Pamela Hazelton

Twitter icon Facebook icon Google Plus icon LinkedIn icon Periscope icon rss icon
You are here: Home / Technology / 10 Overdone Mobile Apps

10 Overdone Mobile Apps

by 21 Comments

Now that Palm is part of HP, and the $50 app add fee has been waived indefinitely, we can expect to see many more webOS apps available in the near future. One can only hope that users will be inundated with unique and feature-rich add-ons that show the true power of the Palm Pre and Pixi, as well as future devices.

There’s pros and cons to Palm dropping the once- required $50 fee per app (which was applied to both pay-for and free apps). The upside is webOS can now be more competitive when it comes to the sheer number of apps available in the catalog. Lingering under 3,000 for so long has definitely turned off many smartphone shoppers. The downside? Lots of repeats, as well as potentially shoddy interfaces.

Without further adieu, here’s 10 apps I’d like to see nixed from newcomer developers’ lists, unless they’re truly reworked.

  1. Tip Calculators. Okay, it’s among one of the first apps many new developers create because it’s simple in both concept and structure. Practice apps, however, are just that. I’ve yet to see any of these simplified versions perform anything I cannot already do on the platform via the standard calculator that’s already included (or, even better, in my own head). Besides, we shouldn’t be concerned about exactness when it comes to leaving a tip – gage your service and tip accordingly.
  2. Farting Sound Apps. Some find these funny, and even then, for a limited time. Fact is, unless you’ve got more than a hundred “real” samples you took with the right equipment, they’re just stupid. It amazes me that people will pay for these kinds of apps, even when the ratings on them are consistently low. There are millions of other real-life sounds out there. Get creative and compile a robust sound bank of your own.
  3. Password Storing Apps that Only Work In the Cloud. I may face some backlash on this one, but until someone devises a vault that I can sync to my desktop – with cable – save your sales pitches. I don’t care how “secure” people say it is, the cloud isn’t where I want to be storing the one key that unlocks my entire life. SplashID, are you listening?
  4. Stopwatches. Contrary to popular belief, creating an accurate stopwatch app relies on more than just the internal clock. If you’re going to create another “clocking” app, do it right.
  5. Lists Apps that just create… lists. Seriously, I could create a list on the early versions of PalmOS. Why are so many developers creating the most simple apps that don’t take advantage of the power of webOS? We can do so much better. Think Notes and Shopping List…
  6. Games with Clunky, Choppy Movement & Graphics. Unless you’re replicating something I played on the Atari or Amiga, there’s only one reason to release a game that looks bad – laziness. webOS supports stellar imagery and reaction times. Think Cronk, Monopoly, even Mazer.
  7. Twitter Clients that simply replicate… other Twitter clients. I’ve used several Twitter apps and settled on TweetMe. If you want me to try another one, then it needs to do something a plethora of other apps don’t. Don’t be a copycat. Get creative. Hint: I’d love to “skin” my app.
  8. Unitasking Timers. As Alton Brown says, “Down with the unitasker!” That is, I don’t want to install 20 different apps just so I can time tea steeping, hot dog cooking and hair coloring.
  9. Flashlights. I have one, it works. ‘Nuff said.
  10. Feature-LESS Newsreaders. As we get older, our eyes get out of whack. If I have to wear cheater reader glasses to read the screen because there’s no way to adjust font size, I’m irked. I also want to favorite articles and use a “real” RSS search tool.

For the naysayers, please note that it’s not my goal to stop any of these kinds of apps from being created and distributed. My point is this- a hundred apps which do exactly the same thing does nothing but promote confusion and frustration. I’m all for any of these app types being done – over and over – so long as each is feature rich and unique in it’s flow and design. Simply put, now is the time for app developers to take advantage of everything webOS can do and truly build on it. Otherwise, we’ll grow to 20,000 apps in no time, but without much new to offer.

Share on FacebookTweet about this on TwitterShare on Google+Share on LinkedInShare on RedditPin on PinterestBuffer this pageEmail this to someone
  • Luanne

    JVault is a password keeper which synchronizes with desktop through USB cable. I totally agree about the other repetitious apps.

    • Pamela

      Well, JVault doesn’t actually sync. It just copies the database from device to computer or computer to device. There’s no true syncing.

  • Rebecca

    Enough with the “hot, sexy babes” wallpaper apps too.

  • Jerry Miller

    And endless book “apps” as if these were really apps. How about ONE book reader app, and then just list available books.

    • Pamela

      The reason those books are listed as apps is because the books, themselves, are in the public domain.

  • I think you’re being a bit harsh on the games with weaker graphics and choppy movement (disclaimer, I wrote Mazer).

    The choppy movement was caused by a bad bug in webOS, and affected every game that uses the accelerometer. Therefore historically, webOS did NOT support quick reaction times. Try speaking to a game dev or read the forums and you’ll see the crazy hoops we all had to jump through to work around Palms memory bugs (btw, thanks to Vaslin for finding the only hack that works)

    As for weaker graphics, many of us work as individuals, part time after work. In general we are engineers and are less skilled at visual design and cannot afford to pay a graphic designer from the income made from our FREE apps. A bit more gratitude is in order for us guys putting in countless hours (Mazer has easily taken 300 hours of my time before I stopped counting), in many cases for little or no money.

