Before owning an app-centric smartphone such as the Apple iPhone myself, my thinking has been that apps serve no real purpose – 90% of the purposes fulfilled by these apps exist as free Web applications and services, and app-centric smartphones usually come with capable Web browsers and data flat rate plans. My thinking has changed, however, since using an iPhone: apps have real (or at least, perceived) advantages when compared to Web applications accessed from a smartphone browser:
- User experience perfectly adapted to the phone (e.g. touchscreen interaction)
- Direct access to device “periphery”, e.g. gyroscopic sensor
- Integration with other software, e.g. messaging, contacts
- Own, colorful app icon