Weekly App Review #7
Thoughts on new apps I have used for the past week
Mote.io (7.5/10) — I have been waiting to try Mote for awhile and finally got around to it this week and it was amazing. Mote gives you the ability to control various apps on your computer through your phone. It enabled me to control my Spotify playlist while in bed and my computer was in my common room. I cannot say the app is a necessity but it is definitely a neat tool to have in your backpocket (literally). The design of the app is very simple and basic making it easy to understand. Additionally, I was surprised with how quick the computer is able to to pick up on your taps to your iPhone.
Landlord (5/10) — When I heard about Landlord, it immediately reminded me about Turf Geography Club, which shut down last February. I was a very early user of Turf and was obsessed with it. It gamified Foursquare into a monopoly style game and appeared to gain traction early on. However, over time less people used it and the experience on the app became boring without the “competition”. The similar approach that Landlord has taken to Turf has me slightly worried. I believe that there is potential to capitalize on the mayor/owning aspect of a Foursquare venue but I am not sure creating a monopoly style game is the approach to take. I will be interested to see if Landlord may be able to avoid the pitfalls that led to the shut down of Turf.
Firechat (7/10) — Continuing on the Anonymous app train that has been rolling through is Firechat. The app is one of the first iOS 7 apps to use Apple’s Multipeer Connectivity Framework. This enables the app to connect local iPhones to form a local chat network, even if you do not have service or connected to wifi. My first time using Firechat was on the subway, which was extremely cool, even though there wasn’t really anyone on the nearby network.
There is no sign up or sign in as everything is completely anonymous. You just open the app and jump right into conversation using your alias.
I can see Firechat being a very exciting app to use during sporting events, concerts and music festivals when service is awful and you want to chat with those around you. However, at the moment I don’t see a huge need for it that I would use it everyday. The app has been on fire (pun intended) moving up the app store and I am looking forward to seeing the different ways in which people utilize the app. Perhaps there is an everyday use case that I have not thought of.
Cloak (6/10) — Cloak is another app I found using Product Hunt and the concept is fascinating. It is the ultimate guide to avoiding everyone. The app brings you to a map of the locations in which friends in your are located. It uses their Foursquare or Instagram location data to give a nice display of where everyone is. For all those looking to avoid your past boyfriends and girlfriends, Cloak is for you!
