6 ms·

Since you asked, Gruber, here are my Android "killer apps"

36 points by mithaler 16y ago

tptacek 16y ago
* A redesign of touch-based text input. * A music player with a unique interface. * control Youtube on your computer from across the room * A fork of the stock Android home screen * Automatically do anything in response to anything. * The best todo list. * Get notifications for Gmail labels * Get notifications for Craigslist search terms * Easily track packages This list would appear to prove Gruber's (subtextual) point. Most of these don't seem interesting enough to break into "Featured", "Top Free", or "Top 25" (for utilities) on the app store.
- mithaler 16y ago
  > Most of these don't seem interesting enough to break into "Featured", "Top Free", or "Top 25" (for utilities) on the app store. Why not? These are high-quality, well-designed apps based on excellent ideas.
  - tptacek 16y ago
    Yeah, you might be right. I don't know. My gut is, no. But, for what it's worth, here's the current app store lists: Featured, New: * Apple Remote - control iTunes & such from phone. * Path - the social network. * Airbnb - the iPhone interface to the rental service. * ComicStrip CS - a comic strip creation app. * Edmunds - car ratings. * Pushpin - grocery coupons on your phone (incidentally: what a great idea! Wish I'd thought of this.) Featured, Hot: * Pageonce Bills - track your bills (Comcast, etc) on your phone. * Cinch - an A/V microblogging app. * Steinway Metronome - a metronome. * MotionX GPS Drive - turn-by-turn GPS * Instagram - the very famous photo sharing app Top, Paid * TuneIn Radio - AM/FM from 40,000 stations * Food Network In The Kitchen - iPhone FoodTV recipes * Perfect Photo - photo touchup * Color Splash - another photo manipulation app Top, Free * Google Voice * Doodle Buddy Premium - a drawing app * Facebook * The Find - price comparisons (Top free is just dominated by games). Utilities, Top Paid * Perfect Photo * Skyfire - Flash video browser * Barcode Scanner * Alarm Clock Pro * Splashtop Remote Desktop * Flashlight * Battery Management (BTW, the closest thing I see here to one of those maintenance apps that seems to top the Android list) * Craigslist Pro (our version of that Craigslist notification app) * 5-0 Pro - Police scanner This is today's snapshot. These are not the killer iPhone apps (with the possible exception of Instagram). This is just the noise you'd have to beat with one of those Android apps to have a shot at being an iPhone killer app.
    - mithaler 16y ago
      The only point I really care to make with my list is that Android's app offerings do not lack superb content, no matter how much other catalogs may have. Does Android appear to suffer in comparison to iTunes? Maybe, but that doesn't stop me in any meaningful fashion from finding apps I love on my Droid.
      - tptacek 16y ago
        Then the only point you care to make is orthogonal to Gruber's question. He's asking, where are the apps that: * Are standouts, * Are exclusive to the Android platform, * Have high production values, and * Aren't system enhancements. You're entitled to say "that's a dumb question", but you can't claim to answer the question by rejecting it.
        mithaler 16y ago
        That's a great point, and it really gets at the heart of the difference in design goals between iOS and Android. 'Course, I would argue that all of the listed apps fit all four of those criteria (even if some of their features exist in other apps on iOS), but I'll admit there's some room for disagreement there. ;)
        ZeroGravitas 16y ago
        It's not a dumb question, it's a fairly clever attempt at framing. Why should we dignify such a frame by accepting it? The only sensible answer is "I don't care if my apps are platform exclusives" or similar.
  - danilocampos 16y ago
    > Why not? Because so many of them are centered around meta tasks (input, controls, notifications). Appealing to nerds, sure, but the power of the App Store is how it provides compelling app experiences for everyone.
    - w-ll 16y ago
