Federico Viticci over at MacStories knows his iOS apps very well. The guy oversees and has written hundreds of posts for MacStories, so we shouldn’t be surprised given the high quality of writing over there that he’s very well qualified in his opinions.
If you’re looking for some fresh apps to start the new year I can’t think of a better list to start from.
Designer Jim Silverman:
Native mobile apps are a temporary solution. We’re just over 4 years into the Appstore era and this has already become apparent. Open web technologies are catching up to the point that the vast majority of web apps no longer need a native counterpart.
Don’t try to tell me native apps are faster or allude to them having a “better experience.” That simply is no longer true.
Jim’s argument might be a tad simplistic, but I agree with his points. We’re getting glutted with so many unnecessary native apps that should just be well thought out, responsive web apps.
iOS developer Dave Addey:
Apple’s iOS hardware business model – currently its largest revenue stream – is based on making a large margin from a premium hardware product. Their trick is hiding this fact from customers, and selling the iPhone and iPad not on their hardware specification, but on what you can do with them. And that, in every Apple advert, is all about the apps…
…This business model means that it is in Apple’s interest for the hardware to be as expensive as possible, and for the apps to be as cheap as possible.
True, and Dave has a lot of smart suggestions. But I don’t expect Apple to offer much of anything in terms of change, especially when iOS is still the considered the premier platform for third party developers. The numbers of the tech savvy begging for paid upgrades and trial periods are dwarfed by those that rarely make big purchases on the App Store.
Having shot hundreds of shots via Instagram, I’ve gotten burned out on their strong 60s and 70s esque filters. Results are fast but crude – it often feels like applying a sledgehammer to a job that requires a scalpel. In response I tried a lot of alternatives but settled on VSCO Cam has been my new “go to” choice for post processing my iPhone shots. It’s not as fast as other processing alternatives, but I love the app’s much subtler filter effects, especially the three options in black and white.
For many VSCO Cam can be an all in one photo solution – it loads to take a shot in less than half the time of Camera+ or Camera Awesome. I still found the actual shooting options pretty bare bones, so I tend to shoot in Camera Awesome, and when I have the time later import shots directly into VSCO. Recommended for 99 cents in the App Store.
Developers have clamored for a paid upgrade system since the App Store’s inception, but I’m worried Apple won’t offer this feature anytime soon. I’m far from alone – Instapaper developer Marco Arment also predicted Apple’s non-action on his latest podcast. Yet Marco and many others don’t think this is a problem, that the current à la carte system is “the future” of software publishing. They’re completely wrong.
Apple drags its feet on paid upgrades because Apple wants simplicity for their customers. A choice between a full product and paid upgrade muddles this philosophy. For now, all users get all app upgrades automatically. If you introduce optional, paid upgrades, certain updates only apply to select customers. This adds complexity for consumers and developers having to juggle and maintain multiple app versions on the store.
In addition, the lack of paid upgrades keep app purchase prices lower. This is simple economics: on the App Store, developers have to force a repurchase between major versions in the form of a new app. App prices will be driven lower to offset the much larger sticker shock between versions and to account for boosts in upgrade revenue (100% of the product cost instead of some smaller fraction.)
I don’t think this is a good economic model, especially for more expensive, professional level software, such as Omnifocus and Photoshop. But remember, Apple is not, at its core, a software company; they make money from selling iPhone and iPads. The cheaper the software, the greater the incentive we have to keep on buying Apple’s hardware.
Also it’s professionals and power users – both niche Apple consumers – that demand paid upgrades, not the core audience. Given how rarely Apple updates its pro products (e.g. Mac Pros, Aperture, Final Cut) in the last few years, we’re in for a serious wait before Apple takes any action here.
Marco defended Apple’s inaction on this week’s Build and Analyze podcast; I disagree with him. A lack of paid upgrades causes two main problems:
The absence of an incremental purchase kills a huge source of revenue for developers and publishers. Without both new software and upgrade streams, many publishers, from high end publishers like Adobe to independent studios like Delicious Monster and Panic have a hard time staying afloat. In economic terms, a lack of price discrimination between more receptive, existing customers and newcomers is a major problem.
