Quick App: AppScoop! 46
It's only been a few days since Palm opened the proverbial flood gates of Apps with the launch of their new web distribution program at CES this year, and a lively ecosystem is already beginning to sprout up around it: We have our own App Catalog viewer in glorious beta form here at PreCentral, we know that Preware will soon be able to tap in to the app feeds provided by Palm, and now the very first on-device web only app viewer has gone live in the official App Catalog. AppScoop! (free) allows for the viewing of all of the non-reviewed web only applications (all 17 of them, at this point). Tapping on one of the listed apps allows you to read descriptions, view thumbnails, and even install the application directly to your phone just like Palm's own ProjectAppetite demo allows you to do.
It's pretty impressive to see an application like this appear in Palm's official app store, and I think that the rollout of their distribution program in earnest hasn't been on the radar of the media as much as it should be thus far - it's a pretty big deal indeed.
46 Comments
First Comment!
Does this mean I am comment 1.1?
First fail!
If I'm not mistaken, I think the newest update to PreWare lets you view these apps as well. Additionally, the updated PreWare brings in the official catalog feed also - and if you change your preferences to show you the price of the app on the second row, this is quite usable and nice to have all apps in one place: Official Catalog apps, Homebrew apps, and now the Web-linked apps (I don't know what to call them...).
It sure does. I just updated it and it now includes all of Palm's feeds; the offical app catalog, web and beta.
Well, web-linked is also Homebrew, just that Palm is aware of the app and can maintain app meta-data -and- the app had to have passed a self-certification test.
I can't think of a better name than the one they are using (Web Linked).
It already has a name, we don't need to come up with one. It's called Web Distribution. Check out http://projectappetite.com/
Palm App Catalog, Web Distribution, Beta
how do you update preware?
Preware can be used to update itself.
Launch it, click 'List of Everything' and either scroll to find preware or just start typing its name.
got it thanks!
Sure does. I didn't know about this update, so imagine my surprise when I saw over 1200 apps. I thought there was a homebrew explosion!
Yeah we need an official name for the web link only apps.
Yes, today's Preware update does allow you to see these, as well as the Official App Catalog, as well as an interestingly named group of apps named "Palm Beta". Only 4 apps in that group now, but might be interesting going forward.
To see the feed groupings, Select Available Applications then choose "Feeds" rather than "Categories" at the bottom of the page to organize...
you guys have to see what webos school did with the catalog feeds! http://catalog.webosschool.com/#main
Holy crap - that is impressive. Consider it bookmarked!
The ability to see all of the apps, their cost, total # of downloads, when they were updated, a map of how many times they have been downloaded, and the total revenue for each application? Wow.
That looks really awesome. Great work!
Curious, when calculating revenue how do you differentiate between the initial download where the app is paid for versus subsequent downloads (updates) where there is no fee? If you don't distinguish between the two then the revenue number would be greatly inflated, no?
I have no idea. I just found the site link from http://blog.palm.com/palm/2010/01/palm-webos-app-info-now-available-forwhatever-you-can-come-up-withthe-palm-app-catalog-team-has-made-all-of-the-informatio.html
I get the 'This application is not available in your country' error, even for apps I can download in the official catalogue.
Would it be because I have a UK pre or because I'm on Optus in Australia?
I may be missing something, but why would a developer list their app in the official catalog and give Palm 30% of their profit when they can get a URL to the Catalog from the developer's own website?
Pros: Palm handles the payment (on device, fluid experience, trusted). Palm promotes your app.
Cons: App must go through review process, Palm gets a cut of revenue.
Can anybody else think of other pros / cons?
Don't underestimate "Palm promotes your app." For most Pre/Pixi users, the app catalog is it. They can't count on them using AppScoop, Preware, or another tool that lists that "non-approved" apps.
On the other hand, the ability for an app to be published within an hour or so is a HUGE benefit to the new approach. This should allow catalog developers to offer patch releases or betas quickly.
Hmmm. I wonder if some folks will use this timeliness to quickly push out boilerplate apps with content that is hot off the presses (i.e., with a tie-in to some current news event).
For example, right after Obama got elected someone could have pushed out an "Obama Wins!" app that swaps your wallpaper with the latest Obama related photos.
Since new apps float to the top of catalogs it would get a lot of exposure and if it were free (but ad supported) it would generate a lot of impulse downloads.
Arghh.
The paypal app is cool :)
But seems like most apps on the list here already in APP catalog.
