1. Andy Wijaya's Avatar
    Most smartphone users download zero apps per month | Digital Trends

    It?s tough out there for app developers. Not only are the various app stores crammed with hundreds of thousands of titles, with new ones pouring in each week, fresh figures released by ComScore show that nearly two-thirds of smartphone owners in the U.S. download zero apps during a typical month.

    Based on the three-month averages calculated by ComScore, 65.5 percent of users didn?t download any apps at all. 8.4 percent of those polled downloaded one app while 8.9 percent downloaded two. Only 2.4 percent of the participants in the survey installed eight apps or more. Overall, just 7 percent of smartphone owners account for nearly half of the download activity.

    Related:�One third of smartphone owners in the U.K. don?t care about apps at all

    It?s not that smartphone owners don?t like apps, but the big names like Facebook and YouTube hoover up a lot of user time and attention. New apps find it difficult to grab the spotlight and persuade users to add a new icon or two to their home screens ? almost all smartphone owners use apps, the ComScore report says, but 42 percent of all app time is spent in the individual?s most-used app.

    Discovering new apps can be a problem for the average user too: Very few new app releases make mainstream news, while the app stores run by Apple, Google and Amazon can be uninspiring to navigate around. It seems as though most of us are sticking with the names and services we know well rather than experimenting with new software on our mobiles.

    If you do want some recommendations for great new apps to try out, we?ve got you covered. Check out our huge round-ups of awesome apps for Android, Android tablets, iPhones and iPads.

    Read more: Most smartphone users download zero apps per month | Digital Trends
    Follow us: @digitaltrends on Twitter | digitaltrendsftw on Facebook

    What do you guys think?
    m1kr0, HedoBum, Shadowyugi and 3 others like this.
    08-24-14 09:45 AM
  2. Banco's Avatar
    As I keep saying, we on here are not in any way shape or form typical of smartphone users. The apps that people go on about endlessly, the functionality...

    The biggest single difference the Amazon deal makes is that the perception changes as a result. It removes a barrier.

    Posted via CB10
    08-24-14 09:48 AM
  3. Troy Tiscareno's Avatar
    How many apps people download per month is not a good way to judge the importance of apps. Most people get a new phone, download all of the apps that they want at once, and then use them, only adding an app occasionally as needed - they aren't trying new apps all the time.

    But that doesn't mean that those apps that they did download aren't important to them, and when an ecosystem is missing many of those apps, people notice and they choose something else.

    I used to install satellite TV service (DirecTV and Dish Network), and while those services offered hundreds of channels, most people typically watched a dozen of them, and sometimes less than that. But here's the thing: at each household, that dozen or so channels that they watched was different than at the next house, or the next. Sometimes, they really only cared about one or two channels, but those channels were super important, and they chose the entire service based on the availability of that one channel. One guy, who lived in a city but was formerly a farmer, only cared about RFD, a farming channel. One lady only cared about her favorite religious channel. Many immigrants only cared about a specific foreign channel. None of those people cared about ABC, CBS, NBC, or Fox - the "Google" and "Facebook" and "Instagram" of TV channels, but they all assumed they were included in their package in case they ever decided to watch something there. And the average TV watcher cared nothing for the channels these folks cared about, and probably hadn't even heard of those channels in many cases, but those channels sold the entire service.

    BB has a global marketshare of 1-2% between BBOS and BB10, when they once owned about half of the smartphone market. The single biggest reason for this massive loss in marketshare? The lack of an ecosystem (of which apps are the biggest part, but not the only part). So, no, I don't think the app situation is overhyped. Every single day, lots consumers, many of them current or former BB users, choose another platform over BB, not because they don't like the hardware or the OS, but because of BB's poor ecosystem. IMO, it's BB's single biggest issue, more important even then their brand image or lack of advertising. Just because it's an extremely difficult problem to solve (and it is) doesn't mean it's any less critical to BB's situation.
    08-24-14 10:34 AM
  4. BroncoVAL's Avatar
    By experience I can say once I introduce someone to BB10 he always loves it!
    The multitasking and openness of BB10 will prevail for some users bored to death by iOS or unsatisfied with Android messiness.
    I experienced that feeling and now I am seeing my relatives going through the same process.


