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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"

#31

Post by kenjackson »

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…

I agree. There are four killer apps to date, and they exist on all the big players: 1) Web browser 2) Email client 3) GPS/Navi 4) SMS

There is no application I've never heard anyone, other than a Gruber/Scoble like geek saying, "I need to buy an iPhone because of this app". In fact, ask someone who does NOT own an iPhone to name one iPhone application. Just one. Any one will do. I bet most of the time the answer will be a blank stare. If you're lucky you might get "there's Facebook, right?". And maybe if they're a gamer you'll get "Angry Birds" or "Doodle Jump".

The notion of a killer app for phones is a dead notion. People have a need for phones first. Then they decide which one to get. They are NOT looking at apps and deciding that since app X is on iOS that they'll buy a smartphone or an iPhone.

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

#32

Post by Garbage »

weaksauce wrote: post #23
mithaler wrote: post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

Did you try Opera Mobile?

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

#33

Post by [deleted] »

jamesbritt wrote: post #16
vito wrote: post #9

Parcels seems to be a knock-off of the iOS Delivery Status app, which I use a lot: http://junecloud.com/software/iphone/delivery-status-touch.h... I've noticed this about the Market - there are a lot of blatant clones of better-executed iOS apps.

"I've noticed this about the Market - there are a lot of blatant clones of better-executed iOS apps." Is this not also true of the Apple app store?

[deleted]

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

#34

Post by borism »

vito wrote: post #9

Parcels seems to be a knock-off of the iOS Delivery Status app, which I use a lot: http://junecloud.com/software/iphone/delivery-status-touch.h... I've noticed this about the Market - there are a lot of blatant clones of better-executed iOS apps.

I don't see a resemblance? Is any app that tracks multiple packages a knock-off? I don't think so. And I've been using original Delivery Status (as an OSX widget) before there even was App Store.

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

#35

Post by slantyyz »

beef623 wrote: post #27
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.

This is an interesting point that makes me wonder if there is an age divide for this.

I used to want to replace/modify/customize my personal user experience, and now that I'm older, I prefer the more closed model that Apple provides because frankly, I just don't care about spending time on those things any more.

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

#36

Post by slantyyz »

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…

Safari Mobile was the killer app for me. At the time I switched to iPhone, no other phone had a comparable web experience. This is no longer the case, as the competitive landscape for browsing has changed significantly.

Now that I'm locked in to (and satisfied with) iOS with respect to accessory and software purchases (in the very much the same way Canon photographers are unlikely to switch to Nikon), I find no need to switch to any other platform, even though they may be just as good as or a little better than iOS.

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

#37

Post by moultano »

random42 wrote: post #10

In response to Gruber's criteria, a much more objective comparison from end-user perspective would be to compare android only apps to iOS only apps, without further restrictions (eg., Who the vendor is or whether app is invalid for comparison , because one platform policy wont allow it.) As a user/buyer, I am only interested in what I can or cannot do with a product, while comparing it with a competing product. Every…

Every time this comes up, my response is always "Google Navigation." This app is essentially superior in every way to a stand-alone gps device. The only constraint is that you need to have signal when you first request the directions. Aside from that I'd prefer it to any of the in-car systems that typically cost ~$2k. The biggest difference is that it accesses Google's index of places and businesses, and Google's ability to understand whatever mishmash of things I speak or type in.

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

#39

Post by w-ll »

danilocampos wrote: post #8
mithaler wrote: post #4

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Most of these don't seem interesting enough to break into "Featured", "Top Free", or "Top 25" (for utilities) on the app store. Why not? These are high-quality, well-designed apps based on excellent ideas.

> Why not? Because so many of them are centered around meta tasks (input, controls, notifications). Appealing to nerds, sure, but the power of the App Store is how it provides compelling app experiences for everyone.

This is my dilemma, I have an app, some say killer app, 'Math Keyboad' but im sure a very little market. I doubt I will ever make a belp, and of course now with the Wolfram App.... sigh.

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

#40

Post by nailer »

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…

> Halo was a killer app for xbox 360. People bought xboxes to play halo, hence a killer app.

Really? Halo was well marketed by Microsoft as a leader game that ran on Xbox, but it was fairly average as an FPS - do you have a ref for this?

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