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Less than 2 years ago, Apple Inc. released the App Store. Since January 27th 2010, at least 140,000 third party applications have been made available for your downloading pleasure, with a total download of more than 3 billion instances. Whilst such statistics appear impressive, just how useful are those 140,000+ apps?
I’ve been downloading apps since day one and, admittedly, I have over 100 third party apps on my iPhone 3GS. What’s come into question, both personally and professionally, is just how many apps are worth downloading.
Of the 100 or so I have, at least 50 are games. From the remaining apps I use 7 at least every day – usually more than once. I have another 6 which I comfortably use at least once a week. What about the 37 or so others? Were they worth downloading and, in some cases, paying for?
The AA Route Planner app, currently priced at ÂŁ1.79, baffles me somewhat – aside from the fact that this is an “introductory offer” suggesting the price will go up. I can appreciate the appeal to existing AA customers but it offers little to distinguish itself from all the existing features of Google Maps for iPhone/iTouch.
According to Marketing Magazine, “Marketers should resist the temptation to rush into mobile”. This is an important point. So many companies are releasing apps with the belief that they are doing the right thing, but in fact their releases are far from useful or popular. What kind of effect is this having on the brand and how much are companies wasting on an app flop?
As the market becomes saturated brands need to carefully consider both the usefulness and usability of their apps.
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Prior to joining Foolproof, I worked for Essex & Suffolk Water as a Data Analyst and Resource Planner. This was my first job after university but I was waiting for somet...
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