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It matters for Apple, for developers? not so much. Millions of users and not a single third party "killer" app.
by redial 8y ago
It matters for Apple, for developers? not so much. Millions of users and not a single third party "killer" app.
- Razengan 8y agoWhich developer wants to miss out on serving potentially millions of users? What kind of “killer” app do you envision for a watch? Being able to check messages, calls, Uber, flights, etc. right on my wrist are all killer applications for me, along with the fitness features of course. I suspect the upcoming walkie-talkie will be fun too (something that should’ve been there from the start.)
- chris_wot 8y agoI think you make your own point. There is no killer app, so why would developers care about millions of people with a watch they can’t do anything novel by a third party?
- CardenB 8y agoIt's popular enough that, if your competitors make a watch app, a large userbase would begin to prefer using the competitor app.
- Fomite 8y agoI've switched my app usage several times to ones that have better watch integration.
- fjsolwmv 8y agoThe watch is a UI for iOS apps. There are zillions of iOS apps.
- redial 8y agoAny potential the Watch has is clearly not enough for a strong app market to develop. > Which developer wants to miss out on serving potentially millions of users? You are forgetting that most developers already have millions of potential users on the iPhone with a market at least 30x bigger than the Watch's, and iOS has none of the limitations the Watch has. Right now a Watch app requires an iPhone app, is hard to monetize, it cannot be sold on its own, it's slow and frustrate your users, etc. The only upsides are for Apple. It might sell really well because the core functionality provides enough value, but developers need to see a clear return for their efforts and right now is not there.
- saagarjha 8y agoThe upside for you is that if you have a watch app and your competitor doesn't, customers are going to choose your product over theirs.
- redial 8y agoThat is what in theory you think happens. What actually happens is that in very few app categories that is the case. For example, not a single game is losing market share to a competitor because they do not have a watch app.
- saagarjha 8y agoYou picked the worst example here: you really can't play (serious) games on your watch, so the comparison is invalid. But for a fitness app, or a messaging one, or a music service, I would significantly favor the service that has a watch counterpart, if not shun the other one outright.
- redial 8y agoI picked the biggest category of apps just to show you having a watch app is irrelevant when picking an iPhone app for everything in the app store but a very narrow set of categories, and you just demonstrated that. Yes, fitness is great, messaging somewhat ok, but what about the other millions of apps in the app store? what about a writing app? or a video editor? or a measuring app? or Dropbox? Right now there is no reason for Youtube to make a watch app, and no reason for you to pick Vimeo over Youtube because it has a watch app.
- Razengan 8y agoAs others have said, think of your Apple Watch app as an extension to your iOS app's UI: it enhances your iOS app vs. the competition that doesn't offer the wrist UI. I've seen users requesting a Watch version in reviews for iOS apps. Even I have chosen some apps in the past over others specifically because they offered a Watch app, like navigation apps and flight checkers etc. As a user though, I must say that if "monetizing" and "selling on its own" are more important concerns for you than make your product/service a better experience for ME, then I probably wouldn't want to use any of your apps.
- lostapathy 8y agoThe health and fitness stuff is the killer app there, imo. Once you get hooked on that you are hooked.