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No Killer Apps?!

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austinguy23

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Oct 8, 2008
625
72
Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; CPU iPhone OS 5_0_1 like Mac OS X) AppleWebKit/534.46 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/5.1 Mobile/9A405 Safari/7534.48.3)

Has anyone else noticed the absence of any new killer apps (third party) for the iPhone in the past year or so? I've almost given up on browsing the AppStore.

Games don't count. I'm not a kid/teen.
 
M

Moe UK

macrumors regular
Apr 28, 2009
106
0
London
Yep been a while now I think ios 6 needs some APIs that let third parties integrate with the native apss but I would guess Apple will never allow that.
 
A

austinguy23

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Oct 8, 2008
625
72
Moe UK said:
Yep been a while now I think ios 6 needs some APIs that let third parties integrate with the native apss but I would guess Apple will never allow that.
Click to expand...

True. IOS 5 came with over 1,500 new APIs so perhaps it's just a matter of waiting for developers to begin leveraging them in creative ways.
 
urkel

urkel

macrumors 68030
Nov 3, 2008
2,795
917
austinguy23 said:
Has anyone else noticed the absence of any new killer apps (third party) for the iPhone in the past year or so? I've almost given up on browsing the AppStore.

.Games don't count. I'm not a kid/teen.
Click to expand...


I don't disagree but what 3rd party killer apps are you referring to prior to "the last year or so"?

IMO, even 1st party "killer apps" are overrated because things like iMovie or garage band may be amazing for a handheld device, but theyre novelties since almost nobody actually creates on it after that first week of showing it off. Even things like FaceTime or iWork don't get used as much as we thought we would when we first imagined how cool it would be to have it on a phone.

the main "killer apps" on ANY mobile device remains to be mail, messaging, Internet, Facebook, camera and photo sharing. So to me then people dont "need" as much as they think they do And the biggest legitimate differentistor between iOS and the others is the gaming library (even if you don't play them)
 
Peruvian

Peruvian

macrumors 6502
Jun 10, 2006
251
10
U.K.
urkel said:
IMO, even 1st party "killer apps" are overrated because things like iMovie or garage band may be amazing for a handheld device, but theyre novelties since almost nobody actually creates on it after that first week of showing it off. Even things like FaceTime or iWork don't get used as much as we thought we would when we first imagined how cool it would be to have it on a phone.

the main "killer apps" on ANY mobile device remains to be mail, messaging, Internet, Facebook, camera and photo sharing. So to me then people dont "need" as much as they think they do And the biggest legitimate differentistor between iOS and the others is the gaming library (even if you don't play them)
Click to expand...

Exactly... couldn't agree with you more...
 
S

solarguy17

macrumors 6502a
Sep 10, 2007
738
183
Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; CPU iPhone OS 5_0 like Mac OS X) AppleWebKit/534.46 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/5.1 Mobile/9A334 Safari/7534.48.3)

The killer apps are games. The most downloaded apps that aren't games are prob twitter and Facebook. Everything else is a game. Why disclude games?
 
R

rwwest7

macrumors regular
Sep 24, 2011
134
0
regular joe home users won't see any "killer" apps. Professional users see "killer" apps all the time. VMWare View client is a killer app. It let's our staff work from anywhere in the world with little lag. Splashtop remote desktop lets us control Smart Boards in conferance rooms via the iPad with zero lag.

I guess it depends what your definition of killer is, but there are lots of great, cheap apps.
 
S

SurferMan

macrumors 65816
May 14, 2010
1,267
51
South FL
I don't know about it being a killer app, but I can tell you one game I downloaded last year and still love playing... Gun Bros... f'n addicting lol
 
G

gentlefury

macrumors 68030
Jul 21, 2011
2,889
67
Los Angeles, CA
urkel said:
I don't disagree but what 3rd party killer apps are you referring to prior to "the last year or so"?

IMO, even 1st party "killer apps" are overrated because things like iMovie or garage band may be amazing for a handheld device, but theyre novelties since almost nobody actually creates on it after that first week of showing it off. Even things like FaceTime or iWork don't get used as much as we thought we would when we first imagined how cool it would be to have it on a phone.

the main "killer apps" on ANY mobile device remains to be mail, messaging, Internet, Facebook, camera and photo sharing. So to me then people dont "need" as much as they think they do And the biggest legitimate differentistor between iOS and the others is the gaming library (even if you don't play them)
Click to expand...