Customers get angry and frustrated when they can’t upgrade. Naturally for apps under a few dollars, this issue doesn’t apply, given the small investment. Yet if you’re considering $40, $80, or hundreds more for a purchase, an upgrade by way of repurchasing the software is costly. It’s especially aggravating if the next big upgrade is launched soon after you buy the old version. This keeps potential buyers on the sidelines between major releases, exactly the time when many developers need revenue to keep going.
Apple needs a change in course here. A lack of paid upgrades is killing both developer revenue and consumer interest in a lot of great apps. It’s also watering down app quality, especially in the iPhone and iPad markets where there’s no App Store alternative.
The Interate podcast gets some big names in the app design world to pop on their show. This week was exceptionally big with Tweetie creator Loren Bricher. The episode touches on a lot of interesting subjects: the conservatism of Apple’s iPhone UI, Bricher’s preferred design tools, Blackberry 10 and more.
I read this article and found myself nodding along to much of what Nick Thompson had to say. It was a genuine surprise, given that the Condé Nast iPad and web apps are so poor. Then I read this:
The Verge: Magazine apps are often slammed for being slow, large, and kind of kludgy. Why is it so difficult to do properly? Who’s doing the best job?
Nick Thompson: New York has an excellent app, as does Wired. I’ve also been very impressed with Esquire and Vanity Fair.
TV: Why do you think The New Yorker has been so successful on the iPad, relative to other magazines?
NT: The main reason is that people genuinely like the magazine, and they like to read it. Also, we’ve, very deliberately, kept our iPad app very clean. There isn’t much clutter; it’s really just the stories, with some added slideshows, videos, and infographics.
Naturally, the guy singles out other Condé brands. Ironically, with potentially the exception of Wired, where the extra media content fits well, it’s a disaster everywhere else he mentions, especially Vanity Fair. Slow load times, gigantic downloads and extraneous videos that slow the experience.
And I’m sorry Nick, but when there’s a 200 plus MB download for each “clean” iPad New Yorker, I’m looking elsewhere. Love the content, and I read it every week…on my Kindle, which downloads in about 20 seconds.
Technology Review’s Jason Pontin, in a frank assessment of publishing and tablet apps:
A recent Nielsen study reported that while 33 percent of tablet and smart-phone users had downloaded news apps in the previous 30 days, just 19 percent of users had paid for any of them. The paid, expensively developed publishers’ app, with its extravagantly produced digital replica, is dead…
…I hated every moment of our experiment with apps, because it tried to impose something closed, old, and printlike on something open, new, and digital.
Last fall, we moved all the editorial in our apps, including the magazine, into a simple RSS feed in a river of news. We dumped the digital replica. Now we’re redesigning Technologyreview.com, which we made entirely free for use, and we’ll follow the Financial Times in using HTML5.
Many argue that native apps are our future. Some industries where processor speed is key (e.g. gaming) will stay native for quite a while. However, as this article illustrates, the first wave of tablet apps for publishing are a failure. I expect Newsstand to be a failure. Publishing understands the openness and fluidity of the web is the way to go and I think many more industries will follow suit to HTML as well.
In the iOS and Mac app stores, newcomer generalist apps are dead. Long live the new wave of hyperfocused apps.
This point was inevitable given both stores have reached a saturation point. There are so many calendars, text editors, todo lists, weather forecasts and photo editors – to name just a few categories – that it’s increasingly rare for any newcomer to stand out. Several success stories emerge early (e.g. Omnifocus and Todo for todo lists, Camera+ in the photo department) receive positive coverage, gain a user base and iterate. Meanwhile most competitors flounder and struggle.
Yet developers are opting out of this Darwinian cycle by going very deep, singular and focused with their app functionality. I wouldn’t use the term “minimal” because some are loaded with options and customization for power users. “Hyperfocused” fits better as each app’s direction is simple and straightforward. Where a generalist app might have ten features, a hyperfocused app has one, but executes that one feature with depth, polish, and well thought out design.
Not every app of this style can be a winner – their very focus makes them divisive – but a few have clicked well with my workflow: Drafts and Dark Sky for iOS and Take Five for the Mac.
Unlike other more generalist text editors that expect a setup process for new documents, Drafts presents you with a blank document and keyboard on every launch. There’s no required taps for a new document location or file type; open the app and you’re ready to type with little lag. Drafts at its core feels like the default Notes app with a serious speed and UI upgrade and that alone should appeal to many.
