New in the App Catalog for 09 December 2009 48
by Derek Kessler
Thu, 10 Dec 2009 2:29 pm EST
Thu, 10 Dec 2009 2:29 pm EST 
If there’s something that’s gone relatively unnoticed, it’s the pace at which Palm has been releasing new apps. Most every day between one or two dozen apps land in the App Catalog, sometimes more. It’s clear that there are a lot of developers out there, especially given the size of the webOS user base. In this day and age it takes apps to make a smartphone platform happen, and right now this platform is happening. Surprise of surprises, it’s a long list of new and updated apps, so you can find it all after the break.
New apps:
- CommuterComputer, $0.99, by The Software Foundry: Commuter train station app.
- Edgar Allen Poe, $1.99, by Dijit: Listen to audio books of Poe’s best works.
- Etsy Browser, $0.99, by Jiyer: Browse the handmade wares of Etsy.com right from your webOS phone.
- EZ Calc, $1.99, by App-Mobile: Tip calculator, unit converter, and standard calculator all rolled into one.
- Fortune Clock - Get Lucky time, $0.99, by Impetus Technologies: Us the Vedic Astrology Choghadiya system to get your timing right.
- Genaro Nunez, $0.99, by Dijit: Recording of Banda Taurina under the baton of Genaro Nunez in the middle of a live bullfight.
- m:Racing, Free, by Moblyng: Racing-themed MMO game.
- MobiCards Christmas, $1.49, by MobiChimp: Send holiday greetings to friends and family via MMS or Email.
- Music Wish List, Free, by JLP Tech.com: Keep track of songs and albums you want to get.
- Pink Pad (Period Calendar), $4.99, by Alt12 Apps: Track your menstrual cycle and calculate future dates.
- Plato Quotes, Free, by Brighthouse Labs: Revel in the wisdom of Plato.
- Rockus Holdem Calculator, $1.99, by Rockus Studios: Calculate the odds of getting a good hand in Texas Hold’em.
- Sexy Heels, $0.99, by Dijit: Get photos of sexy heels for your wallpaper.
- Shopping List, $1.99, by Mojo Apps: Easily create and manage shopping lists.
- SimonSays, $1.49, by d0lph1nK1ng Software: Echo the pattern of lights on the screen.
- Socrates Quotes, $1.99, by Brighthouse Labs: Read up on the words of the ancient Greek philosopher.
- SoundCannon Soundboard, $1.99, by CTL Advance CSAT: Soundboard with 25 different sound effects from cows to gears to gongs.
- Super Paint, $1.99, by Xivix Software Solutions: Draw and paint on a blank canvas or on your own images.
- Ted Kennedy Quotes, $1.99, by Brighthouse Labs: Check up on the quotes of the late Senator Kennedy.
- The Platters, $0.99, by Dijit: Check out the hits of the classic Motor City band The Platters.
- Tic Tac Toe Relax, $0.99, by XIMAD: Tic tac toe with 3x3 and 6x6 board options.
- Worldwide Translator Light, Free, by SmartMobileSoftware: Free version of translator app.
- Worldwide Translator, $2.99, by SmartMobileSoftware: Translate between the more than a dozen of the world’s languages.
Update apps:
- AccuRadio, Free
- Calculator, $1.49
- Checkbook, $1.99
- ClickIt!, $0.99
- Express Horoscopes, Free
- findMYcar, $2.00
- M:Racing 40 Respect Points, $4.99
- MemoryUpgrade, $2.99
- Parking Place, $0.99
- photoWALL, Free
- Popelli Reader, $4.99
- Soccer Shots, $2.99
- Sunrise Sunset!, $0.99
- TechTray, $0.99
- The Missing Sync, Free
- Topple Ball Mini, Free
48 Comments
Wow. My bet, 1000 apps before 2010.
Is there any app for blocking a phone number?
Assuming you have Sprint, you can block text messages from a number by sending "Block (number here)" to 9999.
I'm not entirely sure if you can block numbers entirely though, and I haven't seen an app that specifically does this.
The only thing close is the Call Block/Rejecter patch that I installed via preware.
"This will auto reject any call friom a number listed for the contqact name 'Do Not Answer' (no quotes though). The call will still show up in the call history, but no notification will happen."
