iPad Killer App
Many platforms only start to become really popular and gain traction when it gets a killer app. An app that is so compelling, it is worth investing in the platform just in order to be able to use that app. A killer app can also be an app that takes an existing platform to a whole new level, like what Grand Theft Auto did for the PlayStation 2. A boatload of PS2′s were sold just to play GTA.
I’ve been playing around with the iPad for a couple days now, and I really miss my apps. There is no Read It Later, no Reeder, and no Tweetie. So I still found myself pulling out my iPhone for many things, while the iPad was more of a novelty to play with every once in a while.
Not anymore! I think I found my iPad killer app. YouTube! Disappointed, aren’t you? You thought I was going to reveal some hidden gem that nobody knew about, right? Well, just hear me out.
Watching YouTube on my iPhone is alright, but everything is SO SMALL. Watching YouTube on my computer is great, but then I had to lug out my computer just to watch a small little video. Using a laptop to watch a video is alright, but you can’t curl up with a laptop.
The iPad, on the other hand, lets me curl up in a stuffy chair or lounge on my leather couch. I call up my subscriptions and check out any new videos that come up, and the videos look big because I’m holding the screen right there in my hands. Plenty big! It’s just a pleasant experience, and I’ve found my new YouTube watching methodology.
If you have an iPad, and haven’t used YouTube much, check it out. If you don’t have an iPad, well that’s too bad. 
Killer App Two?
The iPad is also becoming my blogging tool of choice. It’s just handy for that. I started typing this article on the virtual keyboard, but partway through I grabbed the physical keyboard and sat down at the kitchen table with it. Now I’m typing happily away. Too bad there’s no lap solution for typing on a physical keyboard. I tried it with this dock thing, but the iPad kept losing the connection with the dock because of my shifting around.
The WordPress iPad app is decent, though not the most intuitive thing I’ve used. (Figuring out how to publish a post you’ve written is not an easy task.) I’ll continue to use it to post articles. Good stuff.
Apple Announces iPad
Recently Apple introduced the iPad to a waiting world. The commentary I’ve seen has been mostly negative, but I don’t think this product is going to fail.
Could it use some changes? Sure it could. A camera would have been really nice. Multi-tasking would have been especially nice. (Imagine having several running iPhone apps embedded into the iPad’s desktop!) Flash would have been nice, but from what I’ve heard HTML5 will provide a decent replacement.
So where does that leave us?
I’d love to have one of these, and can do without the multitasking or Flash. But I would really really like to have a camera. So we’ll see. I’ll probably be getting one anyway. I’m currently working on a new iPhone app which would work well on the iPad if I can think of a good interface.
I’m hopeful.
Nice Rebuttal
This is a nice little rebuttal video someone made to a recent attack ad against the iPhone.
Pricing Apps: More is Better
AppsFire recently did some work trying to determine which apps on Apple’s AppStore are the most profitable? Surprisingly, it’s not the cheapo $0.99 apps that are making all the money (through volume, everyone assumes). It’s the high quality apps that charge more:
This list computed using the simple UNITS SOLD x UNIT PRICE formula may yield a few ‘outliers’ and the science is not perfect [...]. In any case, the findings are staggering: the money makers are real apps, all very solid, all but one with a price tag greater or equal to $2.99, but often well above $10.00. The top app costs $899 and the second one $99. These apps solve real issues, and are made by solid developers. And guess what, they are deriving serious revenues too!
The key takeaway here is for the developers and businesses that are hard at work developing apps: if your app brings something real to the table, be it a game or a utility similar to the ones you find on the left, then price it accordingly. The price is right when there is a salary at the end of the month. Don’t succomb to the temptation of the $0.99 app, it’s a lure and only serves to feed the get-rich-quick fairy tales that even kids would find hard to believe.
The only app I ever put up on the AppStore is Chewy Xbox, and it was free because Microsoft said it had to be (because it accesses their Xbox Live information). And I’ll be re-releasing the app soon, with some improvements. Most of my work was done for other people, and I now have a full time job doing iPhone work. [Update: I won't be releasing the app after all. The source of Xbox Live data I use is no longer reliable, and I can't find a replacement. Microsoft has ignored me.]
So I can’t say from experience that apps that sell for more than $0.99 do better than the 99 cent apps. But if I ever do end up selling an app on the AppStore, I plan to sell if for more than 99 cents. Because I think all the time and effort I’d put into an app is worth at least the price of a coffee.
New Website
I bought a theme for use here, just because I think it was about time I made this place look a little more professional.
You can see some featured apps and a featured client on the main page, and soon I’ll be creating a portfolio pages that showcases all of the iPhone apps that I’ve worked on.
But for now, just relax and enjoy the new site. I think it looks pretty sharp.
