Serious iPhone applications for the SDK in January

appleeinsteinappleeinstein
Posted:
in iPhone edited January 2014
What kind of third party applications would you like to see on the iPhone?



We are talking primarily about three kinds of applications:
  • Plugins for existing .app programs like:
    • Flash for Safari

    • Lyrics for iPod

    • Search by name for Phone

    • Color-coding for iCal


  • Small web-app style widgets that are downloaded and run natively like:
    • Tip calculator

    • Sudoku

    • Ski slope status widget

    • Listen-to-outside-music and determine artist/song title (like they have on the LG Chocolate)

    • Wikipedia editing widget


  • Full native .app programs like:
    • OpenOffice

    • Video games

    • ScratchPad/PaintShop for image editing or from-scratch image creation

    • Third party iChat with red notification bubbles like SMS


What types of third party applications do you want? I'm assuming that there will be some kind of basic file system....



Please note: I'm not talking about cut-and-paste or video recording (that's for iPhone 1.2.0 and 1.5.0, respectively) and I'm definitely not talking about "oh plz plz plz i wanna hav 3g an GPS soooo baaad cantheymakeit???!!!???!!" Seriously. If your life sucks that bad, go buy an EeePC and use it as a coffee coaster. And please don't post someone else's entire set of ideas and say "omg omg that would be sooo roxxor awsum i hope i hope i hope they du it!!!"



Of course, there is always the possibility that full .app programs won't be allowed and neither will plugins, in which case we will be left with only widgets. Which would suck, but I'm sure some people would create some pretty awesome widgets.



Somehow I doubt that Jobs will sell third party apps through iTunes (after all, they are third party; they aren't his to sell and few developers would allow him to profit off of their code), but he might make the approved ones available through iTunes. How do you want applications to be available? Download-and-install-via-iTunes is the most secure, and it's easy, but .dmg style installs would allow the most freedom. Of course, with great freedom comes great responsiblity - and great malware.



Ideas?

Comments

  • Reply 1 of 10
    datamodeldatamodel Posts: 126member
    Native apps:



    iPhoneSaber (of course)

    iGTD

    ssh client

    VNC client

    IP scanners, stumblers and the like

    Photo Booth (silly, but fun and hopefully easy, for some effects)

    IM clients (iChat, most likely)

    Delicious Library (syncing to the Mac version)

    Google Earth (if the 3D is up to it)

    Omnigraffle/plan - with a pocket-sized interfaces



    On the far-out end it might be possible to do something innovative as a Second Life client, needing a whole new UI), and for the 2010 iPhone VMWare Fusion or Parallels.



    Cheers all,



    Martin.
  • Reply 2 of 10
    tednditedndi Posts: 1,921member
    a voip app
  • Reply 3 of 10
    hyteprosectorhyteprosector Posts: 180member
    mmm ... like a check registry app. everyone uses their debit cards now instead of checks. But a lot of people don't keep track of their spending through their check registry. I say iPhone would be great for this. No need to put your account number on there (security reasons) just have a simple app. that keeps track of everything. Maybe something that syncs with Quickbooks? ... mmm now that sounds real good.



    Also, I don't know if its on there already or not, but I would like to keep track of my minutes/texts though an app. on iPhone.
  • Reply 4 of 10
    gongon Posts: 2,437member
    I want call recording, voice recording, video recording, common local file storage accessible from 3rd party apps, and a Terminal capable enough that it can be furnished with the usual amenities like editors and SSH.



    IM and Internet voice/video chats will be a matter of course if Apple were to allow the above.



    Prediction: what they'll release is anemic native "app" widgets that have improved access to graphics so that people can make some lolololgames. There will be some limited access to the phone's databases. Widget signing will be mandatory and controlled by Apple in various ways. You won't be able to create and sign a widget on your own that uses the new features and release it for public consumption. Most of my wishlist will be off limits to 3rd parties.



    Might sound a little pessimistic but it's in line with what they have done before.
  • Reply 5 of 10
    wizard69wizard69 Posts: 13,377member
    Like many here I'm concerned with what Apple really releases. I'm afraid it will be to restrictive for my tastes. Besides the limited space for installation of programs and data on an 8GB iPhone this is a issue that keeps me from buying the unit.



    In any event on the off chance that the iPhone is indeed freed up I offer up these ideas:



    1,

    Bullet drop/ballistics calculator. This should at least handle 223, 308, 338 Lupua and 50 cal. Put this up on iTunes and you could make a nice little bundle of cash.



    2.

    Guitar or instrument tuner.



    3.

    A much better calculator. Ideally a full RPN based scientific and programming calculator.



    4.

    Someone above mentioned a simple check book logger. I'd like to second that. The trick here is to not go over board as the original poster indicated. It is pretty amazing how something that should be simple gets screwed up by the urge to "innovate". This would be another good $5.00 download from iTunes if someone wanted to make easy cash. GPL'ing it would be nice too.



    5.

    A terminal emulator for connection to RS232 devices over Bluetooth. This would be just the nuts but Apple has to get off their dead horse and implement the rest of the OS. As a side note many ideas are dependent on Apple cleaning up and finishing off Bluetooth. It is another issue that has me waiting for the next OS release.



