The Proverbial Good App

A good app can be a blessing. We often install apps and forget about them. There are many reasons that a user forgets about an app. I am writing based on my experience about which qualities I consider are essential for useful apps. A good app can change lives, on the other hand, a forgotten app is just a wasted effort. This writing is based on iOS, but I think this the ideas behind them will work for Android also. I am not writing about good practices that an app developer should follow. It is all about how I perceive a good app. Your mileage may vary, so take it with a grain of salt. A good app supports at least past three version of the OS as well as the latest OS update. Nothing is more frustrating than getting new bugs after an OS update. App developers should make sure that the app works after the OS update.

A good app should be more than a wrapper around HTML

I hate those apps which are just a wrapper around a website. I don’t need to go to the App Store to install them. I have certain expectations from an app. I hate the idea of building an app just because everyone has an app. If your business has a decent website and nothing much to offer for the app experience, I would never install your app. A good app should incorporate the features of the system to make the experience smoother and meaningful for the user. Sometimes a new feature introduced by the OS might be an excellent idea for the app.

A good app can function without the internet.

A good app should not break if the device goes offline. There should be a mechanism to make that experience less painful. For example, if it is a note taking app, it can use the local storage and sync later. If it is a streaming app, it should have a download option or the app can preemptively download while playing. There are so many cases it is possible not to do run the basic functions without an internet connection. A good app should minimize the pain and tries to give a bare minimal functionality to the user.

A good app doesn’t break when an update arrives.

This is quite important to me. If I can’t run an app with my 2– 3-year-old devices, I try to avoid those apps. Developers should keep backward compatibility with at least past three major versions of the operating system. It sounds like a lot, but in my opinion, the mobile ecosystem is mature than the early 2010s.

A good app should utilize Spotlight

There was a time I googled for simple things like weather, unit and currency conversion, etc, but now I do most of these tasks in Spotlight. It is Apple’s super efficient Swiss army knife. Many iOS and macOS users are not even aware of that if an app can utilize spotlight support to make it more visible to the user. For example, when I use a note-taking app, I expect that I can search particular notes using spotlight. By this way, I don’t have to open the app to find a file. If an app can use Spotlight, it becomes my favorite.

A good app should use Siri API

No matter how smart the other smart voice assistants are, Siri is quite useful for my use cases (spell checking, calling someone, setting a timer, set a calendar event, playing music). If an app is built for iOS, I expect it to integrate its feature with Siri if possible. Apple is opening up the App ecosystem, and it is an excellent opportunity for third-party developers. One feature I miss with SJ app (Swedish Railway App) that I can’t ask ant voice assistant about my next train information. I wish SJ could integrate this support to Siri. I tried Google Assistant whether it can answer that, I got disappointed.

A good app only requires location when necessary

I hate those apps which need me to open my location for them even when I don’t use that app all the time. It is okay for some apps to use location information while using that app. But in that case also, I don’t think it is necessary for every app to know my location frequently, it could be event based.

A good app collects as less data as possible

The ugly side of the availability of information is that there are myriads of companies who are waiting to collect your information and sell it to interested parties. A good app takes as less data as possible and it should use that data with a strong code of ethics.

A good app performs fast and feels snappy

If an app is not fast enough, I don’t hesitate to throw it away. No matter how good that app is, I can’t tolerate laggy apps. Being slow is one of the reasons I hate hybrid apps. If it is possible not to show me a splash screen, I would love that, Splash screen serves no functional purpose and sometimes that time is valuable.

A good app should have a browser version

A mobile-only app is a terrible idea. There are times I need to use that service outside of my mobile. Sometimes I do not want to touch my mobile while working. I don’t want to switch to mobile and buy a movie ticket. Apple’s hands-free feature allows me to call and text from my laptop. Same thing I expect from an app on which I rely on a daily basis. Though I am a big fan of Apple ecosystem, I always support open web, and it is mandatory for me to use a service which has a decent web work around too.

A good app should be invisible

I want to use my mobile as less as possible. And a good app should be as less intrusive and attention seeker as possible. I want to use an app when I need it. It is one of the reasons I like Medium app over the Facebook app. The screentime feature is showing some scary insights about my mobile usage. Unobtrusive apps also help me to reduce garbage consumption.