Is the App Store Too Big to Fail?
Upon the launch of the Apple App Store, Steve Jobs told USA Today “this is the biggest launch of my career.” Reading that last June, it struck a chord with me. Here is a man who’s had a gigantic career, launched the iPhone to hoots and hollers, had his fingers into the early personal computers and this, this sideshow for a phone is his biggest launch? Surely, I thought, he knows something we didn’t.
Last week, reports of the App Store breaking the 25,000 apps circulated around the web. The proliferation of applications is astounding as consumer’s hunger for them. Now Apple’s cohesive concept for easy access to applications is being duplicated by other phone OS’s such as BlackBerry, Nokia, Windows Mobile, Android and others. Can Apple stay ahead?
Snowballing
A big user base feeds developers desire for quick profits, so the App Store gets bigger and bigger. Witness brands taking to iPhone Apps to connect with users; companies like Ralph Lauren are showcasing their latest collection via an iPhone app. From fashion to home automation to games, it seems almost everyone is getting into iPhone apps. But does it have staying power?
Reports last month showed 1% of iPhone App Store app downloaders become longtime users. This is largely due to the way we use our applications: be it for a quick fix or to stave off boredom when waiting for a train. Many analysts expected the App Store to be a flash in the pan, citing users would get tired of Apple’s walled garden.
Walled garden, unless you complain loudly
Last week, Apple bowed to public pressure on the app Tweetie. Apple rejected the app based on some foul language users could find in Twitters trends. Developer Loren Brichter loudly complained on Twitter, got everyone talking about it and by the end of the day, Apple changed its mind.
Apple provided Brichter with an image of exactly why his app was being rejected. Brichter pointed out other apps that have the same feature and are thus capable of showing the same objectionable language and demanded they all be in or all be out. A bold move to be sure and one that seemed to push Apple’s buttons.
This kind of response begs the question, “has Apple created something it can’t control?” Does public opinion, or at least influential bloggers, control what is in or out? Should they or is it still Apples game?
Jailbroke solution?
Last week also saw the rise of an application store from Cydia for iPhones that have been jailbroken. Apple contends jailbreaking is a crime but has yet to get confirmation from any legal authority. The Cydia store would operate in a similar fashion to the App Store, but allow all apps, not just ones Apple gives the thumbs up to.
Sad, little App Store Team
Over at ARS Technica, an interesting post from an app developer had this to summarize:
“The sad truth about App Store reviews is that Apple seems to be overwhelmed and understaffed. Add this to the company’s complete lack of procedural transparency and its unwillingness to reply to most developer e-mails, and you end up with a situation where developers are willing to throw common sense out the door just to get to where they need to be.”
And here comes HTML5
Will the App Store matter in the coming future? Maybe, maybe not according to this awesome video taken in Barcelona at the Mobile World Congress. Google showed off a GMail application that is part cloud/part local thanks to the coming features in HTML5. The features in HTML5 bring the capabilities to keep a database locally so GMail can be accessed like a native app when not connected. Not only that, but the video shows how these applications become platform ambiguous as the OS no longer matters. Interesting concept that is sure to rock our worlds shortly, check the video.
Summary
So with all this, the app store continues to snowball into bigger and bigger records. Will it continue and fufill Job’s prediction of the biggest mark in his career or will this snowball implode as new technologies make native apps a thing of the past? You can bet MacApper will be there, sheding light on what you need to know.
i found this on newsvine, thanx