      This is my dilemma, I have an app, some say killer app, 'Math Keyboad' but im sure a very little market. I doubt I will ever make a belp, and of course now with the Wolfram App.... sigh.
  - masklinn 16y ago
    > Why not? These are high-quality, well-designed apps based on excellent ideas. Well for starters 4 of them are excluded by the original conditions of being acceptable in the appstore. Second, of the remaining 6 some already have better counterparts in the appstore (there are complete top lists devoted to iOS todo apps and the good tends to be really very good) and "well-designed"... well I guess beauty is in the eye of the beholder, but from the screenshots on their respective sites the Craigslist notification app doesn't look very good. As to parcels... http://itunes.apple.com/app/delivery-status-touch/id290986013 http://itunes.apple.com/app/delivery-status-touch/id29098601... copycat much?
- flogic 16y ago
  Some of these apps imply an Emacs like ability for customization. Considering that touch screens have only recently stopped sucking, I think that's very important. As sexy as the iPhone is, it doesn't have swipe or 8pen. We don't really know what all the optimal touch interfaces look like yet.
henrymazza 16y ago
8pen doesn't seem to be quicker or simpler than a on screen keyboard. Is there any prove that it's worth learning? Why not just put a Shorthand keyboard? At least the method is prove to work!
blub 16y ago
iPhone is - by far - the platform with the most interesting apps. Here's a few things that impressed me: * I have this small "survival tips" paper book written by an ex-SAS guy. Now there's an app for that. * Revolution studios have published their Broken Sword games for iDevices, with UI and audio improvements. * There are paper magazines that ONLY discuss iPhone apps.
ghostDancer 16y ago
This is becoming a religious war like vi/emacs spectrum/c64 , i think that everyone should use the phone that needs or wants. Find the apps you like or need and choose the phone stop talking about it like if it's a matter of life. I think we all know Gruber has embraced the Cupertino church , that's his choice. If you don't like it don't read him, at least when his talking about how good are Apple products and how wise is the word from the prophet Jobs. If someone finds a good app is good to read about it, but to make it a song about how good is a platform i think is childish.
- roadnottaken 16y ago
  Interesting parallel (vi/emacs). Accordingly, given that people have been arguing about vi vrs. emacs for >30 yrs, I doubt this one is going to be put to rest anytime soon.
vito 16y ago
Parcels seems to be a knock-off of the iOS Delivery Status app, which I use a lot: http://junecloud.com/software/iphone/delivery-status-touch.html http://junecloud.com/software/iphone/delivery-status-touch.h... I've noticed this about the Market - there are a lot of blatant clones of better-executed iOS apps.
- jamesbritt 16y ago
  "I've noticed this about the Market - there are a lot of blatant clones of better-executed iOS apps." Is this not also true of the Apple app store?
  - deleted 16y ago
    [deleted]
  - tptacek 16y ago
    No?
  - vito 16y ago
    Not from what I've seen. There may be multiple apps for one task, but generally they don't directly copy one another.
    - jamesbritt 16y ago
      Which is pretty much what I've seen on Android. When I go looking for something I find an assorted of apps but rarely are they just bad clones.
- borism 16y ago
  I don't see a resemblance? Is any app that tracks multiple packages a knock-off? I don't think so. And I've been using original Delivery Status (as an OSX widget) before there even was App Store.
  - irons 16y ago
    You don't see a resemblance between two apps that display package tracking details using custom whole-color list backgrounds and identically positioned iconography using similar glyphs? Between this: http://android-apps.com/images/pname/eu.zomtec.android.delivery/image1.png http://android-apps.com/images/pname/eu.zomtec.android.deliv... and this: http://junecloud.com/images/entries/20101010_6613.png http://junecloud.com/images/entries/20101010_6613.png ... you see nothing in common? It's difficult to take your assertion seriously.