    Posted via CB10
    bungaboy likes this.
    08-24-14 10:37 AM
  5. m1kr0's Avatar
    As long as I can remember the argument that BB 10 can't compete with other platforms, has been ongoing in these forums. The app gap is purportedly the single biggest reason followed by the lack of an ecosystem. This thread reminded me of another thread about 9 months ago upon the release of 10.2.1.1055 (the first OS that allowed direct install of apk files without the need to sideload via PC). I took the time to reread the entire thread again and had a bit of a chuckle at some of the responses. I do agree the app situation is way overrated especially now. I'm not a heavy app user and have deleted a lot of unused or gimmicky apps. I find that my life has not come to an abrupt standstill after the fact and that I can do everything as efficiently as before. Here's the link to the other thread: http://forums.crackberry.com/general...pp-gap-879837/
    And BTW I fully agree with OP: the app situation is emotive, irrational and totally overrated.

    Z10 STL100-1, OS 10.3.0.1052
    bungaboy likes this.
    08-24-14 10:59 AM
  6. canadian nick's Avatar
    Most of the apps I actually used I don't need anymore. BlackBerry 10 is making leaps with every update.
    Flashlight app built in now
    Network usage built in 10.3
    Panorama camera built in 10.3
    Flip to mute/sleep built in 10.3

    For example



    Posted via CB10
    cman5 and bungaboy like this.
    08-24-14 11:08 AM
  7. HedoBum's Avatar
    I've been saying this since BB10 released...there has been no need for a mountain of apps on these phones and the ones people were complaining about not having were so redundant (like instagram) . A bunch of apps that do nothing to promote the functionality of the phone.
    Apps (for the most part) are time wasters and are there solely to dumb down users. While I admit I have installed a number of farts, I've found no need to fill my phone with a bunch of apps I'll never use and there doesn?t seem to be a function I need another app for anymore. Everything is covered by the apps I have and I don't have a great number of apps.


    Posted via CB10
    CDM76 and bungaboy like this.
    08-24-14 11:27 AM
  8. spikesolie's Avatar
    Here's where I stand. BlackBerry needs functionality.. not quantity. 1-2 apps for what they need would be better than a saturated market imo

    From my mobile arsenal..zee z10
    08-24-14 11:31 AM
  9. unbreakablej's Avatar
    I just want every basic functionality built into my phone but I think everyone has that one or two apps they absolutely depend on and which they cnt live without.

    As to the Android app situation on BlackBerry ? , I still dislike them and having more native apps will never be a bad thing.

    Posted via CB10
    cman5 and bungaboy like this.
    08-24-14 11:31 AM
  10. THBW's Avatar
    Yes, These stats are typical. Five years ago, Apps were the way the functionality of the smartphone was extended. This resonated with the buying public and Apple was in the right place at the right time. The truth is, times have moved on and with it the buying public's singular fascination with Apps. Now it is about mobility, IOT and integrated cloud services. As pointed out by an analyst on Bloomsburg yesterday, Apple simply has nothing to offer in this emerging area. He noted that every other company has a real cloud strategy which extends smartphone functionality. Even BlackBerry got a small plug. As he said, the new hardware has appeal and the Apple name has cache but innovation is lacking. It hangs like a lead balloon over Sept launch.

    Technology changes and so do the players.

    Posted via CB10
    BroncoVAL and bungaboy like this.
    08-24-14 11:45 AM
  11. MobileZen's Avatar
    The app situation.. is overhyped-kool-aid-man.jpg

    Posted via CB10
    08-24-14 11:48 AM
  12. nabil114's Avatar
    It is a good article.
    08-24-14 12:46 PM
  13. MmmHmm's Avatar
    I disagree. Take a look at Apple's numbers:

    Apple - Press Info - App Store Sales Top $10 Billion in 2013

    Last year, people spent over $10 billion in Apple's App Store, including $1 Billion in December alone. People are spending lots and lots of money on apps. An individual developer with a random app may or may not make much money, but overall, consumers do spend a lot on apps. I'm not sure how much money apps make in the Android ecosystem, but I'd guess it's similarly impressive. Also, keep in mind, this is the amount people have spend on paid apps. If you throw in all the free apps (many of the most popular apps like Facebook and Instagram are free), wow, people apparently like their apps.
    jmaxim917 likes this.
    08-24-14 12:47 PM
  14. Tre Lawrence's Avatar
    Nah.

