On Internet Business

Which is the best mobile app store?

Posted by Michael under Uncategorized

Apps, or applications, for mobiles are a fast growing market – the paid-for apps market includes a vast range of services from maps, recipes, clothing size convertors and train times to complex games and powerful business applications. Although iPhone is currently seen as king of apps, there are apps stores for most mobile phones and a range of apps from free, widely applicable apps made on standard shareware through to paid-for apps system-built for a specific phone.

 
Apple

Launched July 2008

Total apps on offer - 122 featured apps but thousands more to be found via search.

At the top level, the apps are divided into ‘feature’ categories like ‘going out’ ‘Moms and Dads’ ‘cooks’. There’s some overlap in categories, so you might find what you want in ‘keeping current’ which has a stock market tracker and rather than ‘work’ which has a call maker ‘idialUdrive’ which seems as useful for recreation as for work. Then there’s a separate dedicated site: Apps for Enterprise &Small Business which contains thousands of business applications.

Very easy to use, in fact it’s almost to easy to download an app! Double-click by mistake and you’re into download mode …

Crisp, well-sized images and bite-sized information make this site a pleasure to browse, and because there’s no issue with compatibility (apps for Apple’s iPhone only) the navigation is clean and swift.
 

Nokia

Launched May 2009

Total apps on offer: over 2000

Offers star ratings for apps and a simple search system but the boxy little images to accompany each app are not as enticing as the Apple site images.  Displaying in list form improves the appearance of this site.

It’s well worth checking out reviews of any apps here as several listed on the site have such awful reports on the app as to make you run away screaming!

Android

 

Total apps on offer: several hundred, many more free than paid for

Hmmm – no search function. When you hover over an app the full information appears above it, but without either a search function or a way of seeing reviews or how other people have rated the app, you’re buying blind. Nice range of free apps as well as paid for ones, though.
 

Blackberry

Launched April 2009

Total apps on offer: thousands

Really good categories, although there’s some blurring around business and finance, for example. Then there’s a series of sort functions, by popularity and price, that really allow you to refine your search. Massive amounts of text information and screenshots make this the site that gives most information before purchase, but actually, it’s a bit difficult to read through and a simpler system with key features and larger text size would make it more pleasant to browse.
 

Getjar

Total apps on offer: thousands

Surprisingly appealing site, with a good range of apps, although all the business ones are listed under ‘productivity’.  Has a star rating system backed up by a vast number of reviews, making this perhaps the most user-fed site of them all. Not a place for the serious business user but definitely worth browsing for more lightweight apps.

No related posts.

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.