random42 16y ago
In response to Gruber's criteria, a much more objective comparison from end-user perspective would be to compare android only apps to iOS only apps, without further restrictions (eg., Who the vendor is or whether app is invalid for comparison, because one platform policy wont allow it.) As a user/buyer, I am only interested in what I can or cannot do with a product, while comparing it with a competing product. Everything else is just details
- moultano 16y ago
  Every time this comes up, my response is always "Google Navigation." This app is essentially superior in every way to a stand-alone gps device. The only constraint is that you need to have signal when you first request the directions. Aside from that I'd prefer it to any of the in-car systems that typically cost ~$2k. The biggest difference is that it accesses Google's index of places and businesses, and Google's ability to understand whatever mishmash of things I speak or type in.
YooLi 16y ago
None of those are "killer apps" in the classical definition of the phrase. Those are apps that are awesome to you, but not killer apps. People use killer app now to mean any good app, kind of how every model today is a super model if you know their name. Halo was a killer app for xbox 360. People bought xboxes to play halo, hence a killer app. People arent going to buy an android phone to use a music player with a neat cube interface.
- nuclear_eclipse 16y ago
  I bought an Android phone to use Locale, of which Tasker is highly inspired by.
- mithaler 16y ago
  That definition assumes that there is such a thing as an "app worth buying a phone for" that holds for a majority of people. That will always vary by person. I've listed killer apps for Android for me; as I said, I can make no claims about killer apps for everyone, nor can you, or for that matter, Gruber. So I guess the term is kind of silly in the first place when applied to third-party mobile app offerings, no?
  - weaksauce 16y ago
    The iPhone had a killer app in the full web(minus flash) web browser. No other phone at the time had a web browser anywhere near as good as mobile safari is. That and google maps and mail made a compelling case to buy the phone.
    - Garbage 16y ago
      Did you try Opera Mobile?
    - nailer 16y ago
      > No other phone at the time had a web browser anywhere near as good as mobile safari is. The N95 was out for a year earlier and had a mobile webkit browser and 3G. That said, the 2G iPhone had a larger screen.
kyleslattery 16y ago
To me, the biggest killer app for the iPhone is iTunes integration. I know many people with Android phones who don't use it for music (myself included) because it is fairly difficult to put music on it. And, given the fact that something like 75% of the media player market is iPod, that means that a lot of people have iTunes installed, and getting an iPhone set up is pretty painless. I know there are several music sync apps for Android, but from my experience, none of them are any good, and the fact that you have to actively look for a way to sync your music turns a lot of people off from the idea.
- jamesbritt 16y ago
  "I know many people with Android phones who don't use it for music (myself included) because it is fairly difficult to put music on it." You plug it in into a USB port and drag files over to the mounted drive. Conversely, any app or product that requires me to use iTunes is pretty much out of the running for me because it is too damn annoying to work with.
  - taylorwc 16y ago
    that sound unnecessarily painful. what about the amazon mp3 integration, as well as good syncing through stuff like doubletwist
  - matwood 16y ago
    You plug it in into a USB port and drag files over to the mounted drive. I hope that's not the only way to get music on an Android phone because it sounds like a PITA. I don't want to pick through 30GB of music looking for song files to add to my phone. With the iPhone I have selected some playlists that stay on the phone and are updated anytime I plug the phone back into the computer (also works for movies, books, documents, photos). I never have to think about it beyond adding a song to the playlist. I can also tell iTunes to finish filling the phone with whatever music it thinks I might want. From what I gather it uses play counts and date the music was added the library.
