I miss the itunes app store!!!

[Germwise]

Hear me out.

While i was using the itunes app store I felt like I was in a gated community. Every app I tried had a decent UI, didn't crash and was simple to use. There was lots of competition and thus lots of free apps and lots of amazing paid apps that were GUARANTEED to work great on the ipod/iphone.


Now in the android store I feel like I'm out in a jungle. I find lots of paid apps that crash, open up on the phone randomly, aren't easy to use and frankly should be free.

The free apps usually ask for connection to the internet and access to my personal info and put ads on it--using my bandwidth! Because there are so many different android phones, whether they will work or not is hit or miss.

I know there is a return policy but I wish you would have an official app store where google vetted each piece of software in exchange for some pct of sales and another market where anyone could post.


The android platform should come with many of these apps.

1) decent weather, stock, calendar widgets.
2) Opening/editing of .txt,.doc,.pdf files.
3) Usage meters for data and phone
4) app manager where you can tell which apps can auto-start, and which apps should close or stay open after you use them.


Just a little frustrated, eager to hear your thoughts.

 

[fumoh]

'kay.

 

[doomedromance]

cause Apple's vetting process is so consistent and not at all confusing as to why some apps get denied.

My thoughts?
You have 30 day worry free guarantee. You can return it. Just make sure you don't use any data the day you return it. Trust me I've used it for 2 phones. Will cost you less and save you a pain in the ass.

The Android Market if fairly new, with a much smaller user base. It will grow.

Remember when Apple blocked all apps for the iPhone? Something all Blackberries, WinMo, and Symbian had. Then they released the 2ndGen iPhone and came up with some new, innovative, never before seen, thing call apps for your phone.

edit: P.S. I hate iTunes.

 

[mick4394]

One man's trash is another man's treasure.

I think, to most of us here, the fact that the apps aren't run through with a fine toothed comb is one of the main draws of Android over the iPhone. There are some fine apps over there, but you have to be completely submissive to Apple you want to play in their sandbox.

I'll take Android, thanks.

 

[eclipsed4utoo]

I feel the exact opposite. I used TweetDeck as my Twitter client on my IPod Touch. It would crash atleast once a day. I use the Swift Twitter client on my DROID. I've used it for 9 days now, and it has yet to crash even though it continuously runs in the background all the time.

Now that I think about it, only a few of the 30+ applications I have downloaded on my DROID have crashed. The only ones that do are those movie soundtrack/ringtone apps. The major apps have never crashed.

 

[doomedromance]

1. It may not look pretty but I use the weather channel app. Try Beautiful Widgets for Sense UI looking weather widget. At least Android has "desktops" and widgets

Try CalWidget for calendar. I like it a lot. Though it bugs on me sometimes and says "loading..." and only way i found to fix it is to remove and re-add.

2. never played around with. .txt probably OI Notepad or Astrid?

3. My Verizon app maybe? Terrible interface. But what do you expect from verizon. Looks like its just ported from dumbphones.

4. That would be nice. You know, like telling Corporate Calendar and Google Talk to eff off.

The android platform should come with many of these apps.

1) decent weather, stock, calendar widgets.
2) Opening/editing of .txt,.doc,.pdf files.
3) Usage meters for data and phone
4) app manager where you can tell which apps can auto-start, and which apps should close or stay open after you use them.


Just a little frustrated, eager to hear your thoughts.

 

[vincentp]

1. It may not look pretty but I use the weather channel app. Try Beautiful Widgets for Sense UI looking weather widget. At least Android has "desktops" and widgets

Try CalWidget for calendar. I like it a lot. Though it bugs on me sometimes and says "loading..." and only way i found to fix it is to remove and re-add.

2. never played around with. .txt probably OI Notepad or Astrid?

3. My Verizon app maybe? Terrible interface. But what do you expect from verizon. Looks like its just ported from dumbphones.