I'm still waiting for someone to create a boxing timer app. These apps, I agree have been useless to the average pre owner..in my opinion.
arrrggghhhh no paid apps in the great white north...
It's really sad and a shame that regardless of how many they release most of us have reached our App limit. Here's hoping that this update comes out soon.
And hoping anyone outside the USA can actually get these.
This is pathetic. A whole bunch of the same junk apps we've seen before. How many language translators and unit conversion apps do we really need? $.99 to browse a handmade crafts site? $1.99 to get quotes from Ted Kennedy? $.99 to play tic tac toe? Are you kidding me? Not to bad mouth any of these developers, but these are really weak.
Palm needs to get some big players involved like Gameloft and EA and they need to do it yesterday. I hate impressing my iPhone buddies with amazing multitasking and when they ask what apps I can get the only answer I've got is currency converters and the pathetic Palm developed Facebook app. We need some big players to bring it on home and Palm needs to open up GPU access pronto.
Well, at least you didn't bad-mouth the developers. :(
Word!
I agree! I sell Sprint and when customers want to see the amazing apps it has, I show em pandora. That zombie game is the only one that looks good and yet that still lacks gameplay... I hope this changes soon. Good post!
EA is involved. Didn't they make Connect 4 or something? ;)
WebOS is a probably a long way off from being able to do iPhone-like action games. There's a reason why Palm chose to use HTML-like code for their platform and others didn't. It's because Palm was in a big hurry and didn't have a lot of resources.
I have to agree with you. It's gets frustrating. Why no ESPN apps? Why no SI app? Yea I know the phone has only been out 6 monthes, but come on. It doesn't look good for Palm and their catalog if they can't even get good free apps like the ones I mentioned. So every other day we can see more and more crap enter the catalog. I know a lot of people make fun of the Iphone apps because lets face it most are crap. Well....... were pretty much getting crap too. So I figure I will get flamed now and be told to go to hell and develop this and that myself.
Shopping List is definitely not junk.
I've been using the Shopping List app nearly every day since it appeared in homebrew. It loads fast and the dev has slowly added all the features I need.
Totally buying this one.
Typical comment responses. App limit and no paid apps in Europe. For the next app release, please say in the description no fix for the app limit and no Europe paid apps. Broken record here.
"Broken record" that Palm continues to ignore- fix the problems already!
The Homebrew community has been complaining about the app limit since we reached 50 apps!!
I agree its a broken record. But do we need to complain every time new apps come out? Sprint and Palm know about it, trust me.
This web site is becoming a bitching and whining site. It is getting old.
Those new HTC Android phones coming out next year look great by the way.
For the app install partition size limit Palm has been openly communicating that they have understood the issue and are working on a fix. That's good communication and interaction withj the customers (and that's by the way how Palm is doing it usually).
For the App catalogue 'screw up' outside the US Palm has said... nothing. That's not only very frustrating, this issue prevents that user can re-install apps they had already purchased. So it's more than an inconvenience. No wonder people are getting more and more inpatient here. All which was needed was some kind of reaction from Palms side some week ago...
As I've run against the app space limit wall I can only browse the list and see things that I might want later.
Palm's income via commissions and the developers income will languish as long as this deficiency remains uncorrected. Not just from me, of course, but from the 90+% of users out there who don't know about the Pre hacks and those who do know but choose to not use them.
I am one of those that know about the hacks, but do not use them. If I have to go into my phone every single time we get an update and undo this and reinstall that, then its too inconvenient for me. I just don't want to do that. The majority of your Pre consumers are not even viewing this site let alone installing a bunch of hacks. Hell, I've walked into Sprint stores and they have sales people who will look at you with confusion when you mention Precentral. Net to them. But hey, at least we are getting apps right. Pretty soon there will be so many worthless apps that when good ones trickle in you won't be able to find them.....
Shopping List by Mojo Apps is a homebrew graduate, btw. :) And it became my first paid app!
/Kevin
its nice to see a growing app store, but is there a reason why we are not seeing apps that speed up the processor or add more options to our camera or even new music players other than our native one. Why are we getting all of these media quizzes and calculators. I like the NBA TEAM apps to follow your favorite teams, but what if I want to follow stats and scores for all teams and I just want o view them all in one place? Are we not getting these kind of apps because the catalogue is still in beta or is there only a demand for all of these crap apps?????
