The Future of Our Apps
It’s no secret why the App Store was non-existant in iPhone OS 1.0 — Steve Jobs didn’t want 3rd party apps. I wonder, did Steve foresee the world we now live in now? You know, the world where apps are as simple and single purpose as they come.
I hate instagram, snapchat, and every other filter-based insta-whatever app. They just don’t provide value to me. Despite daily encouragement from my sisters, mom and girlfriend — I won’t join. Independently, these apps are useless. So is there any hope for people like me?
Well, yes, I believe so. You see, for every gasbuddy, beer finder, or social voting app, there exists three things: data, users, and some kind of api. In fact, these are the fundamentals that make nearly every app in the App Store.
So, if every utility app in the App Store has an api, data and users — that means every utility is making a one-shot resource, rich with user data, and with the right context, relative information.
Ok, that’s a little vague — let me elaborate.
In the future, I see independent apps getting swallowed by a more relevant, context-tuned operating system, better than any phone or device has ever seen.
You don’t need to touch it, though you can, but really, you just look. It will know that you slept horrible last night, that you forgot to workout, but still took 2,000 steps — “Good Job!” it will notify you. It will know that your friends think your christmas sweater was funnier last year, it will know your friend Daniel is 2 blocks away, and your best bet for breakfast is not in your apartment, but at that new Hawaiian place near work, because you can afford it. Oh, don’t worry, it will also show you directions. Most of all, it will respond to your questions using the apis from millions of utilities, populated by millions of users. Your question will provide the context required to make the data relevant.
I think people like me have nothing to fear. Despite the theme changes, crazy animations, and often uselessness of weird utilities, I believe that one day, there will be some larger system that bundles all these metrics and apps into a blurb that directly answers my question or desire.
Who knows, maybe one day I’ll end up needing snapchat and never even know it.
