iOS App Store & Me

Preamble – After a brief discussion with @BenjaminTseng and @EricSuh over a blog post discussing development on iOS vs Android, it rings clear that both development platforms have their subjective downfalls. The purpose of the discussion was really about whether or not Android Market will be overtaking the iOS App Store based on the arguments made. In the end, I don’t think so. I’m neither an iOS nor Android developer, so take this with a grain of salt, but the general consensus I’m hearing is that the average Android user is less likely to purchase an app than an iOS user.

Having said that, I thought about my own usage of the iOS App Store. Within the account area you can find all your past invoices and purchase history, so I decided to tally it up. My grand purchase total came out to $796.77 since July 10th, 2008. On average that’s approximately $27 per month, or a little under a dollar a day. Not too bad if I say so myself. Also take into account that these include apps for both my iPhone(s) and my iPad–some of which also run on both devices. Honestly, I’ve never really considered how much money I’ve spent on apps but it really doesn’t come as too much of a shock. I admit that many of my purchases were incredibly impulsive and quite frankly stupid, but that goes to show how easy Apple has made the buying process. In the meantime I’d like to think that I’ve learned my lesson from my brief stint of tigger-happy app buying.

~~~ The following is said in jest with a touch of sincerity, but all with 100-percent truth ~~~

So many apps have graced the screens of my iOS devices and helped me along with my daily life. I’d like to give a special shout out to 10 apps that will always hold a special place in my heart:

1. AAA Roadside – For helping me find roadside assistance when I locked myself out of the car without my insurance papers.
2. Bank of America – Mobile Banking – For letting me pay off my credit card while in line at the register saving me from “CARD DECLINED” humiliation.
3. Ebay Mobile – For reminding me when I was about to lose an auction in the middle of watching a movie at the theater.
4. Amazon Mobile – For helping me shop wisely everywhere I go.
5. Skype – For helping me make it to my weekly conference calls with the Xhibitr team when I was out and about with my SoCal friends.
6. Reeder – For helping me keep my cool while waiting so agonizingly painfully at the DMV.
7. Plants vs. Zombies – For entertaining me so many nights while sitting on the throne.
8. Angry Birds – Fore continuing to entertain me on the throne after completing Plants vs. Zombies (both the main game and the mini games)
9. Hulu Plus – For keeping me entertained on the elliptical and motivated to keep going until the episode is over.
10. Keynote Remote – For helping me deliver my first pitch deck, which eventually landed me my current job.

It’s been a quick 30 months since that fateful opening day of the app store.

I’d like to end this post with the initial purchases that started it all for me. Stayin up late that July morning, I updated iTunes, busted out my iPhone and spent my first Hamilton:

Then a few hours later, another Lincoln:

There’s a certain nostalgia looking at those “v1.0” numbers. Never again.

Just iOS App Store & Me.