    6.

    Python! Python fully integrated with the OS libraries.



    7.

    A programmers editor that does text highlighting. Frankly a port of one or more existing editors would be fine.



    8.

    Something like Hypercard but designed for the small screen and finger operation simplicity.



    9.

    Sound recording that can be synced with note taking.



    10.

    A programming environment that would allow one to build simple MMI's for connecting to PLC's. More for maintenance access to the device than anything.



    11.

    Software to allow the connection to the numerous shortwave radios that allow programming from external devices. Basically a GUI radio front panel.



    12.

    Firefox and Thunderbird. Yeah I know not enough RAM but we will hopefully have new devices in the near future that solve that problem. Especially Thunderbird, to me it is a better E-Mail client than what is on the machine now. Can't say that about Firefox.



    ************************************************** ****



    There you go an even dozen and I didn't even break a sweat. There are a huge number of possibilities here that would work well on a portable pocketable computer with limited resources. If enough people chime in we could end up with a huge number of desirable apps.



    The whole problem now is waiting to find out how restrictive Apple will be with the SDK. I'm not so much worried about what we can access but what and how we can distribute. Some of the ideas above could be sold at a profit but are often shareware/freeware. The key is that it doesn't take a complex program to make the iPhone more useful.



    Dave
  • Reply 6 of 10
    pronto138pronto138 Posts: 6member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by appleeinstein View Post


    "oh plz plz plz i wanna hav 3g an GPS soooo baaad cantheymakeit???!!!???!!" Seriously.



    So, without any disrespect, I don't understand what would prevent a GPS dongle from being developed, if in fact, there is an SDK published by apple.



    I don't see this as a particularly offensive idea and, generally, would see that as extremely useful functionality. Not to mention that it would save me from having to purchase another $300.00 piece of hardware.



    I understand the battery life implications but, as an accessory -- 3rd party -- to the iPhone, consumers could do their own cost benefit analysis of functionality vs. battery life. Additionally, it could be removed when not needed giving a user the best of both worlds.



    If someone has a better understanding of iPhone development, I would be happy to hear why this wouldn't be possible.
  • Reply 7 of 10
    appleeinsteinappleeinstein Posts: 94member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by pronto138 View Post


    So, without any disrespect, I don't understand what would prevent a GPS dongle from being developed, if in fact, there is an SDK published by apple.



    I don't see this as a particularly offensive idea and, generally, would see that as extremely useful functionality. Not to mention that it would save me from having to purchase another $300.00 piece of hardware.



    I understand the battery life implications but, as an accessory -- 3rd party -- to the iPhone, consumers could do their own cost benefit analysis of functionality vs. battery life. Additionally, it could be removed when not needed giving a user the best of both worlds.



    If someone has a better understanding of iPhone development, I would be happy to hear why this wouldn't be possible.



    Lol. I wasn't referring to a serious application of GPS, but rather people who think an "SDK" means that the iPhone will suddenly be able to function as a phone, computer, and personal valet combined into one.



    The idea for a GPS dongle is great - I would love to see something like that. Actually, here's an idea: have various "extenders" that plug into the dock component on the bottom and basically extend the iPhone's length by half an inch or so. They would probably need to have a replacement dock component on the bottom (for charging in the car, etc.), and they could have slots at the top to allow sound through. People could purchase various "extenders" for various things; fm tuner, fm broadcaster (for using the car radio as a speaker), GPS, or mobile broadband card; some vendors would probably compete to see how many things they could combine in one unit. Naturally they would have some that were just batteries. That could be done without any SDK.
  • Reply 8 of 10
    walter slocombewalter slocombe Posts: 1,568member
    less OMG and more FFS someone!



    but please lets have landscape keyboard input on notes (and any other app) if it takes a 3rd party to bring that to the table then so be it.



    I voted 1 on the list but feel it will be a combination of 1 and 2. as in iTunes U and Podcasts are "free"



    {why is safari telling me podcast is a misspelt word?}
  • Reply 9 of 10
    aegisdesignaegisdesign Posts: 2,914member
    I'll add (to the ones above) the apps I've got on my 3 year old P910i...



    TomTom Mobile (needs Apple to add full Bluetooth support for serial devices, OBEX etc)



    HandySafe (or a mobile version of Keychain)



    A task/todo list



    QuickOffice (mini office suite that you can edit in, not just view)



    Gizmo5 (voip and IM)



    Salling Clicker



    ScummVM and MAME



    Sound recorder



    Video recorder



    PDF Reader



    Bluetooth/wifi printing support



    Bluetooth keyboard support



    Bluetooth/USB modem support





    Some of those are things only Apple can do but most are 3rd party.
  • Reply 10 of 10
    mellomello Posts: 555member
    A version of the SCUMM VM Engine would be nice. Here's a story from Gizmodo about it being hacked to work on an iPhone:



    http://gizmodo.com/gadgets/iphone-ga...ect-326257.php



    I wouldn't mind being able to download "Day of the Tentacle" or "Indiana Jones & the Fate of Atlantis" through iTunes.



    Those Lucasart Games would be perfect for the iPhone since they're all point n' click games.
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