Apple puts up iPhone Web app directory

Apple has put together a list of 204 Web-based applications for the iPhone in hopes of giving hacking-averse users some additional options for their phones.

Face-
book's iPhone app

(Credit: Apple)

The list, spotted by Daring Fireball, highlights a Facebook Web app as a "staff pick" by Apple. During Steve Jobs' presentation to Apple's developers in June, he also called out a Facebook application as an example of all the things developers can create without native access to the iPhone.

Roami's iTunes controller

(Credit: Apple)

For most iPhone users, this list will satisfy the itch for additional utilities on their phones. For example, they'll be able to order movie tickets from Fandango, dictate thoughts to be recorded as text via an application called reQall, and remotely control the iTunes library with an iPhone or iPod Touch through the Roami application. But I get the feeling a few were added to pad the list, such as the Tip Calculator for iPhone (which already has a calculator on the home screen); The Wheel, for calculating "a baby's due date and the baby's gestational age anytime during pregnancy," and Coin Flip, which, well, flips a coin.

To be fair, most of the Web applications on the list seem pretty useful. However, it's not the same as having native applications written for the device, which we'll probably see up and running again soon now that the iPhone has been hacked once again. One day, we might do everything through a Web browser, but today is not that day, and the EDGE network is not that network.

[Feedbacker]

EDGE not so bad for iPhone

Granted, it's no broadband. However, most iPhone apps I've <br />used on the EDGE network have not be atrociously slow to use. <br />Is the reason CNET complains all the time about the EDGE <br />network is they lack any sense of patience? It's no 3G, but the <br />WiFi capability provides the bandwidth needed for internet-<br />intensive tasks such as YouTube (which I've been able to stream <br />fine over EDGE as well). I haven't been able to try the Starbucks <br />hotspots to see if they're good for internet as well as for iTunes <br />Wifi, but if that's the case, even more access throughout town.<br /><br />Overall, though EDGE is no 3G, it's still a quite capable cellular <br />network. T-Mobile is taking the right approach with WiFi. 802.11 <br />networks are cheaper and easier to deploy, and make for a more <br />reliable network IMHO, the technology for 3G (in the US, that is) <br />is just not ready for the widespread consumer market I feel, <br />anyhow.

[Tom Krazit]

Switching between Wi-Fi networks not easy

Yes, Wi-Fi is faster than EDGE. But try walking down the street and staying connected to a Wi-Fi hotspot at all times.<br /><br />That's not mobility. That requires a wide-area network like EDGE, HSDPA, or maybe one day Wimax.<br /><br />Also, I'm not sure if you've used a 3G phone before, and this example is a little different, but I remember thinking that Sprint's older CDMA network wasn't so bad, and then being blown away when they rolled out EV-DO. "Not so bad" turns into "bad" once you start using the faster network, just like you'd never go back to dial-up, but back in the day it wasn't so bad.

[rido777]

Have you seen the HOTTIE WEATHER app?

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