    Apps extend functionality. It's a simple concept. Even Instagram. If it helps one person network with others, or can be used as a business tool, it is valuable.

    I review apps for a living, and in the last year, I've only added one app to my personal Android device. Whenever I've changed devices, I just transfer the same apps I've been using for years. I consider only two or three of them to be anchor apps, but they prevent me from using my BB device as my daily driver.
    08-24-14 01:32 PM
  15. Andy Wijaya's Avatar
    Hmm. Interestingly, there was a related article on the web page, that stated people in UK don't care about applications at all!

    http://www.digitaltrends.com/mobile/...-apps/#!bJqIU5
    bungaboy likes this.
    08-24-14 02:32 PM
  16. Andy Wijaya's Avatar
    I disagree. Take a look at Apple's numbers:

    Apple - Press Info - App Store Sales Top $10 Billion in 2013

    Last year, people spent over $10 billion in Apple's App Store, including $1 Billion in December alone. People are spending lots and lots of money on apps. An individual developer with a random app may or may not make much money, but overall, consumers do spend a lot on apps. I'm not sure how much money apps make in the Android ecosystem, but I'd guess it's similarly impressive. Also, keep in mind, this is the amount people have spend on paid apps. If you throw in all the free apps (many of the most popular apps like Facebook and Instagram are free), wow, people apparently like their apps.
    That was true. But they said that this year, the apps that people downloaded were decreasing.
    08-24-14 02:34 PM
  17. Andy Wijaya's Avatar
    Here's where I stand. BlackBerry needs functionality.. not quantity. 1-2 apps for what they need would be better than a saturated market imo

    From my mobile arsenal..zee z10
    That I also agree. Maybe BlackBerry need to give incentives to certain app developers to create some essential apps, that people need the most.
    08-24-14 02:38 PM
  18. Andy Wijaya's Avatar
    How many apps people download per month is not a good way to judge the importance of apps. Most people get a new phone, download all of the apps that they want at once, and then use them, only adding an app occasionally as needed - they aren't trying new apps all the time.

    But that doesn't mean that those apps that they did download aren't important to them, and when an ecosystem is missing many of those apps, people notice and they choose something else.

    I used to install satellite TV service (DirecTV and Dish Network), and while those services offered hundreds of channels, most people typically watched a dozen of them, and sometimes less than that. But here's the thing: at each household, that dozen or so channels that they watched was different than at the next house, or the next. Sometimes, they really only cared about one or two channels, but those channels were super important, and they chose the entire service based on the availability of that one channel. One guy, who lived in a city but was formerly a farmer, only cared about RFD, a farming channel. One lady only cared about her favorite religious channel. Many immigrants only cared about a specific foreign channel. None of those people cared about ABC, CBS, NBC, or Fox - the "Google" and "Facebook" and "Instagram" of TV channels, but they all assumed they were included in their package in case they ever decided to watch something there. And the average TV watcher cared nothing for the channels these folks cared about, and probably hadn't even heard of those channels in many cases, but those channels sold the entire service.

    BB has a global marketshare of 1-2% between BBOS and BB10, when they once owned about half of the smartphone market. The single biggest reason for this massive loss in marketshare? The lack of an ecosystem (of which apps are the biggest part, but not the only part). So, no, I don't think the app situation is overhyped. Every single day, lots consumers, many of them current or former BB users, choose another platform over BB, not because they don't like the hardware or the OS, but because of BB's poor ecosystem. IMO, it's BB's single biggest issue, more important even then their brand image or lack of advertising. Just because it's an extremely difficult problem to solve (and it is) doesn't mean it's any less critical to BB's situation.
    Maybe people just need some realization that they don't need apps that much?

    I also in need of a certain app that isn't available in BlackBerry World, Medscape that is, but it didn't discourage me to choose BlackBerry 10.
    cman5 and bungaboy like this.
    08-24-14 02:46 PM
  19. AlaJack's Avatar
    It's not overhyped. Android and Apple devices have apps which control home security systems, car electronics, smart appliances, banking and insurance, school and university transactions... the list goes on. BlackBerry is useless in this department. The only people to whom it's overhyped is diehard BlackBerry users.