  - kyleslattery 16y ago
    This is just way too complicated for the average user, especially if they're already using iTunes to manage their music (which they probably are). Instead of just plugging in their phone and having it just work, they have to: 1. Plug the phone in 2. Figure out that they have to pull down the notification shade and choose "mount disk" 3. Figure out where iTunes keeps their music files 4. Find the mounted disk on their system 5. Copy over the files
timmins 16y ago
I'm really surprised a couple app titles are missing on this list. Swype? I've heard many iPhone owners wish they could have such a utility on their phone. WinAmp WiFi sync? Wasn't this similar to an app Apple rejected and later popped up on Cydia? I know I've heard a lot of interest when it was submitted to the AppStore. Barcode scanner? I know, I know. Both can do this today, BUT the G1 was capable of barcode scanning as a result of autofocus and preceded the iPhone's ability. Chrome to Phone. Probably classifies as a system enhancement. Same goes for the ability to wipe and restore all over the cloud. Since Gruber disqualified it as part of his article, it doesn't get mentioned but this is huge, IMO. Grooveshark? I'm not taking sides as I own both and appreciate the similarities and differences in both platforms.
akgerber 16y ago
Google Maps bike directions are my killer app.
- nailer 16y ago
  Same here with walking directions. Without street view I found Maps on my iPhone to be nowhere near as good.
  - PCheese 16y ago
    Can you clarify what it is you're missing? Both walking directions and street view work well in Maps on my iPhone.
    - nailer 16y ago
      I like to see the street I'm walking down with an arrow pointing me where I need to go. The iPhone can't do this at present because street view and walking directions are two separate things.
  - pohl 16y ago
    Street view is there in Maps on iOS. There is an icon that looks like a person on the details of any push pin or the current location pointer. Touch it, and you zoom into street view.
    - nailer 16y ago
      See my other comment - street view doesn't exist in directions on iPhone. The Android term for it is 'Navigation' but it amounts to seeing the view you'd see with your eyes, with a fat arrow pointing you where you need to go. It's really useful, especially as I've only lived in London for two years.
ralphc 16y ago
My killer app is a SDK that lets me develop apps for a device I own without having to pay $99 a year to keep them from expiring.
binaryfinery 16y ago
No mate, that's not what he asked. He asked: 3. Third-party apps that are exclusive to Android. And followed it up with this: "At this point, I’m guessing, Android fans are ready to exclaim that the fact that Android supports things like home screen replacements (or other system-level tools, such as touchscreen keyboard replacements) — and that iOS does not — is precisely why they prefer Android, and/or consider iOS to be an unacceptable toy, or what have you. But, again, that’s not the argument I’m making. I’m talking about third-party developer exclusives — and the only ones Android has are ones that Apple doesn’t want." And yet you provided: 4 system enhancements (keyboard, media player, homescreen, email labeller) 4 apps available on the iOS 1 possibly genuinely killer app, but that falls into the geeky automation category
- tomjen3 16y ago
  I fail to see why that matters - a killer app that is exclusive for Android would by definition be one Apple didn't want. What matters is what its users wants, and clearly at least one user wants this app.
Pent 16y ago
well at least I don't have to worry about lusting after the Android, after reading this list...
skawaii 16y ago
I'll leave the debate over what makes a "killer app" to you guys. I just want to thank the OP for his list. I'm really digging 8pen so far. It's changing how I interact with my phone (which, one could argue, deems it "killer").

