Apptitude

Okay, let’s have a look at apps.

Smartphone applications pretty much run peoples lives these days and are at the centre of how user’s interact with and use their smartphones. As of September 2012 there were over 700,000 downloadable applications in the iPhone App Store. Recent statistics show that the App store has now reached 25 billion downloads, tracking at one billion downloads a month, which, according to the article I found that in, is a figure nine times greater than the rate McDonald’s sells burgers. Come on McDonald’s, step up your game!

Whilst is true that different Apps serve different purposes, a large proportion act as native portals into content that could be accessed through a web browser. Native applications provide many advantages over simply visiting the website which include faster browsing, better performance, the use of sensors and actuators, and quick access through the smartphone interface. For example, using the native Twitter application instead of accessing the actual website through Safari on your iPhone increases performance, speed and browsability letting you shoot out you 140 characters with ease. Other social networking services such as Facebook, LinkedIn, WordPress and even Myspace (I had to to check) offer similar application to increase functionality and usability for smartphone users. Native applications for webpages also exist for sites such as Wikipedia, IMDb, eBay and many online banking services.

The previously much-maligned official Twitter app
Source: macrumors.com

Apart from native applications for webpages other popular application types include mobile games (i.e. Angry Birds, Draw Something, Words With Friends etc.) , e-book readers (i.e. Kindle, iBooks), weather and location services (i.e. The Weather Channel, Google Maps), and photography/photo-sharing programs (i.e. Instagram, Snap Chat).

Applications may make life more convenient for the smartphone user,  but they do hold their own disadvantages. For example, many young people cling to their phones so they can check social networks or text messages every few minutes, and that can interfere with the normal process of working or studying. At times we can rely too heavily on apps which may not always work. I know some people who have absolutely no sense of direction due to the fact that they always us Google Maps to navigate. There is also growing concern that having constant access to the internet is having a negative effect on peoples memory. Today, instead of having to rack your brain to remember that name of a famous person that you have forgot you can look it up in seconds on your smartphone. Whilst their has yet to be empirical evidence to prove this has adverse effects on memory down the line, it is an important point to consider when weighing up the pros and cons of smartphone applications.

Personally, I’m constantly using different apps to make my life easier. Personal favourites include the Commonwealth Bank’s Kaching app, the Rotten Tomatoes Flixter app, Facebook, Twitter and of course the brilliant music recognition app Shazam. I get sent Snapchats from my friends but I very rarely reply and I’ve never really seen the appeal of Instagram. Oh and Google Maps of course but apparently it’s been removed from IOS 6 so I’m at a loss as to whether I should update or not. I hear you do get new Emojis though.. Worth it?