    I love my Z10, but I'm not blind to its very limited capabilities vs apple and androids. BlackBerry 10 with the capabilities of apple and android, and you'd have the perfect device IMHO.

    Posted via CB10
    08-24-14 03:22 PM
  20. crackbrry fan's Avatar
    Click image for larger version. 

Name:	Kool-aid-man.jpg 
Views:	1579 
Size:	13.9 KB 
ID:	293133

    Posted via CB10
    Oh Yeah! Bringing you a whole lotta fun! :-)

    Posted via CB10
    MobileZen and bungaboy like this.
    08-24-14 03:33 PM
  21. donnation's Avatar
    I don't get it. If the claim that people aren't buying BB10 phones is because of apps that they don't ever need, use, or apparently want then why is the complaint that the platform doesn't have any apps?
    08-24-14 04:16 PM
  22. m1kr0's Avatar
    It's not overhyped. Android and Apple devices have apps which control home security systems, car electronics, smart appliances, banking and insurance, school and university transactions... the list goes on. BlackBerry is useless in this department. The only people to whom it's overhyped is diehard BlackBerry users.

    I love my Z10, but I'm not blind to its very limited capabilities vs apple and androids. BlackBerry 10 with the capabilities of apple and android, and you'd have the perfect device IMHO.

    Posted via CB10
    Perhaps true for you but not universally applicable. Home automatization is one of the things that does not influence smartphone purchasing decisions in the rest of the world. First world issue only? Africa, India or the Far East are not so sensitive about this (at least for now). In several years time, this may change. Same for car electronics and the rest on your list. What I see from BlackBerry is a strong drive to own the IOT sphere and to rectify this deficiency.

    Z10 STL100-1, OS 10.3.0.1052
    cman5 likes this.
    08-24-14 04:23 PM
  23. collinc93's Avatar
    It's not overhyped. Android and Apple devices have apps which control home security systems, car electronics, smart appliances, banking and insurance, school and university transactions... the list goes on. BlackBerry is useless in this department. The only people to whom it's overhyped is diehard BlackBerry users.

    I love my Z10, but I'm not blind to its very limited capabilities vs apple and androids. BlackBerry 10 with the capabilities of apple and android, and you'd have the perfect device IMHO.

    Posted via CB10
    I am sure you mean the capabilities of the apps....but I am just here nitpicking
    08-24-14 04:25 PM
  24. AlaJack's Avatar
    Perhaps true for you but not universally applicable. Home automatization is one of the things that does not influence smartphone purchasing decisions in the rest of the world. First world issue only? Africa, India or the Far East are not so sensitive about this (at least for now). In several years time, this may change. Same for car electronics and the rest on your list. What I see from BlackBerry is a strong drive to own the IOT sphere and to rectify this deficiency.

    Z10 STL100-1, OS 10.3.0.1052
    It just so happens I live on the first world. Home automation apps are just the tip of the iceberg. For BlackBerry to claim their such a "business oriented " device, it lacks crucial everyday business capabilities. Such as the ability to photograph and deposit a paycheck straight into my bank account. Or having a simple insurance app with all my data stored right on my phone. And home automation isn't something "of the future". It's here now, and BlackBerry lacks basic functionality for it. And it's not even close.

    Posted via CB10
    JeepBB and jmaxim917 like this.
    08-24-14 04:37 PM
  25. crackbrry fan's Avatar
    It just so happens I live on the first world. Home automation apps are just the tip of the iceberg. For BlackBerry to claim their such a "business oriented " device, it lacks crucial everyday business capabilities. Such as the ability to photograph and deposit a paycheck straight into my bank account. Or having a simple insurance app with all my data stored right on my phone. And home automation isn't something "of the future". It's here now, and BlackBerry lacks basic functionality for it. And it's not even close.

    Posted via CB10
    Have you not learned about the snap to deposit hack? The" need" for this ,for me isn't that great.

    Posted via CB10
    08-24-14 04:50 PM
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