Why O why do I continue to read the comment section of these "New Apps Released threads"?
Let me save all the complainers some time and write your thoughts for you so you don't have to, maybe that will return to making these comments worth reading:
1. no paid apps in FILL IN BLANK yet.
2. app limit sucks, I can't get more
3. these aps stink, why are the games not like the ones I buy for my PS3?
If you complainers really don't think Palm knows and is working on all of these issues (esp 1 and 2) you are on crack and need to drop the pipe.
Pretty much the only post in this thread worth reading...
And my response to each:
1. The problem isn't necessarily with Palm, you're dealing with complex economies and a host of providers instead of just one. That stuff takes time, it's not Palm's fault your providers and your governments are d-bags.
2. Patch coming. Seriously, quit b!tch!ng.
3. Go buy a PS3.
1. Great analysis! By the way:
- the providers kwew in advance
- Palm has already a store system in place in Europe
so, the actual problem is... well... communication on Palms side!?
You continue to read it because deep down you enjoy it. That way you can come on here and rant too. Then you can also put people down that complain. It's a big cycle. I have rarely ever complained, but I like many others are getting pretty sick of the crap apps man. If you don't like the complaints don't read the comments. How hard is that?
Current app count in the UK: 144
I'm curious... When did applications become the be all, end all for our smartphones? I can't be the only person who bought my Pre based on what it can do out of the box, and not on how many movie quizzes I can take at 1.99 a piece...
The truth is when you look at how many "apps" are duplicates, games or something that doesn't help you do something easier, Apple's magic 100,000 starts to whittle down to a manageable number; same with Android. I think it's great that these phones can play games I used to pay $1.00 per play (iPhone recently got Dragon's Lair) from a purely technological standpoint, but to decide on my phone based on that is silly, IMHO. I've been waiting on a decent MLB app since I bought the thing, but being able to easily do the same thing on MLB's mobile site has lessened the importance of that for me. I'm certainly not going to buy an iPhone and jump ship to at&t because they have one.
+1
What was the study on aps? Didn't it say like 98% of all apps are not used after 2 days.
The number 100,000 sounds cool and great and all but in reality why do people need an app that a website can do better? All the people complaining over the lack of features in the FB app just need to wander over to the FB website and all of the features are there NOW.
+2
Just chalk it up to people not appreciating what they have and always wanting more (and not in a good way), no matter how much they have. If the Pre did everything an iPhone, your home computer and your television did all in one little package, people would ask why it doesn't slice, dice and make french fries in three different ways as well.
The Pre is a great hone, has a great OS, has great browsing speed, take a great approach to open software development and I don't get bent over on the service plans like I would on AT&T. You would think that would be enough for people.
French Fries? No. Slice and dice? Uhm... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qocp-1HvFc8
But don't fret, people will find something else to complain about. Maybe the fact that it doesn't work for more than a few minutes after being submerged in a glass of brew.
sigh
How about people wanting what they had on the old, obsolete phones they had before the Pre. The Pre still can't do the things I could do on a Treo 600 5 years ago.
Because without apps your smartphone is just, well, a phone. It's the apps that make it smart. And My Pre can't do what my Palm Pilot 3 could, Read my ebooks. My Pre is a cripple without a native ebook reader. I have had palm since the Palm Pilot, and I am thinking of dumping them for Android. It released with a native ebook reader. I hate and fear Google, but miss my library.
There is now an eReader book reader (pReader) in homebrew. Works well. Doesn't strip the DRM. Just works with it, exactly the same as the official one for PalmOS.
Also, the ereader folks supposedly said they were working on a reader as well.
Hey Derek, thats Etsy Browser, not Etsu Browser.
I think the problem is the case of the 'Boy who cried wolf'. There have been so many shitty apps that we assume they all are crappy. We don't bother to check the apps out anymore. That's my case. Am sure there are some gems in there....
#2, there are frequent updates of these crap apps and we dont have a way of distinguishing them from new apps. we all go in and hit 'Recent' in the app catalog. it looks like its the same old apps. but so many of there are updates.
I wish the app catalog was designed a bit better.
New complaint!
Regarding the Pink Pad app --
Somebody really thinks I should pay $4.99 for an app to help me do something that I'm already very good at doing -- for free??
Hahaha.
Get real.
