Explain apps to me

[Dick Whitman]

I don't have an iPad or an iPhone, but have been thinking about getting one or the other eventually. Maybe for Christmas.

What are apps? I honestly have no clue, really. I know they are, like, the Internet on steroids. But I don't know what that means in practice.

 

[Batman]

Before the jokes start flying, I'll give a serious answer.
They're basically programs. Things like games, newspaper websites, sports scores, weather ... pretty much anything you can think of.
Some are great (there's all sorts of recipe apps; ESPN's Scorecenter is a must if you're at all into sports; the Weather Channel's got a great one).
Some are fun (I'm playing the hell out of online Scrabble lately).
Some are totally ****ing useless (see the Geico commercial for examples).

Many apps are also free or just a buck or two if cost is a concern. Some will charge you for full or ad-free versions, but also offer demo versions or watered-down versions for free.

 

[Boom_70]

NFL .com is great app. You can get up to date scores / stats and red zone video.

Yahoo Fantasy Football also good is you are fantasy player.

Amazon Cloud app is amazing. You can store all of your music on Amazon cloud and access from app.

 

[Bubbler]

I was a fast, but mostly mediocre mid 80s wingman to James Lofton.

 

[YankeeFan]

**** is clearly auditioning for the Andy Rooney spot on 60 Minutes.

 

[SpeedTchr]

**** is clearly auditioning for the Andy Rooney spot on 60 Minutes.

"Have you ever wondered which one is the 'any key'?"

 

[jr/shotglass]

And then there's Angry Birds.

 

[imjustagirl]

Apps on my Droid phone right now:
Amazon Kindle
Divalicious (a shopping app my friend created, it's AMAZING, ladies)
E! Online
Facebook
Foursquare
Gmail
Groupon
Layar (Awesome to have if you travel a lot)
Mp3 music download
Ringtone Maker
Scoutmob (discounts at restaurants/etc.)
SmokeBreak
StumbleUpon
Team Coco
TMZ

 

[93Devil]

Watered down web sites that fit on your phone.

 

[imjustagirl]

They're not all websites. Jesus.

Layar, for example. you pull it up if you're in an unfamiliar area. You can search for food, or drinks, or movie theaters, or starbucks, or many other things. Then you just hold your phone up, like you're taking a picture, and slowly turn. It will show you on the screen like a radar where the nearest of each is, along with a phone number and address.

 

[Mizzougrad96]

My wife has an app on her phone where she can scan a product's bar code and it instantly tells her what website or store has it for the best price. The thing is freaking amazing...

I have most of the apps that IJAG listed.

Ringtone maker and Ringdroid are amazing.

 

[Boom_70]

My wife has an app on her phone where she can scan a product's bar code and it instantly tells her what website or store has it for the best price. The thing is freaking amazing...

I have most of the apps that IJAG listed.

Ringtone maker and Ringdroid are amazing.

How does Ringtone maker and ringdroid work
what do they do?

 

[93Devil]

They're not all websites. Jesus.

Layar, for example. you pull it up if you're in an unfamiliar area. You can search for food, or drinks, or movie theaters, or starbucks, or many other things. Then you just hold your phone up, like you're taking a picture, and slowly turn. It will show you on the screen like a radar where the nearest of each is, along with a phone number and address.

I like Yelp more.

So explain an app to DW.

Maybe a cross between downloaded software and a website that is easy to use on a Droid or an Iphone?

 

[imjustagirl]

Websites themselves are easy to use on a Droid or an iPhone. Apps have nothing to do with that.

if anything, it's just basically a shortcut for the ones that are websites. Instead of having to type www.tmz.com into my browser, I click on the TMZ app and I'm there.

Does Yelp do a scan for things in the area? If so, I didn't know that. I know you can get reviews on there, but didn't know it had the interactivity of Layar.

 

[93Devil]

Websites themselves are easy to use on a Droid or an iPhone. Apps have nothing to do with that.

if anything, it's just basically a shortcut for the ones that are websites. Instead of having to type www.tmz.com into my browser, I click on the TMZ app and I'm there.

Does Yelp do a scan for things in the area? If so, I didn't know that. I know you can get reviews on there, but didn't know it had the interactivity of Layar.

I know you like Layar, but I tried it and didn't like it.

With Yelp I can do a bunch of filtering. I would give it another look. It seems to work pretty well.

What is the best app for restaurant reviews? Yelp is OK, but not great.

 

[imjustagirl]

I was just saying if it had the scanning capabilities of Layar, I'd take a look.

I use Yelp for restaurant reviews, because I don't really know of anything else. Does Zagat deal with real restaurants, or only hoity-toity ones?

 

[Mizzougrad96]

My wife has an app on her phone where she can scan a product's bar code and it instantly tells her what website or store has it for the best price. The thing is freaking amazing...

I have most of the apps that IJAG listed.

Ringtone maker and Ringdroid are amazing.

How does Ringtone maker and ringdroid work
what do they do?

You take a song off your computer, transfer it to your phone and then clip 15 seconds of it that you can use as a ringtone. It's so easy, even I can do it.

 

[JackReacher]

I've never quite understood the fascination with ringtones. Then again, it tilts me to no end when people let their phone rings for seemingly MINUTES before answering.

 

[Mizzougrad96]

I've never quite understood the fascination with ringtones. Then again, it tilts me to no end when people let their phone rings for seemingly MINUTES before answering.

I like knowing who is calling without having to look at Caller ID. I agree about people letting it go too long. That drives me crazy.

 

[YankeeFan]

They're not all websites. Jesus.

Layar, for example. you pull it up if you're in an unfamiliar area. You can search for food, or drinks, or movie theaters, or starbucks, or many other things. Then you just hold your phone up, like you're taking a picture, and slowly turn. It will show you on the screen like a radar where the nearest of each is, along with a phone number and address.

Yeah, some are just shortcuts to a website, but others, because they use your GPS, give you a much better experience than the actual website.

I'll use OpenTable or Fandango (movie tickets) apps even if I'm sitting in front of my laptop.