Yelp Augments My Reality
Robert Scoble just informed the world that Yelp includes an augmented reality feature! As I had just re-downloaded Yelp the other day, it was already on my iPhone. All you’re supposed to do is shake it three times, and the new Monocle feature will be activated. But I had a little problem doing so, and realized it was because I was on the wrong tab. I think it only works if you’re on the first tab, because that’s where you access Monocle from.
Anyway, I’ve attached a screenshot to show how it looks. I actually took four screenshots, and Yelp crashed after the last one. Ooops. Hm, and now that I think about it, the Pho Hoa Nam restaurant was behind me, not in front of me. Maybe my compass was messed up…
I’ve been fascinated by augmented reality apps ever since I saw that video of the NY subway app, which was just too cool. Now I have such an app too!
I heard some people suggest that augmented reality apps would only come with OS version 3.1 for the iPhone. I don’t know why. Anybody?
Cool Looking Apps like Groups
I was perusing an article about iPhone apps with nice interfaces again today, and decided to download one of them. After all, I’m a sucker for a nice GUI, and I bought Convert just for the purpose of checking out its GUI.
But the app I’m talking about this time is Groups. I just moved my Contacts app to my page of rarely used apps, and replaced it with Groups. Yup, it’s that good. It has a gorgeous GUI, and is very functional to boot. One of my favourite features is being able to email a whole group of people at the same time. I’ve included a screenshot from their website to the right. I don’t think they’ll mind.
Yeah, so my point is that this app looks nice, but it also works nice. Apps like this (and ConvertBot and Convert) make me think that I need to brush up on my user experience skills a bit.
Does anyone know of resources about how to design a good iPhone user experience? What about links to articles like the one I linked to at the top, which just shows off some nice iPhone apps?
Push a Bust?
Recently I’ve bought two push notification apps: Boxcar and GPush. I’ve been happy with neither of them.
Boxcar has already been around for a bit and I’ve seen a lot of reviews online that say it “just works”. That’s not my experience. I have enabled push notifications on my phone. I have enabled push notifications in Boxcar, and gave Boxcar my Twitter credentials. So far, it hasn’t been working very well. I got a couple notifications from Boxcar itself (a couple days ago) saying it was having problems with the Twitter API. I received a notification or two from my Twitter account, but since then, nothing.
My experience with GPush has been similar. I have received some notifications, but they were slow in coming, and I haven’t received notifications for every email I get. Which is quite annoying.
What’s the use in buying these apps if they don’t work?
What Apple will Not Announce
[UPDATE: Well, it looks like I totally got this one wrong! Not only does the iPhone 3G(S) have a faster processor, it also supports OpenGL ES 2.0 while the original iPhone 3G will only continue to support OpenGL ES 1.1. OpenGL ES 2.0 games will not run on OpenGL ES 1.1 machines. This is more for developers to think about, isn't it?]
It’s amusing to see the many many rumours marching through the intranets about what Apple is going to announce at WWDC. “Get your iBaby here! Apple is now selling babies!” Some sound just that crazy. Others, like a 32GB iPhone sound very plausible.
One rumour I don’t understand is a faster iPhone. Just like Sony will never introduce a PSP with a second thumbstick, Apple won’t introduce a new iPhone with a faster CPU. Think about it. It would split the market. All of a sudden developers would have to have two versions of each of their games. A version for the fast iPhone and a version for the slow iPhone. Maybe they’ll skip the slow one altogether, or skip the fast one altogether. The iPhone, in this regard, is like a gaming console. Any changes Apple makes can’t affect the core functionality of the device. A better camera? Sure, why not? It doesn’t really affect anything. Faster CPU? That affects all the apps, so it’s off the table.
Well, maybe.
There’s one scenario I imagine might work. What if Apple released a faster iPhone, but only Apple apps benefit from its additional speed? So you can web browse faster, or play videos with cool effects, or whatever. But games would still run at the same speed as before.
One more thing – Apple could actually think about allowing multitasking with this approach. With a faster CPU, but apps still running at the same speed, it gives some headroom to make sure that apps don’t run into each other. While this is possible, and I threw it out there just ’cause, I don’t really think that Apple is going to announce multitasking anytime soon. But hey, it’s a cool idea.
PSN Trophies and Friends
I’ve been hiding nothing. If you read my other blog (at PS3Blog.net) you know that I have a PS3 and that I love using it.
Chewy Xbox was actually created when I wanted to create a similar app for the PSN, but I couldn’t because Sony has no public API for me to get the information from. So I created Chewy Xbox because duncanmackenzie.net had the Xbox Live info, and I thought it would be a fun first app to create. (I was still a noob to iPhone development at the time.)
Now Sony is showing how wonderful online access can be with their eu.playstation.com website. Now, more than ever, I want to create a PSN app for the iPhone. I want it to show both your online PSN friends and your Trophy information.
Unfortunately, I have no contacts at Sony to call. I’m just a cog in the huge wheel of capitalism. I’m not one of those in-the-know journalists with PSN executives on speed dial. So if any of you out there have any idea how I can contact the Sony powers, please send me a shout.