I personaly think the apps out so far are great. I've found several bad ones, but overall their good. Of course I could care less if Palm ever gets games. My friends love how I know everything about my sports teams instantly. The only thing missing is Tweedeck, SI and ESPN app. If we get these, I will be done. Oh and one that utilized Sprint family locator with the Google map. That would be awsome.
You almost get it. See, you say it's great, but then list 4 apps you really want. EVERYONE has 4 (or more) apps they really want, but they're not the same 4 as you. Add those all up, and their are hundreds, or thousands, of things people can do on other phones that they can't do on the Pre.
Or do you really think your needs are representative of everyone's?
I have gone from 36 apps to 4. Cleaning display clutter from poor apps and apps downloading an update transforming them from a free game to a free trial ( case in point connect 4 ), The excitement of a new download quickly disappears when the app is opened. It should not be about the number of apps but the quality of the app, then the money will follow.
it doesn't matter how many or how good apps are in the app catalog, as long as the app limit isn't fixed its irrelevant.
Developers are losing out on ALOT of money b/c of it. This 1.3.5 talk better be true.
every time you make me smile with your seriously funny diversified last line about the rest after the break! really nice blog!
What's the app count now?
The problem is that Palm only supports canvas based games and there are no APIs released yet to make anything other then that so every app game or anything eles has to be made useing the canvas api. I,d like to take a little something off the games dev web site '
webOS and Palm Mojo SDK development currently offers the basic elements you'll need to create games across many of the most popular categories. HTML, JavaScript, and CSS
I'm repeating myself, but the lack of low-level (or even mid-level, like Java) development tools are what's holding the apps back. There are thousands of good apps written for other platforms that could have been ported to the Pre by now if it supported a C based language and Java. But those apps can't be ported, they need to be written from scratch in JS. The serious software development shops don't seem to be interested in diverting resources from existing projects to do that. And probably don't have a staff of JS programmers in place. So, instead of commercial quality, complex apps, we get homebrew type apps. Many of which are quite good at what they do, but what they do tend's to be pretty limited.
My favorite apps:
Sports Calendar - Free! Awesome! Ports my favorite teams schedule straight to my phone calendar. Always know when my fav. teams play.
Music(remix) - Free! 5 stars. Upgraded version of Palms music player with all the tweaks needed including playlists.
Pack'n'Track - $3.99(Holiday Special) Great app. Although it's pricey, If you ship packages a lot or in my case I sometimes wait for parts to arrive in order to do repairs. It gives me a notification when my package arrives on site.
MyQ - Free! Great if you use netflix. Can view and update movie queues, and rate movies instantly from my phone.
Youtube - Free! Very functional and great looking. With the help of a homebrew patch I can now save Youtube videos and watch them from my phone anytime.
Pulse - Free! This one is good for musicians. It is an adjustable metronome. Allowing you to keep perfect time while practicing. Right now the tone sounds like a phone tone, but it does the job.
NFL.com - Free! Track real and fantasy football games as well asnews and video highlights. Also, stat tracking and audio of every single game.
Games - All Free! Chess, Checkers, Card Ace, Word Ace, Word Whirl, Spades, Zilch Lite, Video Poker, YDice, Dot Game. These games all do the trick, which is help me pass the time when I'm waiting in line or in a lobby waiting for whatever. If I want an awesome gaming experience I'll throw Madden in the X360 on the 50" LCD or play WOW on my 22" monitor. 'nuff said.
Palm coupled with the homebrew community has exceeded my expectations for a 1.0 device. I think that there is a learning curve, and many Pre owners aren't aware of the full capacity of their phone. I personally have taken time to learn the phone and adapt to it's features. One thing worth mentioning is the ability to save bookmarks for your favorite websites as icons in the launcher pages. Just go to your website then open Web menu>page>add to launcher. I never even use the web icon anymore. I just type what I want and universal search or tap my favorite icon from the launcher page. I have added launcher pages thanks to a homebrew patch. I have my apps and icons organized per page. I could go on and on, but I'll let you off the hook. Bottom line is I am happy with where the device is and where it seems to be going, And I can't wait until Palm comes out with future WebOS devices.
There I said it!
agreed, gadgetjedi...but don't give away all of our secrets. People love to pay for portals to mobile web sites for the experience of being counted in news articles, advertisements, and to argue about catalog size.
this app does nothing