I disagree completely. People that create music will use garageband...I didn't buy it because I wouldn't use it. A friend of mine that's an editor uses iMovie for vacation videos all the time. I used the mobile numbers for every single job invoice for years...its great to be able to do that on your phone or iPad. FaceTime would be extremely useful if it worked over 3G...but being wifi only is what makes it useless. I've used Siri so much I almost get annoyed when the network is down and I have to do something the old fashioned manual way.
 
D

dwd3885

macrumors 68020
Dec 10, 2004
2,131
148
being a Windows Phone user, I'd say the reason why there have been no 'killer' apps in the past year is because the iPhone already has all the killer apps. Us on Windows Phone are still waiting for the killer apps. Once the platform matures like iOS and Android, there are very little 'killer' apps left.
 
kas23

kas23

macrumors 603
Oct 28, 2007
5,629
288
I used to shun games, because I'm an adult. Then I got really board with the phone. So, I got into games. I'm a 33 year-old doctor, btw.
 
P

Pooshka

macrumors 65816
Jun 28, 2008
1,162
1
solarguy17 said:
Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; CPU iPhone OS 5_0 like Mac OS X) AppleWebKit/534.46 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/5.1 Mobile/9A334 Safari/7534.48.3)

The killer apps are games. The most downloaded apps that aren't games are prob twitter and Facebook. Everything else is a game. Why disclude games?
Click to expand...
It's actually unclude.
 
urkel

urkel

macrumors 68030
Nov 3, 2008
2,795
917
gentlefury said:
I disagree completely. People that create music will use garageband...I didn't buy it because I wouldn't use it. A friend of mine that's an editor uses iMovie for vacation videos all the time. I used the mobile numbers for every single job invoice for years...its great to be able to do that on your phone or iPad. FaceTime would be extremely useful if it worked over 3G...but being wifi only is what makes it useless. I've used Siri so much I almost get annoyed when the network is down and I have to do something the old fashioned manual way.
Click to expand...
In no way am I trying to dismiss how incredible the apps you mentioned are, but everything you pointed out shows that these are made for niche and VERY specific users.

Maybe I'm wrong, but that is why I question what exactly a "Killer App" is. Because, IMO, a true killer app is something that changes the way the mass market does things rather than an app that only brings mobility to a small/niche group of people.
 
D

Don Kosak

macrumors 6502a
Mar 12, 2010
860
4
United States
gentlefury said:
Sorry, disclude and unclude are not words and preclude means to prevent from happening. I think the word you are looking for is exclude.
Click to expand...

Achievement Unlocked: WORD MASTER

LOL


There are a lot of good business Apps out. VMware View is pretty outstanding, the keyboard/mouse interface is actually usable. Evernote got a major update too with (partial) support for rich text notes.

Facebook's new client is actually really good on both iPhone and iPad.

iOS 5 has a ton of new functionality for developers -- I think you'll see a new wave of impressive Apps in the coming months.
 
K

kappaknight

macrumors 68000
Mar 5, 2009
1,595
91
Atlanta, GA
I'm curious what the OP thinks are killer apps.

There are honestly a ton of apps I can delete from my phone. 90% of my time is on Twitter, Facebook or iMessage. I actually think those Flashlight apps are killer - they sure saved my butt a few times.

The phone is not meant to distract you from your life, but to make it better, easier. While not all new apps are going to be killer, I think what the OP is looking for are more original ideas that aren't clones of something else. That part will be hard since there are limitations to what you can do with the device.
 
M

Mr.C

macrumors 603
Apr 3, 2011
5,531
1,528
London, UK.
Daveoc64 said:
If you think that the only people playing games (let alone people playing games on mobile devices) are kids, then you're deluded.
Click to expand...

My thoughts too.

Regards killer apps it depends on one's definition of such. I disagree that there haven't been any. There have been loads of great useful apps. The idea that only Apple can make killer apps is not true.
 
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