How many apps can you have?

[MacRankin]

Hi, I've just been reading a more or less interesting article regarding both the iPhone / iPod Touch's limitations with regard to both how many apps can be displayed, and the almost impossible ways a developer might hope to have his or her app noticed in a sea of eye-candy, hard to differentiate, uniformity.

Incidentally, I like that app uniformity, but have noticed how unsatisfactorily it is to locate an app that might be of interest, either on an iPod Touch, or on iTunes itself.

There are currently 30,000 apps vying for your eyeball attention. Trouble is, there are only 9 pages on an iPhone. With the default apps already installed, that only allows for another 132, depending on your iPhone model.

It's been said, that this app buying (of free to cheap) is rather addictive. And, because there are so many eye catching, eye-candy apps it's no wonder that 132 apps (for some) may already not be enough. Since the only way to make room for more apps may lead to the deletion of an already paid for app(s). This might be viewed by some, including developers, to be a barrier.

For myself, I've only just recently got into using an iPod Touch, so, there isn't much chance of me losing any sleep over this, just yet.

I thought the article well thought out, and while there maybe a problem easily locating the right app that stands out for your particular needs, I don't think there's much more Apple could have thought up to make these apps any more desirable than they are now on whatever iPod Touch / iPhone you have.

Having said that, it seems that Apple, at the outset, applied the gloss or shine by default, whereas now a developer can 'turn it off'.

This article should also be an eye-opener for any new app developer, as there are hints to how an app can be designed to stand out.

Source: Package Design Magazine

[Raddamant]

I got a Touch just a few days ago. I haven't even browsed apps yet. Can you recommend a couple good free apps? As mentioned, there are so many it's hard to find a place to start looking

[MacRankin]

If you'll be doing any reading, then Stanza comes to mind which is free, and there are free books to be had via its online catalog too, but as for anything else being free and useful, well I haven't really made an effort to notice, just grab, that's all.

I haven't yet filled an entire page, so I don't know whether you'll find my selection of (paid for apps) any use. But for now, I can give you a link that I picked up from that article...

148Apps

So far, these are my favourite apps, then...

Real Racing (Games)
Ballz Pro! (Games)
TVGuide (British TV Guide -- not much good if you're not from the UK)
Mental Case (Flash Cards)
iConcertCal (Music Venues -- based on your location and distance)
Stanza (Book Buying & Collecting from an online catalog)

Erm, that's about it really. I have other apps to use -- when I can stop playing Real Racing, that is!

[Raddamant]

Great, 90 minutes later and I'm only on the third app in your list...

Hey, they have Snood!

[MacRankin]

OMG! What have I done.