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The cautionary tale of iA Writer Pro
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Posted by Daly de Gagne
Dec 30, 2013 at 01:01 AM
Steve, I think you’ve touched on a real problem with regard to apps and the dumbed down aspect many of them reflect.
I’ve seen many dumbed down or plain dumb apps for Android. Similarly with the weird and wacky world of Windows 8. Some app versions of the software that runs on the desktop are pathetic. I wonder why anyone would want to use the apps in the world of Metro or whatever it’s called (the whole concept was poorly thought out, and poorly designed).
Web sites almost always run better in the browser than they do in an app format whether it’s on Android or Windows. On Android some sites automatically give you the mobile version on the browser, and it’s often very difficult to get back to the desktop version which I find often better on the seven inch Nexus than the mobile site (which is really mean for phones).
My preferred Android browser was Chrome. I found Firefox, Opera and the others weren’t able to do justice to as many sites as Chrome did. However, in the latest Android release the latest Firefox beats Chrome, and it’s “request desktop” setting is better than Chrome’s.
Tablets are great. I love my Nexus. But please developers, spare us the deluge of crappy apps.
Daly
Posted by MadaboutDana
Dec 30, 2013 at 10:36 AM
While I agree with the dumbed-down argument (as a user of apps on Windows, iOS and Android, I’ve experimented with a broad range of less-than-optimal apps), I think it’s easy to confuse this with another, more desirable trend: towards simplicity.
iOS is the environment that really started to nail this. Rather than taking the Windows approach (also, albeit to a lesser extent, characteristic of MacOS), whereby you can choose between up to five different ways of doing the same thing, the constraints of the touch environment obliged Apple and subsequent iOS developers to find a whole new approach based on extreme simplicity. Most actions in iOS can only be done one way - although context menus sometimes increase that to two.
Personally, I think that’s a Good Thing. Especially when the app is capable of unexpectedly sophisticated operations. Simplicity reduces the learning curve, but also challenges app developers to think up really ingenious solutions in order to differentiate themselves from competitors. I have more than 600 apps on iOS and Android (I know: embarrassing); my CRIMPing tendencies are stimulated by my ongoing fascination with the sheer ingenuity displayed by developers.
On the other hand, there’s no question that 80% of those apps are poorly devised, similar or identical to other apps, or too limited to be of real (lasting) value. But the remaining 20% continue to cheer me up!