4. That would be nice. You know, like telling Corporate Calendar and Google Talk to eff off.

Corporate calendar drives me nuts. It's always running for some reason, and I assure you, I never have, and never will have any use for it. Normal calendar is just fine.

 

[Caddyman]

the apps working on the iphone and being so polished, etc, is all because of apple's control of their device

they make 1 device
they make 1 OS
the app creators can focus on 1 device and OS, therefore it makes it a lot easier to create.

 

[vincentp]

the apps working on the iphone and being so polished, etc, is all because of apple's control of their device

they make 1 device
they make 1 OS
the app creators can focus on 1 device and OS, therefore it makes it a lot easier to create.

And I can understand this being a boon to most people. For me, though, being a techy and enjoying playing with my phone as much as using it, the iPhone is stale and boring. Half of the fun of my Droid is constantly finding new things I can do to customize it. There's really no customization of the iPhone, unless you consider the size of your app library.

 

[johnjacobp]

I must say I have to agree with the beginning thread. I'm disappointed in the Android Marketplace. At least with iTunes you really do feel like you're part of a good solid community. Sure Apple rules with an iron fist but who cares? I still had tons of much appreciated apps with solid performance. (not at&t 3gs performance....their service is horrible) You can easily and quickly browse thousands of apps that contains graphics with appeal.

I think the Android Marketplace has a long way to go before it can appeal to everyone. For example, I really enjoy a nice, polished user interface with clean graphics. I feel the android graphics and app graphics to be on the rough side. I thought the new droid has MUCH more processing power? Where are the sweet graphical user interfaces? I'm not saying I want my phone to look just like my old iPhone 3gs but at least give me some smooth sweet graphics.

Also, clean up the marketplace. Make it easier to browse and I think it should be mandatory to provide screenshots before being posted to download.

Oh and just a quick question...has anyone purchased an app with a Yen or Euro amount? I'm leery about buying these.

 

[droidism]

Every app I tried had a decent UI, didn't crash and was simple to use.

First let me say I am not trying to challenge you on your opinion. However, the above sentence is relative ONLY. I tried many iPhone apps that crashed, froze my phone, or ran erratically. Truthfully they were the exception because as you stated most ran without problems. In the same token, I've found all the apps that I was using on the iPhone 3Gs for the Droid except two and they all run just as well as they did on the iPhone. There are a few instances where the app on the Droid is overall better. Take USAToday, LastFM, Youtube for instance.....much better on the Droid than iPhone.

.....GUARANTEED to work great on the ipod/iphone.

There are no guarantees that an app will work flawlessly because there are too many other variables to consider. If there were such a guarantee, i am due a dayuuum refund on a few iPhone apps!

Granted the Apple app store is a little more polished which probably contributes to the gated community feel but even gated communities have their fair share of problems with trolls, gate jumpers, etc ;-)

 

[mundyb]

Also, you shouldn't forget that Android 2.0 is just over a week old and that the Droid is a brand new device as well. As developers get their code cleaned up and working on 2.0 all the apps will improve. There are already some apps specifically designed for Droid handsets. Patience you need (read in the voice of Jim Henson with his arm up Yoda's bum).hehe

And really, how many flashlight apps does one need anyway?

 

[droidism]

For me, though, being a techy and enjoying playing with my phone as much as using it, the iPhone is stale and boring. Half of the fun of my Droid is constantly finding new things I can do to customize it. There's really no customization of the iPhone, unless you consider the size of your app library.

Well stated.....my sentiments exactly!!

The iPhone is a great device but I compare it to America Online back in the day. The same way AOL was the internet on training wheels the iPhone is a smartphone on training wheels. The iPhone does almost everything well if not better than everyone else but it lacks customization and is not as robust or sophisticated as other devices.

 

[ratchetjaw]

I knew i shouldnt have opened this thread

 

[tsaunders]

Most of the free apps on the iTunes App Store have ads which would use my bandwidth.