36 points by mithaler 16y ago

* A redesign of touch-based text input. * A music player with a unique interface. * control Youtube on your computer from across the room * A fork of the stock Android home screen * Automatically do anything in response to anything. * The best todo list. * Get notifications for Gmail labels * Get notifications for Craigslist search terms * Easily track packages This list would appear to prove Gruber's (subtextual) point. Most of these don't seem interesting enough to break into "Featured", "Top Free", or "Top 25" (for utilities) on the app store.

mithaler 16y ago
> Most of these don't seem interesting enough to break into "Featured", "Top Free", or "Top 25" (for utilities) on the app store. Why not? These are high-quality, well-designed apps based on excellent ideas.
- tptacek 16y ago
  Yeah, you might be right. I don't know. My gut is, no. But, for what it's worth, here's the current app store lists: Featured, New: * Apple Remote - control iTunes & such from phone. * Path - the social network. * Airbnb - the iPhone interface to the rental service. * ComicStrip CS - a comic strip creation app. * Edmunds - car ratings. * Pushpin - grocery coupons on your phone (incidentally: what a great idea! Wish I'd thought of this.) Featured, Hot: * Pageonce Bills - track your bills (Comcast, etc) on your phone. * Cinch - an A/V microblogging app. * Steinway Metronome - a metronome. * MotionX GPS Drive - turn-by-turn GPS * Instagram - the very famous photo sharing app Top, Paid * TuneIn Radio - AM/FM from 40,000 stations * Food Network In The Kitchen - iPhone FoodTV recipes * Perfect Photo - photo touchup * Color Splash - another photo manipulation app Top, Free * Google Voice * Doodle Buddy Premium - a drawing app * Facebook * The Find - price comparisons (Top free is just dominated by games). Utilities, Top Paid * Perfect Photo * Skyfire - Flash video browser * Barcode Scanner * Alarm Clock Pro * Splashtop Remote Desktop * Flashlight * Battery Management (BTW, the closest thing I see here to one of those maintenance apps that seems to top the Android list) * Craigslist Pro (our version of that Craigslist notification app) * 5-0 Pro - Police scanner This is today's snapshot. These are not the killer iPhone apps (with the possible exception of Instagram). This is just the noise you'd have to beat with one of those Android apps to have a shot at being an iPhone killer app.
  - mithaler 16y ago
    The only point I really care to make with my list is that Android's app offerings do not lack superb content, no matter how much other catalogs may have. Does Android appear to suffer in comparison to iTunes? Maybe, but that doesn't stop me in any meaningful fashion from finding apps I love on my Droid.
    - tptacek 16y ago
      Then the only point you care to make is orthogonal to Gruber's question. He's asking, where are the apps that: * Are standouts, * Are exclusive to the Android platform, * Have high production values, and * Aren't system enhancements. You're entitled to say "that's a dumb question", but you can't claim to answer the question by rejecting it.
      - mithaler 16y ago
        That's a great point, and it really gets at the heart of the difference in design goals between iOS and Android. 'Course, I would argue that all of the listed apps fit all four of those criteria (even if some of their features exist in other apps on iOS), but I'll admit there's some room for disagreement there. ;)
      - ZeroGravitas 16y ago
        It's not a dumb question, it's a fairly clever attempt at framing. Why should we dignify such a frame by accepting it? The only sensible answer is "I don't care if my apps are platform exclusives" or similar.
- danilocampos 16y ago
  > Why not? Because so many of them are centered around meta tasks (input, controls, notifications). Appealing to nerds, sure, but the power of the App Store is how it provides compelling app experiences for everyone.
  - w-ll 16y ago
    This is my dilemma, I have an app, some say killer app, 'Math Keyboad' but im sure a very little market. I doubt I will ever make a belp, and of course now with the Wolfram App.... sigh.
- masklinn 16y ago
  > Why not? These are high-quality, well-designed apps based on excellent ideas. Well for starters 4 of them are excluded by the original conditions of being acceptable in the appstore. Second, of the remaining 6 some already have better counterparts in the appstore (there are complete top lists devoted to iOS todo apps and the good tends to be really very good) and "well-designed"... well I guess beauty is in the eye of the beholder, but from the screenshots on their respective sites the Craigslist notification app doesn't look very good. As to parcels... http://itunes.apple.com/app/delivery-status-touch/id290986013 http://itunes.apple.com/app/delivery-status-touch/id29098601... copycat much?
flogic 16y ago
Some of these apps imply an Emacs like ability for customization. Considering that touch screens have only recently stopped sucking, I think that's very important. As sexy as the iPhone is, it doesn't have swipe or 8pen. We don't really know what all the optimal touch interfaces look like yet.

henrymazza 16y ago

8pen doesn't seem to be quicker or simpler than a on screen keyboard. Is there any prove that it's worth learning? Why not just put a Shorthand keyboard? At least the method is prove to work!

blub 16y ago

iPhone is - by far - the platform with the most interesting apps. Here's a few things that impressed me: * I have this small "survival tips" paper book written by an ex-SAS guy. Now there's an app for that. * Revolution studios have published their Broken Sword games for iDevices, with UI and audio improvements. * There are paper magazines that ONLY discuss iPhone apps.

ghostDancer 16y ago

This is becoming a religious war like vi/emacs spectrum/c64 , i think that everyone should use the phone that needs or wants. Find the apps you like or need and choose the phone stop talking about it like if it's a matter of life. I think we all know Gruber has embraced the Cupertino church , that's his choice. If you don't like it don't read him, at least when his talking about how good are Apple products and how wise is the word from the prophet Jobs. If someone finds a good app is good to read about it, but to make it a song about how good is a platform i think is childish.

roadnottaken 16y ago
Interesting parallel (vi/emacs). Accordingly, given that people have been arguing about vi vrs. emacs for >30 yrs, I doubt this one is going to be put to rest anytime soon.

vito 16y ago

Parcels seems to be a knock-off of the iOS Delivery Status app, which I use a lot: http://junecloud.com/software/iphone/delivery-status-touch.html http://junecloud.com/software/iphone/delivery-status-touch.h... I've noticed this about the Market - there are a lot of blatant clones of better-executed iOS apps.

