hence a killer app. People arent going to buy an android phone to use a music player with a ne…

That definition assumes that there is such a thing as an "app worth buying a phone for" that holds for a majority of people . That will always vary by person. I've listed killer apps for Android for me; as I said, I can make no claims about killer apps for everyone, nor can you, or for that matter, Gruber. So I guess the term is kind of silly in the first place when applied to third-party mobile app offerings, no?

The iPhone had a killer app in the full web(minus flash) web browser. No other phone at the time had a web browser anywhere near as good as mobile safari is. That and google maps and mail made a compelling case to buy the phone.

Re: Since you asked, Gruber, here are my Android "killer apps"

#24

Post by matwood »

jamesbritt wrote: post #19
kyleslattery wrote: post #15

To me, the biggest killer app for the iPhone is iTunes integration. I know many people with Android phones who don't use it for music (myself included) because it is fairly difficult to put music on it. And, given the fact that something like 75% of the media player market is iPod, that means that a lot of people have iTunes installed, and getting an iPhone set up is pretty painless. I know there are several music sy…

"I know many people with Android phones who don't use it for music (myself included) because it is fairly difficult to put music on it." You plug it in into a USB port and drag files over to the mounted drive. Conversely, any app or product that requires me to use iTunes is pretty much out of the running for me because it is too damn annoying to work with.

You plug it in into a USB port and drag files over to the mounted drive.

I hope that's not the only way to get music on an Android phone because it sounds like a PITA. I don't want to pick through 30GB of music looking for song files to add to my phone. With the iPhone I have selected some playlists that stay on the phone and are updated anytime I plug the phone back into the computer (also works for movies, books, documents, photos). I never have to think about it beyond adding a song to the playlist. I can also tell iTunes to finish filling the phone with whatever music it thinks I might want. From what I gather it uses play counts and date the music was added the library.

Re: Since you asked, Gruber, here are my Android "killer apps"

#25

Post by timmins »

I'm really surprised a couple app titles are missing on this list.

Swype? I've heard many iPhone owners wish they could have such a utility on their phone.

WinAmp WiFi sync? Wasn't this similar to an app Apple rejected and later popped up on Cydia? I know I've heard a lot of interest when it was submitted to the AppStore.

Barcode scanner? I know, I know. Both can do this today, BUT the G1 was capable of barcode scanning as a result of autofocus and preceded the iPhone's ability.

Chrome to Phone. Probably classifies as a system enhancement. Same goes for the ability to wipe and restore all over the cloud. Since Gruber disqualified it as part of his article, it doesn't get mentioned but this is huge, IMO.

Grooveshark?

I'm not taking sides as I own both and appreciate the similarities and differences in both platforms.

Re: Since you asked, Gruber, here are my Android "killer apps"

#26

Post by flogic »

tptacek wrote: post #2

* A redesign of touch-based text input. * A music player with a unique interface. * control Youtube on your computer from across the room * A fork of the stock Android home screen * Automatically do anything in response to anything. * The best todo list. * Get notifications for Gmail labels * Get notifications for Craigslist search terms * Easily track packages This list would appear to prove Gruber's (subtextual) po…

Some of these apps imply an Emacs like ability for customization. Considering that touch screens have only recently stopped sucking, I think that's very important. As sexy as the iPhone is, it doesn't have swipe or 8pen. We don't really know what all the optimal touch interfaces look like yet.

Re: Since you asked, Gruber, here are my Android "killer apps"

#27

Post by beef623 »

YooLi wrote: post #13

None of those are "killer apps" in the classical definition of the phrase. Those are apps that are awesome to you, but not killer apps. People use killer app now to mean any good app, kind of how every model today is a super model if you know their name. Halo was a killer app for xbox 360. People bought xboxes to play halo, hence a killer app. People arent going to buy an android phone to use a music player with a ne…

By that definition, the killer apps for me are keyboard replacements, home screen replacements, flash enabled web browsers and the Android OS itself which allows me to modify/replace stock functionality. That freedom to do what >I< want to do with my device is the reason I went with Android.

Re: Since you asked, Gruber, here are my Android "killer apps"

#30

Post by binaryfinery »

No mate, that's not what he asked. He asked:

3. Third-party apps that are exclusive to Android.

And followed it up with this:

"At this point, I’m guessing, Android fans are ready to exclaim that the fact that Android supports things like home screen replacements (or other system-level tools, such as touchscreen keyboard replacements) — and that iOS does not — is precisely why they prefer Android, and/or consider iOS to be an unacceptable toy, or what have you. But, again, that’s not the argument I’m making. I’m talking about third-party developer exclusives — and the only ones Android has are ones that Apple doesn’t want."

And yet you provided:

4 system enhancements (keyboard, media player, homescreen, email labeller)

4 apps available on the iOS

1 possibly genuinely killer app, but that falls into the geeky automation category

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