David recently posted about some clever iPhone dream apps. As the ranks of existing iPhone applications continues to grow to include games and utilities, what applications are still missing? What iPhone apps do you want to see developers concentrate their efforts on? Native IM or IRC? Trip accounting? GTD management? Let us know in this poll and in the comments. Poll: What iPhone apps are you waiting for?
David recently posted about some clever iPhone dream apps. As the ranks of existing iPhone applications continues to grow to include games and utilities, what applications are still missing? What iPhone apps do you want to see developers concentrate their efforts on? Native IM or IRC? Trip accounting? GTD management? Let us know in this poll and in the comments. 












Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
8-16-2007 @ 6:14PM
required said...
rotary dial
Reply
8-16-2007 @ 6:16PM
Jeremy Bogdan said...
Sling Player!
Reply
8-16-2007 @ 6:25PM
staisey said...
Flash in the web browser! Most important!
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8-16-2007 @ 6:50PM
Adrain said...
Car Fuel/ Mileage and Maintenance Tracking
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8-16-2007 @ 7:26PM
Mystic said...
Wow, this must have been linked to from Digg or some other lame site. Amazing Slingplayer is at the bottom and Skype/internet radio and a bunch of other lame stuff is at the top.
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8-16-2007 @ 8:05PM
Macskeeball said...
Definitely Defrag, or maybe antivirus. ;)
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8-16-2007 @ 8:45PM
CarbonFree said...
One that makes it cheaper.
Reply
8-16-2007 @ 8:46PM
ismism said...
Flash player, text editor, COPY AND PASTE!!!
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8-16-2007 @ 10:18PM
sazdad said...
voice dialing
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8-16-2007 @ 10:41PM
dalasv said...
Flash for real.
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8-16-2007 @ 10:57PM
Shig said...
Ebook readers like ereader, mobipocket, etc. Or better yet, one app to rule them all. That's the one thing I'm holding out for, before trading in my Tungsten.
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8-16-2007 @ 10:59PM
Gregory Pierce said...
iPhone SDK Debugger
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8-16-2007 @ 11:14PM
jamie said...
Hands down -- GMail.
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8-17-2007 @ 12:31AM
babacrash said...
A SIP (best VoIP) application.
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8-17-2007 @ 2:16AM
Ben the Dog said...
One that allows it to be used overseas without roaming :-)
Reply
8-17-2007 @ 4:09AM
Philippe said...
Easy to configure alarm clock that uses MP3 playlists (with random song order support).
And NO, I won't use my MacBook for that because the DVD Drive makes a noticeable hardware sound when it turns on, which makes me wake up BEFORE iTunes starts.
Reply
8-17-2007 @ 1:18PM
aleksandr333 said...
GPS based map navigation with turn-by-turn directions
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8-17-2007 @ 1:27PM
helmysty said...
iPhone Bootcamp for Windows Mobile 5.0..
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8-17-2007 @ 3:18PM
Buck said...
Native widget to control my Yahoo! Fantasy football teams.
Reply
8-18-2007 @ 9:51AM
Stephane said...
This is my first post, so please bear with me here.
I, like many others, love the iPhone and think there is great potential for the device. However, I am also troubled by the lack of native third party applications due to Apple’s locked system. I have seen numerous posts from iPhone users begging to have their favorite Mac widgets ported over to the iPhone. While I think that would be great, I don’t see Apple rushing to do this until they can somehow monetize these widgets. Well yesterday, as I checked out Amazon’s new iPhone-specific web portal, it dawned on me that Apple can create a huge revenue stream by getting into the ad business, while also giving us all the other widgets we love so much.
Imagine the following:
You plug your iPhone into your computer one day and discover a new tab called myMall. Under this tab is a listing of popular retailers, whose online stores you’d like to have synced to your iPhone. Think ‘bookmarked,’ but much better because when you next turn on your iPhone you find a button on the home page called myMall. Clicking it leads to a page similar to the home page, but each new button is a native widget for the retailers you’ve chosen to sync with iTunes. Now, the appeal here is the absolute ease and pleasure in maneuvering these widgets to carry out purchases.
Imagine now that you have chosen to sync the Barnes & Noble widget with your iPhone. Then, one day, you’re sitting on the bus and see someone reading a book you have been meaning to read yourself, but kept on forgetting. Well, instead of making yet another mental note, what if you could do the following:
1. Click on your B&N widget.
2. Type in your search into a VERY simple and elegant page.
3. Have all of your results come up in the Cover Flow format, with only product pictures showing. (let’s face it, Cover Flow is great, but wasted on the iPod).
4. Scroll back and forth through the result and click on a cover to make it flip and reveal product details (synopsis, ratings, review, other formats, etc.)
5. Quickly add items to your shopping cart.
6. Pay for your items using one of the credit cards saved on your iTunes (this is already done with songs so it can’t be that difficult to build on), or enter new credit card information.
7. Have your item(s) shipped to an address that is saved in your iTunes account, or enter a new shipping address.
8. Enter a pin number of sorts to confirm my order and finalize the transaction.
I realize the process listed above ‘appears’ long, but anyone can see that the actual use of this ‘widget’ would be as fluid and simple as the google maps interface that is currently present on the iPhone. Further, with something like this generating revenue for Apple they should have a greater incentive to provide the non-retail-oriented widgets (like AIM, To Do Lists, lyrics search) that we all been clamoring for.
That is the idea, and I would love some feedback from any and all on its feasibility and:
1. How it can be refined.
2. The ideal pricing structure between Apple and the participating retailers.
3. Security issues regarding the storage of private financial data on iTunes, and any holes I'm not thinking of right now.
4. How Apple’s relationship with Google can be utilized here.
5. The potential reaction from ad giants such as Google.
6. Possible legal ramifications.
7. A list of stores that would work well as iPhone widgets. Personally, I would love to have the following store widgets on my iPhone: Barnes & Nobel, eBay, JetBlue, 1800Flowers, Nike, Best Buy, Cirtcuit City, Walmart, Apple Store, Game Stop, Puma, Pottery Barn, Ikea, Amazon, Ticketmaster, Yankees (team specific widgets?), Fandango, Moviefone, Gap (simple retailers, but no giants like Macy’s?), Expedia, Hotels.com, Sephora.
8. Oh yeah, good idea or bad idea?
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