Filed under: Apple, iPhone, App Store, iPod touch
Happy 1st Anniversary, App Store!
What a difference a year makes. Apple has a promo on the store (yes, iTunes link ahoy) with their gushing congratulations to themselves and the App Store for the 1-year anniversary of Cupertino's bold experiment. Since the launch one year ago, we've seen over 50,000 apps hit the store (and only a fractional percent are fart apps), dozens of apps rejected for spurious reasons or no reason at all, a couple of apps approved that never should have seen the light of day, and well over a billion downloads. Would McDonald's have grown so fast if they served virtual hamburgers?
In honor of this event I'm sharing a list of the very first apps I put on my secondhand 1st-generation iPhone. Yes, I was a little late to the party (and only signed up with AT&T for the 3GS almost a year later), but then, Apple was a little late to the SDK, weren't they? Remember when web apps were the thing? Yeah, me either.
Share your first app downloads in the comments!
My first apps (some of which are no longer available in the store) on a 1st-gen iPhone:
AOL Radio, BJ Run Lite, BubbleWrap, Cube Runner, Dizzy Bee Free, Evernote, Facebook, Hangman, Hanoi, iChing, Instapaper, iSaber, iTarot, Labyrinth LE, MiGhtyDocs, Moonlight Mahjong, Pandora, Remote, Scribble, Shakespeare, Showtimes, vSnax, Tap Tap Revenge, TicTacToe, Truveo, Twitteriffic, VoiceNotes.
Apps still on my 3GS iPhone today:
AOL Radio, Dizzy Bee (full version), Evernote, Facebook, Hanoi, iSaber, MiGhtyDocs, Pandora, Remote, Twitteriffic.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
THJ said 10:58AM on 7-07-2009
My first apps were AIM, Super Monkey Ball, and Cro-Mag Rally. That took up about 30 minutes. Then I got Lightsaber and was good for like a week.
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Martin said 11:17AM on 7-07-2009
I think they jumped the gun a bit, as the App Store launched 7/11 of last year if I recall correctly. That date stuck in my mind.
My first app was AIM, and I remember being pretty disappointed. After that it got better :)
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Cycomachead said 11:38AM on 7-07-2009
My first apps came June 20 this year! I think it was Tweetdeck, but I now use tweetie.
Anyway, what is the app with the blue icon that says f(x) on it? Next to ToDo and 2 spaces right of the 1. Thanks.
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VanillaSpice said 11:15PM on 7-07-2009
Mathematical Formulas by Antek Szadaj
It looks similar to Formulaic (by Hoy Moon Ltd) but the serif font and the weird kerning on the parentheses give it away as being Mathematical Formulas.
ars_workerbee said 11:54AM on 7-07-2009
My first download was Twitterrific before the official launch when the App Store started working on my phone running pre-release 2.0, followed quickly by Super Monkey Ball.
FWIW, the only app I still use regularly that I bought back in the early days is Zenbe.
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Nick K. said 12:00PM on 7-07-2009
Haha, I actually accessed the App Store before it was officially out, and clicked "buy" on Super Monkey Ball, not believing it would actually purchase... It did, and I was $10 short until I was able to load it onto my phone a day later. 2.0 seemed so great the time on my 2G... I love my 3GS now though :D
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MRCUR said 12:44PM on 7-07-2009
Isn't it "me neither" instead of "either"?
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erikrichterpsi said 12:51PM on 7-07-2009
Anybody else having issues downloading from the App Store. I keep timing out through iTunes and on the iPhone...
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wize100 said 12:58PM on 7-07-2009
Not too many made the keeper list. Those are downloaded 1 year ago and still in use are:
iXpenseIt (using almost daily)
Holdem (on occasion when bored)
Shazam (when need to find out the song title)
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l2234567890 said 1:15PM on 7-07-2009
i remember i was in beijing at the time when the iPhone 3G and App Store were out. people there didn't believe me and were surprised I was able to download apps without Installer (those were the days).
these were the apps I downloaded on launch date:
-AstroTilt (Beijing Subway love)
-BlocksClassic
-Free Translator
-Pandora
-Remote
-Facebook
-Shazam
-Units Convertor (replaced with Units shortly)
-Urbanspoon
-Tap Tap Revenge
-WeDict
With the exception of Units Convertor, they all remain. I find them all to be useful.
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G said 1:29PM on 7-07-2009
We could not complete your iTunes Store request. An unknown error occurred (-4). There was an error in the iTunes Store. Please try again later.
But congrats anyway!
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Mike S. said 4:43PM on 7-07-2009
How dare they include Slingplayer in their birthday graphic. Slingplayer epitomizes everything WRONG with the app store!
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VanillaSpice said 11:43PM on 7-07-2009
The first lot of apps I put on my device were (all free!) - PhoneSaber, Flashlight, Remote, Scribble, Pocketpedia, Bible, iQuran, Google Mobile App, Holy Sword, FiatLux, Dice Bag, myLite, Light, Cube Runner, Break, iPint, Labyrinth Lite, Morocco, Sudoku (Free), and MixMeister Scratch.
Remaining on my device today: Light, Phonesaber (now called Lightsaber), and Remote.
Then I got Crash Bandicoot Nitro Kart 3D for AUD$13 and quickly realised I had to be smarter about which paid apps I paid for. I bought Apple's Texas Hold 'Em for AUD$6 and I am still playing it often now, so that was a good deal.
A couple of hundred dollars worth of App Store apps later (lots of $1 apps, most games on sale, but a few big titles for full price, like the great Sentinel and Sentinel 2 games, SW TFU, Asphalt 4, Lux DLX, and recently, Assassin's Creed) and I can say I am a very happy iPod Touch user and App Store buyer.
I have paid $3 for a coffee that was so disgusting I could not drink it, and I didn't bother asking for a refund. So to be able to get great-quality, moderate-length games for (AUD) $1.20 or $2.50 seems like an incredible bargain to me. Even if I only play the game for five minutes before deciding I don't like it, I think about that $3 undrinkable coffee, and I am not unhappy about the cost.
If there was one title I could hold up as epitomising everything that is good about the App Store, it would be the incomparable Pocket God. I got it at AUD$1.20 and it has been updated more than a dozen times since then, each time with a fun new mini-game to play with your islanders. The continual addition of added value to what was already a bargain makes me feel respected and appreciated by the developers, and makes Pocket God my number one recommendation for every iPod Touch and iPhone owner.
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Henley.Jackson said 5:04AM on 7-08-2009
Thanks for the tips and links. http://www.shopping-batteries.co.uk
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Galley said 9:38AM on 7-08-2009
My first app was MotionX-Poker.
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Nick Ouimet said 8:15PM on 7-08-2009
7/10/2009
AIM free edition- now own the paid version
Remote-from Apple
iBeer
7/12/2008
iPhone 2.0 Software update for iPod touch
Super Monkey Ball- huge let down
iPint
Cro-Mag Rally
eBay
Pandora Radio
CellSpin
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