jamesbritt 16y ago
"I've noticed this about the Market - there are a lot of blatant clones of better-executed iOS apps." Is this not also true of the Apple app store?
- deleted 16y ago
  [deleted]
- tptacek 16y ago
  No?
- vito 16y ago
  Not from what I've seen. There may be multiple apps for one task, but generally they don't directly copy one another.
  - jamesbritt 16y ago
    Which is pretty much what I've seen on Android. When I go looking for something I find an assorted of apps but rarely are they just bad clones.
borism 16y ago
I don't see a resemblance? Is any app that tracks multiple packages a knock-off? I don't think so. And I've been using original Delivery Status (as an OSX widget) before there even was App Store.
- irons 16y ago
  You don't see a resemblance between two apps that display package tracking details using custom whole-color list backgrounds and identically positioned iconography using similar glyphs? Between this: http://android-apps.com/images/pname/eu.zomtec.android.delivery/image1.png http://android-apps.com/images/pname/eu.zomtec.android.deliv... and this: http://junecloud.com/images/entries/20101010_6613.png http://junecloud.com/images/entries/20101010_6613.png ... you see nothing in common? It's difficult to take your assertion seriously.

random42 16y ago

In response to Gruber's criteria, a much more objective comparison from end-user perspective would be to compare android only apps to iOS only apps, without further restrictions (eg., Who the vendor is or whether app is invalid for comparison, because one platform policy wont allow it.) As a user/buyer, I am only interested in what I can or cannot do with a product, while comparing it with a competing product. Everything else is just details

moultano 16y ago
Every time this comes up, my response is always "Google Navigation." This app is essentially superior in every way to a stand-alone gps device. The only constraint is that you need to have signal when you first request the directions. Aside from that I'd prefer it to any of the in-car systems that typically cost ~$2k. The biggest difference is that it accesses Google's index of places and businesses, and Google's ability to understand whatever mishmash of things I speak or type in.

YooLi 16y ago

None of those are "killer apps" in the classical definition of the phrase. Those are apps that are awesome to you, but not killer apps. People use killer app now to mean any good app, kind of how every model today is a super model if you know their name. Halo was a killer app for xbox 360. People bought xboxes to play halo, hence a killer app. People arent going to buy an android phone to use a music player with a neat cube interface.

nuclear_eclipse 16y ago
I bought an Android phone to use Locale, of which Tasker is highly inspired by.
mithaler 16y ago
That definition assumes that there is such a thing as an "app worth buying a phone for" that holds for a majority of people. That will always vary by person. I've listed killer apps for Android for me; as I said, I can make no claims about killer apps for everyone, nor can you, or for that matter, Gruber. So I guess the term is kind of silly in the first place when applied to third-party mobile app offerings, no?
- weaksauce 16y ago
  The iPhone had a killer app in the full web(minus flash) web browser. No other phone at the time had a web browser anywhere near as good as mobile safari is. That and google maps and mail made a compelling case to buy the phone.
  - Garbage 16y ago
    Did you try Opera Mobile?
  - nailer 16y ago
    > No other phone at the time had a web browser anywhere near as good as mobile safari is. The N95 was out for a year earlier and had a mobile webkit browser and 3G. That said, the 2G iPhone had a larger screen.

kyleslattery 16y ago

To me, the biggest killer app for the iPhone is iTunes integration. I know many people with Android phones who don't use it for music (myself included) because it is fairly difficult to put music on it. And, given the fact that something like 75% of the media player market is iPod, that means that a lot of people have iTunes installed, and getting an iPhone set up is pretty painless. I know there are several music sync apps for Android, but from my experience, none of them are any good, and the fact that you have to actively look for a way to sync your music turns a lot of people off from the idea.

