apps

How Many Apps Do You Really Need?

By Mark Evans in Apple/iPod, Wireless 3 Comments Tags: , ,

On the 37Signals blog yesterday, Niall Larkin’s post on how many mobile apps people really struck a chord.

Larkin argues he only needs 10 apps, mostly because the iPhone comes with many of the apps (e.g. Safari, photos, weather, Mail) he uses all the time. It’s a great point that talks to one of the dirty little secrets of the mobile world: most people only use a few apps but they really like the idea of having thousands of options.

It’s one of the reasons for the iPhone’s massive appeal, while the BlackBerry gets roundly criticized for the shortcomings of BlackBerry App World. Truth be told, BlackBerry App World likely has most of the apps people really need but it gets pounded for not offering thousands of more options.

It’s probably not unlike going to Denny’s, which features a menu with dozens of choices. I suspect the majority of people eat a small number of items, which lets Denny’s offer multiple options with the knowledge that many of them will not be selected.

In the technology world, however, perception is often reality. Consumers like the idea of choice, options and features even though they many not use many of them. It’s the same reason why consumers upgrade devices, hardware and software when what they have is perfectly good.

When it comes to my personal use of apps on my iPhone, most of my time is sucked up by TweetBot, Safari and the camera. Once in awhile, I’ll use Yelp, Dialvetica, Tweeb, AroundMe, Tumblr and Angry Birds. In total, that’s nine apps so I’m clearly in the same camp as Larkin. That said, there are 81 apps on my iPhone, which means most of them collect a lot of digital dust.

So how many apps do you really use or need? And if you had to pay for apps, how many would you have on your device?

Do the Number of Mobile Apps Matter?

By Mark Evans in Apple/iPod, Wireless 5 Comments Tags: , , , , ,

If you listen to Apple, size matters when it comes to the number of mobile apps offered to iPhone users. It’s seen as a strategic strength compared with rivals such as Android, BlackBerry and Microsoft, which have smaller but growing portfolios.

But in the scheme of things does size really matter? Does it really offer a distinct competitive advantage? Here’s where I’m coming from: On my iPhone, there are about 50 apps – many of them downloaded on a whim because they’re free. Of these apps, you know how many I use on a regular basis? Less than five, and I suspect that most people fall into the same camp.

It means if every mobile platform offers the same small group of must-have apps (let’s aggressively assume 250 apps will account for more than 80% of total usage), then having more than 100,000 or even 50,000 apps doesn’t matter.

Yes, I accept the argument that having more apps offers the opportunity to serve the needs of many niche markets. And I recognize there’s marketing mojo in having a large app collection. But if push comes to shove, size doesn’t matter at all as long as consumers have their “basic” needs covered.

I’ve been thinking about this thesis for awhile but it was thrust into the spotlight after reading Randall Stross’ column in the New York Times yesterday on Nokia’s use of Windows Phone 7. One of the people quoted was Thomas R. Eisenmann, a professor at the Harvard Business School, who said:

“What is often missed is the diminishing returns after 1,000 applications. If a platform attracts the thousand-most-popular apps, then it provides almost anything a reasonable person would want to do with a smartphone.”

I couldn’t have said it better myself.

Do Wireless Web Browsers Matter?

By Mark Evans in Browsers, Wireless 7 Comments Tags: , , ,

There’s lot of excitement about the wireless Web, particularly since the emergence of 4G technology is making the “pipes” bigger and faster. This has, naturally, generated a lot of excitement about wireless browsers.

But the question that needs to be asked whether the wireless browser matters or, for that matter, is that necessary. The reason wireless browsers don’t matter is simple: apps – be it for iPhone, Android or Blackberry devices.

Rather than fire up a Web browser to use an online service, it’s much easier and usually faster to use an app, particularly for services that are frequently used. The use of apps rather than a browser means wireless users can personalize their devices to meet their needs rather than having to a use-size-fits-all browser.

The availability and user-friendliness of apps means that my iPhone features apps that run GMail, WordPress, DropBox, Facebook, Twitter, Skype, Yelp and Tungle. The only reason I would fire up Safari or Opera is to use something like Google Maps, searching for a telephone number or doing a Google search.

It means the wireless Web browser has become irrelevant. In fact, I could probably delete the browsers from my iPhone, and never really miss them.

Do you use a wireless Web browser? If so, why?

My Must-Have iPhone Apps

By Mark Evans in Apple/iPod 9 Comments Tags: , ,

iphone apps.jpgOne of the reasons that I finally climbed on board the iPhone bandwagon after being a long-time Blackberry user was the number of applications available so you could personalize your mobile device any way you wanted.

After a few months of being an iPhone users, here’s a list of the apps I used on a regular basis:

1. The camera: Although not technically an app, it’s the iPhone’s “killer app”. For the most part, it eliminates the need to carry around a digital camera. Sure, I’d like to see a camera with more mega-pixels and a zoom but for everyday, on-the-go photography, the iPhone camera rules the day.

(Note: The popularity of the iPhone camera is one of the reasons why someone should buy TwitPics, which makes it easy to post photos on Twitter)

2. Byline: After waiting for Google to come out with an iPhone app for Google Reader, I was happy to learn about Bylines, an RSS reader that easily synchs with Google Reader so you can read blog posts on the fly. Many people contend the Web version of Google Reader on iPhone’s Safari browser works well but Byline is a superior experience, as well as a deal for $1.99.

3. Tweetdeck: Although a little buggy and prone to occasional crashes, Tweetdeck is a great way to use Twitter on an iPhone. For anyone who uses Tweetdeck on the desktop, the nice thing about the iPhone apps is it pretty much has the same look and feel.

I’m also a fan of Twitterific because you can easily manage multiple Twitter accounts. And I’m keen on Reportage, which gives you a different view by putting the focus on the people you follow as opposed to the never-ending update stream.

4. iDrive Lite: A valuable and easy way to backup, share and restore all your iPhone contacts.

5. CardStar: One of cooler applications that I’d like use more often, CardStar CardStar lets you easily store, manage and use your reward, club, and loyalty cards on your smart phone. It creates barcodes for each program so you can swipe your iPhone as opposed to having to swipe a card.

6. Evernote: I just started using Evernote again as a tool to clip Web sites and make notes – something invaluable for anyone who goes through a lot of online content, and needs a way to store and archive it.

For what it’s worth, here are some iPhone apps that I expected to use more:

1. WordPress: Blogging from the iPhone can be a challenge given the iPhone’s keyboard is useful but not user-friendly. If I’m going to be publishing updates on the iPhone, it will be for Twitter rather than a blog.

2. Read It Later: On the desktop, Reader It Later is a great way to bookmark articles and blog posts for later. On the phone, it doesn’t have the same kind of utility.

3. Freshbooks: I love Freshbooks, an online invoicing service that has become a key part of how I run ME Consulting. On the iPhone, however, I want more than just a tool to track time.

What iPhone applications do you use regularly? Any must-have iPhone apps?

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