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Comment by YooLi | Hacker News Reader

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.

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I agree. There are four killer apps to date, and they exist on all the big players: 1) Web browser 2) Email client 3) GPS/Navi 4) SMS

There is no application I've never heard anyone, other than a Gruber/Scoble like geek saying, "I need to buy an iPhone because of this app". In fact, ask someone who does NOT own an iPhone to name one iPhone application. Just one. Any one will do. I bet most of the time the answer will be a blank stare. If you're lucky you might get "there's Facebook, right?". And maybe if they're a gamer you'll get "Angry Birds" or "Doodle Jump".

The notion of a killer app for phones is a dead notion. People have a need for phones first. Then they decide which one to get. They are NOT looking at apps and deciding that since app X is on iOS that they'll buy a smartphone or an iPhone.

No-strings attached free wireless tethering is a killer app. I expect more than one Android+US Carrier to have it before AT&T+iPhone does.

Doesn't Nexus One TMo already have it? Well not completely free... you do have to have a phone plan.

That's why I qualified with more than one. The Nexus One is an unsubsidized model that the carriers effectively fought and T-Mobile tries to make up for having terrible coverage by doing the technical side correctly. Specifically, I'm saying Verizon or Sprint with Android will drop the additional monthly fee (like Verizon used to push on their navigator service) before AT&T does for iPhone.

By that definition, the killer apps for me are keyboard replacements, home screen replacements, flash enabled web browsers and the Android OS itself which allows me to modify/replace stock functionality. That freedom to do what >I< want to do with my device is the reason I went with Android.

This is an interesting point that makes me wonder if there is an age divide for this.

I used to want to replace/modify/customize my personal user experience, and now that I'm older, I prefer the more closed model that Apple provides because frankly, I just don't care about spending time on those things any more.

Procrastination inducing apps and hobbyist tinkering apps, that is, as opposed to actual apps and games.

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?

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.

> 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.

Was it multitouch screen? The integration of multitouch + the web was pretty amazing and I would consider it a killer app over the arrow based web browsing that came before the iPhone. Full web + multitouch(zooming and selection of links are amazing) + high DPI screen + large enough to get things done without being too big to fit in a pocket == killer app.

When I say that there wasn't a competitor that was close I mean in total experience not just having the web. In my opinion all the little things matter immensely.

Yeah, I think you've got it, the multitouch vs pan-and-zoom pretty much made it. Pity Nokia got so close but fudged it.

Did you try Opera Mobile?

I bought an Android phone to use Locale, of which Tasker is highly inspired by.

killer app != favorite app. And Android doesn't need a killer app at this point.

> Halo was a killer app for xbox 360. People bought xboxes to play halo, hence a killer app.

Really? Halo was well marketed by Microsoft as a leader game that ran on Xbox, but it was fairly average as an FPS - do you have a ref for this?

I thought that was common knowledge. First party/exclusive titles for gaming consoles are usually killer apps. People buy Playstations to play Gran Turismo and Metal Gear Solid, and people buy Nintendos to play Mario and Zelda.

My son wanted an Xbox just to play Halo, so that's one.

Of course, the Xbox has since died and we get along just fine with a PS3.

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