 

[gwlaw99]

1) decent weather, stock, calendar widgets.
For a calendar I use Calwidget
For weather I use "Weather Forecast"

2) Opening/editing of .txt,.doc,.pdf files.
I use Documents to go for .doc, PDGFView for .pdf, or google docs app for all of them

3) Usage meters for data and phone
Not sure why you would need this with an unlimited data account

4) app manager where you can tell which apps can auto-start, and which apps should close or stay open after you use them.
Not sure exactly what you want here. To tell which apps auto start use advanced task manager app, then close all apps, then use it again to see which apps auto opened. Almost all apps stay open because they barely use any resouces because of the linux kernal.

 

[oceanlight]

more freedom, more risk i suppose. just like real life. i still prefer the freedom and the ability to judge for myself if an app is good enough. That's also one reason i prefer windows over mac.

 

[Vance]

I miss the iTunes App store, but not because of the quality of the apps. I just like having a place on my PC to really search for, review and analyze new possible apps.

 

[Newton1221]

Hear me out.

While i was using the itunes app store I felt like I was in a gated community. Every app I tried had a decent UI, didn't crash and was simple to use. There was lots of competition and thus lots of free apps and lots of amazing paid apps that were GUARANTEED to work great on the ipod/iphone.


Now in the android store I feel like I'm out in a jungle. I find lots of paid apps that crash, open up on the phone randomly, aren't easy to use and frankly should be free.

The free apps usually ask for connection to the internet and access to my personal info and put ads on it--using my bandwidth! Because there are so many different android phones, whether they will work or not is hit or miss.

I know there is a return policy but I wish you would have an official app store where google vetted each piece of software in exchange for some pct of sales and another market where anyone could post.


The android platform should come with many of these apps.

1) decent weather, stock, calendar widgets.
2) Opening/editing of .txt,.doc,.pdf files.
3) Usage meters for data and phone
4) app manager where you can tell which apps can auto-start, and which apps should close or stay open after you use them.


Just a little frustrated, eager to hear your thoughts.

most simply, the itunes app store has basically ONE device to develop for (iphone and ipod touch are essentially the same), therefore compatibility is a must. However the android marketplace has many devices to develop for and because of this compatibility for all devices isnt as urgent or necessary. The apps that dont work are most likely not tailored for the droid or android 2.0. Seriously people the phone has been out for a couple weeks, android 2.0 has been out for a couple of weeks, dont expect what it took apple a few years to create to happen overnight.

 

[hingli168]

I too miss the iTunes App store because of the great apps they had.

 

[iPhoneMilk]

Same here...

I miss the look and feel of the apps... very clean.. and smooth, and fast.


Btw to the previous poster.. tweetdeck never crashed once for me.. AMAZING app.. loved it.


I hope that android apps get a Makeover.. because right now i don't like the look and feel of them..

I hope the developer's polish them up and make them all nice and shiny =)

and this is just for general use apps, like twitter apps and facebook apps, etc etc.

other apps that serve as a purpose or tool, i don't care about. they could be lines of text for all i care. =D

 

[hingli168]

I think if Google allows SD card App Storage then some Developers from the iPhone will come Develop for Android too.

 

[Newton1221]

I think if Google allows SD card App Storage then some Developers from the iPhone will come Develop for Android too.

i dont think that will make all that much difference because with all the variety of android phones the hardware limitations of some will cause issues, more or less what im trying to say is if you made a game that pushed the limits of the droid's hardware then it wouldnt even stand a chance of running on the G1, i feel like this sorta thing will discourage people from developing for android instead of iphone because then you've got a smaller amount of potential consumers and therefore smaller revenue, just my opinion though, i could be totally wrong

 

[acp]

Android's rapid growth has some developers worried - CNN.com

 

[tsaunders]

I think if Google allows SD card App Storage then some Developers from the iPhone will come Develop for Android too.

I read somewhere that the app is what runs from the device and the apps can use the SD card to store stuff for the app.

Think games. The app would run on the device but it would pull images and other stuff from the SD card.