But speed is only a fraction of Drafts full functionality. A tap of an icon below the document reveals a full action list. You can copy to the clipboard, email, send to a Dropbox folder, tweet the content and send the text to other iOS apps. I use it almost every day for ideas capture, drafting Tweets, sending interesting links to Dropbox and writing extended emails.
For weather I’ve had the My-Cast app on my home screen for over a year. Its got plenty of information and accurate, but generally a bit sluggish and the visuals need serious work. Also before heading outside I have to tap through several screens just to determine if there’s rain in the immediate future.
Enter Dark Sky, an app that’s singular purpose is to tell you if it’s going to rain in the next hour. After starting the app you get a graph and text description that measures the severity and chance of rain. The app excels in its detail – the graph can convey at a glance when an incoming storm will peak or when short gaps in the rain will emerge. Text descriptions are highly descriptive (e.g. “light rain for 14 min”). If you want something more visual, a great looking radar is a tap away. The whole package is fast, accurate and reliable. It’s found a nice home on my second iPhone screen.
I’m a heavy iTunes and Spotify user on my Mac, yet the UI of each app is cumbersome and bulky. The row based, options everywhere design works well for heavy lifting but 95% of the time I just want to know the details on what’s currently playing.
To address this UI bloat, several iTunes and Spotify mini player apps have popped up. I tried both Simplify and Bowtie, two popular options. Yet while both did the job, I wasn’t crazy about their memory footprint and occasionally rough visuals.
That led me to Take Five, an option by Iconfactory, the design shop responsible for Twitterrific, xScope, and Flare. It’s a now playing visualizer pared down to the essentials: album art, song, album, and artist. Yet in targeting such a simple feature set, IconFactory delivers a really well thought out experience. Its got best in class visuals with a cool blue and black color palette. Keyboard support extends to a show/hide hotkey for the music app you’re using, be it iTunes, Spotify, Rdio, or five other players. You can turn on a Growl-like auto notification that pops up the mini player briefly when the track changes (with Spotify’s often shoddy Growl integration this is an especially useful feature.) Take Five’s main ‘hook’ is in its pause functionality; with a keyboard shortcut or icon click you can pause your music and have it auto fade in after a set period (hence ‘Take Five’). It’s a cool perk for quick breaks.
What qualifies as a ‘great’ iOS app over the long run? For me it’s simple: It saves me time. It doesn’t have to have a great icon, a great design, sexy graphics or get lots of praise from tech bloggers. If any of those traits add to saving time (and they often do) great, but time and efficiency outweigh everything else.
I use Drafts because its simplicity and raw speed saves me a few seconds every time I have to capture an idea or reminder. IA Writer’s clean typography and lack of customization focuses my mind for longer form writing. Marsedit’s quick WordPress and browser integration saves me a few minutes for every linked list post I make. Omnifocus syncs effortlessly and reliably between my Macs and mobile devices; I spend little time worried about lost contacts or todos. With Reeder I can scroll through and consume a day’s worth of tech, design and film news on my subway commute home.
Paring down your app set to mostly those that increase efficiency or save time isn’t a groundbreaking idea, but it is easier said than done. Like many in the tech industry, I get a regular share of recommendations via Twitter and RSS. I use to always download what had buzz with the tech bloggers, what was ‘innovative’ and what just looked cool. Yet after playing with a hot new app for a few days, 95 percent of the time I’d delete it or move it to some back folder, never to be touched again.
Don’t let this be you. Make hard decisions on the apps and tools you use. Granted there’s always edge cases: Gaming apps by their very nature should be arguably something that takes more, not less of your time if it’s a fun experience. There’s also something powerful with occasional experimentation: I downloaded Clear knowing full well it wasn’t a tool for me. Yet just playing with the app for a buck and hour of my time gave me design inspirations for my day job. Not everyone has the same priorities either. With my mobile workflow, saving time is paramount; I want to get in, get my work done and get out as efficiently as possible. You might instead favor aesthetic beauty, or great icons, or other traits.
Whatever that app goal is, stay focused. Is that new app that’s new and noteworthy on the App Store really going to integrate well with your workflow? Is it really better than what you already have? Ask those questions before you download.