    /me ends rant

    • Pamela

      Shane:

      I’d like to clarify, as I was giving kudos to Mazer. I am aware of some of the webOS issues you describe. Unfortunately, some developers rush their work.

      As for “weaker” graphics – I certainly don’t expect the Mona Lisa, and I think Mazer works very well and is a good example of how you can create a great app that uses very simple graphical elements. This is why I grouped it with Cronk and Monopoly – both of which are very pleasing to the eye.

  • abegee

    the writer obviously has no knowladge regarding webOS development.

    1.) the cloud is what’s coming, you may not like it but people are sick of wires and cabled.

    2.) regarding stopwatches, you only have two options, make your own timing system using JS timeouts, which will be inaccurate or use the system clock, (also not accurate but still more accurate) if you have a better ides please make it known.

    3.)choppy graphics are due to the webOS GC (garbage collection) there is little a dev can do, unless they are very well versed in JS memory managing (and even then other apps can cause GC to happen)

    Abe

    • Pamela

      Sure, I do have knowledge regarding webOS. I’m not sure how that has anything to do with the cloud. I’m not against the cloud itself. But there are plenty who don’t want to adopt it for the most sensitive of data. Movement to the cloud is progressing too quickly and your average user doesn’t understand the issues that can arise trusting third-parties with their data.

      As for the clocks, there is a plethora of information available in regard to correcting inaccuracies. There’s even some Home Brew tools to fix various issues. My point is, if it’s not a true stopwatch, it shouldn’t be labeled as such.

      There is a lot devs can do regarding graphics. For starters, they can utilize fixes and other information provided by other developers. If there’s nothing you can do for crappy graphics, why does Monopoly look so darned good?

  • Panagiotis Govotsos

    As someone else said, jVault synchronizes with the desktop by USB cable. It isn’t true synchronization though, it just copies the file from one device to the other (your choice whichU and the interface is clunky.

  • treogangsta

    App Devs shouldn’t be so upset about getting mention in this article. I believe the apps mentioned are best of breed. For example I’ve never heard of mazer until this article and now it on my pre plus. being free didn’t hurt either

    • Pamela

      Correct. I mentioned Mazer and others as examples of the good, not the bad. Thanks for commenting! And I hope ya love Mazer. 🙂

  • Thomas Mark

    Pamela, I am an app developer for WebOS and I have been working with a couple of friends on some apps we hope to launch soon. I read articles like this so that I can continuously remind myself of what to watch out for and things that the user sees as what needs improvement or what not to do.

    On another note, we will be finishing up a couple apps shortly and are looking for a few ideas for apps that people would like to see. I saw your article about things WebOS needs but most of that is stuff you would like to see Palm do for WebOS. I was just wondering if you could work on a 10 apps that you would like to see for WebOS article. I would like to read that and the comments on that one.

    • Pamela

      Thomas:

      I’d be honored to write a post about 10 apps I’d love to have. Some of the things in my other article are app driven (like an app that lets me import/export to/from QB), but there are so many more things I’d like to see.

      Expect to see something in the next week or so.

  • blaze0023

    I would like to see the star walk app on webos!

  • Mannyman

    Nice article.
    Not sure how the named apps missed the compliments.
    Thanks,
    Manny

  • As a newer developer I admit I have little desire to create the final 9 items on your list. I did just publish my first app and yes it is a tip calculator. But I wrote it not because it was simple (it was – the first version took less than one day) but because I had the proverbial “itch to scratch”.

    “Besides, we shouldn’t be concerned about exactness when it comes to leaving a tip – gage your service and tip accordingly.” Maybe true, but many people do want to know an “exact amount” before they decide their tip reflects the service received.

    Personally I think my app is a good app and I am proud to have written it. And working on it has helped get my creative juices flowing.

    • Pamela

      Stan:

      My comments were not meant to imply that any particular developer’s apps are not good, but rather to inspire new developers to bring the community something unique and original. Tip calculators are among a handful of apps many newbies create to become familiar with webOS. That’s all fine, but while time is spent perfecting those, the community is desperate for so much more.

      In respect to competing with the other markets, the overall number of apps available helps, but users are truly looking for variety.

      I hope your initial dive into webOS was a great experience, and that you’re now working on bigger things.

  • I want to see more “augmented reality” apps.

  • I should say that my selection to acquire a Palm Pixi with Sprint support was each a rational and emotional just one. I suggest, the Palm Pixi is wonderful and functional. And coupled with all the assistance excellent of Sprint, it would seem absolutely nothing short of a revolution in the producing. I believe that Palm and Sprint have (virtually) hit it off famously. I did a great deal of study prior to getting the Pixi but overlooked at minimum one particular point. The Pixi does not, yet, enable me synchronize my e-mails among it and Outlook. As far as I am concerned, it is a drawback I am facing unless Palm comes up which has a answer speedily. With my earlier SmartPhone running a Windows OS, it was a snap to synchronize e-mails and other info with one’s Computer. But Pixi’s inability to accomplish so is producing existence a tiny complicated for me mainly because I’ve to Bcc every e-mail, I send out, to my e-mail address after which manually transfer it towards ‘sent’ folder in Outlook. I hope Palm, or at lowest a third-party, will appear up which has a alternative incredibly soon which will effortlessly permit me synchronize all my e-mails, and ideally all essential information, involving the Pixi and my office Personal computer.