Friday, July 30, 2010

We've got another App Store for that...

Remember how I said that one of the big reasons why Apple doesn't want to allow Flash to work on the iPhone is because people could deliver app-type content by bypassing Apple's App Store.

Well... it looks like somebody did it anyways, with OpenAppMkt:

http://www.openappmkt.com

It's basically a collection of web-based apps using HTML5... a technology that Jobs and Co. support... but also something that app-style content can be made of.

I tried it out and it's interesting, 1st off when you browse the URL through your iPhone, it asks you to "install" the app which basically adds a bookmark to the website on your homepage. Then for every app (I should say "webapp") you install, it adds an appropriate bookmark to your homepage. So they act just like your other apps (you can even move them into your folders).

The big difference is because they are web-based, you need to have either a cell or WiFi connection but most of the times you do. And of course, depending on your data plan, it will eat bandwidth.

So far I've installed PieGuy (a Pacman clone) and the YouTube webapp (it's exactly like the m.youtube.com one except it hides the URL so it looks more "app" like). In comparison to the native one, the one thing I like is it doesn't force you into landscape mode at the beginning.

Not sure if they will successfully be able to get people to pay for apps that they can find on the web... but the point here is that this is an alternative to Apple's App Store, meaning less restrictions... which could also mean other things.

We'll see how this plays out and if Apple breaks down any doors.

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