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Any time I see a free app, I automatically look for the Top In-App Purchases bar to appear across the top of the app’s page. I’ve been trained to do this by the so-called freemium model that has taken the App Store by storm.
My feelings on this model are mixed. Is it a lie that is used to convince people that an application can be enjoyed for free, only to find out that you have to pay for the most features, or is it an innocent business model that capitalizes on a feature of the App Store? (more…)
It would make USB syncing a thing of the past. It would remove practically all of the wires from our lives, hold all of our personal information in a secure data center, and make it readily available to all of our devices. It wasn’t MobileMe. The “it” is iCloud, and Apple made a lot of promises about what our lives would be like once it was released.
So, where’s all of my stuff? Where’s the fast, “magical” syncing? Better yet, why aren’t more applications taking advantage of what Apple’s built?
When it first came out, I loved Path. I thought that the concept for having a simple and clean social network made up of the people that I truly call my friends was awesome, and I appreciated the 50-person limit. Then Path 2 came out, and I loved the interface, how it worked and everything about it. Path 2 changed the game.
Then we find out the other day that Path would upload the user’s entire address book to their servers, making what is my personal information now the property of someone I didn’t authorize to do so. Turns out that Hipster does the same thing. Although Path has since apologized and deleted all of that data from their servers, the damage is done. Fact is, if we’re going to work with an app, we need assurance that they developer will treat our data correctly. But why is it so important for us to believe a person who’s making an app?
It comes down to trust.
For those of you that aren’t familiar with typical American culture, I can break it down for you in one simple sentence: bigger is better. If you have the option of using a larger, bigger, better version of an item, you’d better take advantage of the opportunity. If you aren’t driving a Hummer, you’re doing something wrong.
We’re starting to see this mentality around our phones. Gone are the days of something small enough to be mistaken for a pack of gum; no, we want something with a 5.3 inch screen — anything less than 4.3 inches is for babies. Should the iPhone get a larger screen, or is it perfect the way it is? Let’s take a look.
Although SOPA and PIPA may be temporarily shelved, we all know that they’re going to come back in one way or another. It’s just a matter of time before one of those bills or an aspect of it slips through the cracks, and it’s all because Hollywood thinks we’re stealing their movies.
But pirating isn’t the problem. No, the reason why we aren’t buying your music, movies and TV shows is dangerously simple, yet no one is willing to do anything about it — with the rare exceptions like Apple being ignored by Hollywood. See, it all comes down to friction.
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My computational needs, like most people’s, are fairly low. I do some light image editing for the AppStorm sites, browse Facebook and Twitter, read, and write. All of those things can be accomplished on the iPhone as it is, and it makes me wonder about how much I genuinely need an i5 processor and four gigs of RAM. It also makes me question the utility of carrying around a laptop or owning a desktop filled with hardware I don’t utilize.
How might this change? The answer is in your pocket.
Recently on Android.Appstorm, Nathaniel Mott wrote about What an iPhone User Expects from Ice Cream Sandwich, citing what he’s looking forward to and what has him worried as he patiently awaits his new Galaxy Nexus, a phone I claimed was the best on the market. In what seems to be a serendipitous coincidence, I recently received an iPhone 4S from my job, and I too have some expectations as I begin to use iOS more often.
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Look, I love my iPhone, probably more than I should. Still, as I continue to use Android and Windows Phone, I can’t help but think that there are some things Apple could possibly “borrow” from the other two mobile operating systems.
Let’s take a look at a few of those things that I’d like to bring back to the iPhone.
I’m used to reviewing apps. I’ve reviewed quite a few over the past months, and I plan on reviewing many more. I purchase each application that I end up reviewing (as well as many others), so I spend a lot of time in the App Store.
Using the App Store has been more painful than I would first imagine. If you only use it every once in a blue moon I’m sure that it’s fine, but for someone like myself, Apple’s marketplace is sorely lacking. Today I want to look at what the App Store could improve upon in order to create a compelling, enjoyable experience.
When the iPhone 4S was released, there was a collective groan from tech pundits everywhere saying, “That’s it?” Everyone wanted something different from Apple, including a new design (something I’m guilty of myself), but what came with the 4S was a feature named Siri that we all thought was pretty neat, but not really a game changer.
Thing is, it really is a reason to buy the iPhone 4S, as me and thousands of others have found over the past few months. But don’t take my word for it — a recent study shows that iPhone 4S owners use twice as much data as previous generation iPhone owners, and the only reason can be Siri. What’s all the hype about? Let’s find out why after the jump.