I downloaded kgb Answers from the AppScoop. I just tapped on it and received it on the phone. I know using the service using text(as the commercial says) there's a charge. I asked it a question thru the app. I wonder if I will be charged.
Read the app description, it says that you can ask three question for free, you then be charged for every other question asked.
Are the Apps in this list reviewed and approved by Palm???
No. But they do have to pass some automated test to ensure they are well formed. Other than that, they can do whatever they want.
If an app turned out to be malicious Palm has the power to trigger the 'kill switch' remotely. There is code sitting on your device that can remove an app if Palm pushes out an over the air trigger(like Amazon did with the book 1984).
All vendors have this kill switch for this very reason. Of course, if you were one of the first few victims this after-the-fact uninstall would be too late for you. That's why I would wait until I see a good number of downloads before i downloaded a Web-linked app.
I am kind of taken by this...now i feel like palm has a big mess of up...i can't really decide where to look..preware with 2k+ apps can't follow on what is really good to download
I find it best to turn of the official palm feed in preware. That way I can use App Cataloge to get my official apps, and preware to get any web distributed or beta apps.
question to anyone who knows: what is the difference from the web distributed apps and the beta apps? Does the difference lie in the way palm reviews them?
What Preware DESPERATELY needs is to be able to show reviews and ratings of downloads, and then I could stay out of the App Catalog FOREVER. Some apps look cool in theory, but if they're 1 star apps, I automatically stay away unless they're brand new to the catalog.
what is the new number version of preware?
v0.9.16
AppScoop works in the U.K, but it's unfortunate that none of the current apps do ;p
Hummmm. went to the web site and put my phone number in, says it sent it.... but message never shows up. Anybody else have the same problem?
Yes,i'm having the same problem.I went to their site,put in my Cell number as advised but, haven't receive any text yet. Someone help!
AppScoop is now available in the official catalog itself. It was published last night. You do not need to send your phone a text with link.
Well, I checked the oficial App Catalog today..& still can't see any App Scoop. Can someone tell me,where in the oficial Catalog it is...?
Go to recent and scroll down a bit.
i simply typed in appscoop in the app catalog search window and i found it. easy download.
Well, I have updated Preware to the current. Now I can actually see some the new games and applications in the Palm Catalogue. BUT the really good ones (in other words; any that you have to pay for) are still 'NOT AVAILABLE IN YOUR COUNTRY', come on Bell Canada, get your stinkin act together and give us access..........Grrrrrrrr
In making (paid) applications so difficult to get (lack of availability in certain rolled out areas, as Harnoy addresses), don't they/Palm build up a need/desire for pirating webOS applications?!
I don't have a webOS device (yet?), but I live in Norway and would probably (have to) get a phone in the UK (QWERTY). Ordering applications from the web page would then be "impossible" due to the country dropdown on the app-pages that controls the country code.
Does the lack of access to the paid app catalogue result in the creation a market for pirated software?......very good question brought up by autodidact. It might be in Palms, or the Service Providers, best interest to ensure equal access.....otherwise you can probably expect to see the 'unavailable' apps appearing on the pirate sites.
There should be little to no reason for these applications to not be available in all of the countries. I can legally download X-Plane for my computer here in Canada, but I can't get it for the Palm Pre, so it's not a licensing issue.
Those in favor of actually getting everything for free has been given a few (for some, legit) reasons for doing so;
Hmmm, is the restriction to the paid app catalogue because of Palm, or the Service Providers??
I attempted to download appscoop yesterday and the download failed. I have restarted numerous times and I have also attempted to re-download the app etc. Nothing is working. Meanwhile, it shows on my launcher as well as all of the applications that need updating. None of the updates will download and now, those apps that need updating will no longer work either. In addition, I tried to delete appscoop yesterday (instead of just re-downloading) and mysteriously, it doesn't show up as software in my device info. SO, I can't use Splash ID or any of the apps that currently are showing an update needed. I have no idea what I have done wrong!! please help! Thanks so much!
Just giving a word of caution...
I like the idea of AppScoop and I downloaded a few apps thru it. My only problem was, after I downloaded 5 of the apps, I went to my launcher and there were no longer 3 screens to swipe, only 1. I could no longer get to some of my preinstalled apps that come with the Pre. Then when I went to my apps list, it showed me doubles of some of my apps. However, if I clicked on the double, it would tell me it was a different app.
So I did a partial erase of my phone and used my backup to restore my previous apps. Then I only downloaded 2 of the apps instead of 5. I figured that one of the last apps I had downloaded previously must be one of the offending apps which caused the problem. Now all is working fine.