jamesbritt 16y ago
"I know many people with Android phones who don't use it for music (myself included) because it is fairly difficult to put music on it." You plug it in into a USB port and drag files over to the mounted drive. Conversely, any app or product that requires me to use iTunes is pretty much out of the running for me because it is too damn annoying to work with.
- taylorwc 16y ago
  that sound unnecessarily painful. what about the amazon mp3 integration, as well as good syncing through stuff like doubletwist
- matwood 16y ago
  You plug it in into a USB port and drag files over to the mounted drive. I hope that's not the only way to get music on an Android phone because it sounds like a PITA. I don't want to pick through 30GB of music looking for song files to add to my phone. With the iPhone I have selected some playlists that stay on the phone and are updated anytime I plug the phone back into the computer (also works for movies, books, documents, photos). I never have to think about it beyond adding a song to the playlist. I can also tell iTunes to finish filling the phone with whatever music it thinks I might want. From what I gather it uses play counts and date the music was added the library.
- kyleslattery 16y ago
  This is just way too complicated for the average user, especially if they're already using iTunes to manage their music (which they probably are). Instead of just plugging in their phone and having it just work, they have to: 1. Plug the phone in 2. Figure out that they have to pull down the notification shade and choose "mount disk" 3. Figure out where iTunes keeps their music files 4. Find the mounted disk on their system 5. Copy over the files

timmins 16y ago

I'm really surprised a couple app titles are missing on this list. Swype? I've heard many iPhone owners wish they could have such a utility on their phone. WinAmp WiFi sync? Wasn't this similar to an app Apple rejected and later popped up on Cydia? I know I've heard a lot of interest when it was submitted to the AppStore. Barcode scanner? I know, I know. Both can do this today, BUT the G1 was capable of barcode scanning as a result of autofocus and preceded the iPhone's ability. Chrome to Phone. Probably classifies as a system enhancement. Same goes for the ability to wipe and restore all over the cloud. Since Gruber disqualified it as part of his article, it doesn't get mentioned but this is huge, IMO. Grooveshark? I'm not taking sides as I own both and appreciate the similarities and differences in both platforms.

akgerber 16y ago

Google Maps bike directions are my killer app.

nailer 16y ago
Same here with walking directions. Without street view I found Maps on my iPhone to be nowhere near as good.
- PCheese 16y ago
  Can you clarify what it is you're missing? Both walking directions and street view work well in Maps on my iPhone.
  - nailer 16y ago
    I like to see the street I'm walking down with an arrow pointing me where I need to go. The iPhone can't do this at present because street view and walking directions are two separate things.
- pohl 16y ago
  Street view is there in Maps on iOS. There is an icon that looks like a person on the details of any push pin or the current location pointer. Touch it, and you zoom into street view.
  - nailer 16y ago
    See my other comment - street view doesn't exist in directions on iPhone. The Android term for it is 'Navigation' but it amounts to seeing the view you'd see with your eyes, with a fat arrow pointing you where you need to go. It's really useful, especially as I've only lived in London for two years.

ralphc 16y ago

My killer app is a SDK that lets me develop apps for a device I own without having to pay $99 a year to keep them from expiring.

binaryfinery 16y ago

No mate, that's not what he asked. He asked: 3. Third-party apps that are exclusive to Android. And followed it up with this: "At this point, I’m guessing, Android fans are ready to exclaim that the fact that Android supports things like home screen replacements (or other system-level tools, such as touchscreen keyboard replacements) — and that iOS does not — is precisely why they prefer Android, and/or consider iOS to be an unacceptable toy, or what have you. But, again, that’s not the argument I’m making. I’m talking about third-party developer exclusives — and the only ones Android has are ones that Apple doesn’t want." And yet you provided: 4 system enhancements (keyboard, media player, homescreen, email labeller) 4 apps available on the iOS 1 possibly genuinely killer app, but that falls into the geeky automation category

tomjen3 16y ago
I fail to see why that matters - a killer app that is exclusive for Android would by definition be one Apple didn't want. What matters is what its users wants, and clearly at least one user wants this app.

Pent 16y ago

well at least I don't have to worry about lusting after the Android, after reading this list...

skawaii 16y ago

I'll leave the debate over what makes a "killer app" to you guys. I just want to thank the OP for his list. I'm really digging 8pen so far. It's changing how I interact with my phone (which, one could argue, deems it "killer").