Bada apps - what are you using?
If you read my blog regularly, you will know that I own a Samsung Wave and like other bada users, I have been waiting to see how the bada app store shapes up. 2011 will be a critical year for the future of bada. Some people still do not consider it as a true smartphone platform, but a hybrid 'smart feature phone' OS that could potentially compete with older versions of Symbian like S60. Samsung's own vision for bada suggests that it is meant to make dumbphones smarter!
Since the past few months, Samsung is offering paid apps which I feel is a bit premature. I am not even sure if I will settle into this OS in the long term and I am still sampling what the store has to offer. I get the feeling that the ratio of paid apps in the Samsung store is very high. As with all app stores across platforms, the big problem is that you cannot try before buying and have no way of knowing if the experience will be good or not.
Since October, when I bought my handset, I have downloaded nearly 30 apps and widgets. I regularly use maybe 10 of these, while the rest are, well, around. Here's a list of the stuff that I have found useful;
1) SNS Widget
It's a very basic point, but widgets are the first thing you want on your phone because they function as shortcuts. You can go directly from your desktop/ screen to the place you want to go. The SNS widget linking to the default mobile FB/ Twitter sites is the most used widget on my phone. Samsung also offers a widget with live feeds, but I don't use it because it kills the battery life.
On the subject of widgets, I really like those which load as small icons as they enable me to keep more stuff on a single home screen. This is a shot of my current home screen. You can see how packed it is, and that is how I like it to be.
2) Date calculator
This useful app lets me enter two dates and then tells me the number of days between them. Handy all the time for planning work deadlines and travel.
3) Quick Mirror App
Women would love this one, and for all I know maybe men too! Quick Mirror uses the front facing VGA camera of the phone to create a 'mirror' that lets you check your face discreetly, any time.
4) AP Mobile widget
The simple reason for using it is that I get a few live news feeds on my desktop and the experience is quite addictive. Android users may be used to this all the time, but it's pretty sensational to experience this on a feature phone! I normally do not use AP and I am not as interested in general news as I am in tech news. It's a case of an app actually changing my behaviour (or the mere presence of an app, getting me to do something that I normally do not)
5) XE.com widget
I use this currency site all the time for my dollar-to-rupee conversions, and it's handy to use it like a calculator from my phone while I am working on my machine.
6) Weather Bug for bada app
I'm usually interested in the weather even though I travel a lot. But winter has been crazy in India this year. Mumbai has been cold in the evening, hot in the daytime, Delhi has been freezing, even Chennai has been pleasant! I got this app to check weather in different cities before travelling and make sure I carried enough warm stuff (or not) depending on the conditions.Its another case of an app altering my behaviour!
And finally, here are my show-off apps. Confession - I use these only to showcase my Wave's abilities to other people!
7) Asphalt 5 : T
This pre-loaded game came with my Samsung Wave and I give it to people to play. They are pretty impressed to get an 'iPhone type effect'!
8) Broken Screen :
Ask me as an adult, and I would say that this app is for teenagers. It runs in the background and plays a trick - when you touch the screen, it 'cracks' with a loud breaking sound. Dramatic way to fool around with people. I am a certified adult most of the time, but I find myself using this a lot with other (certifiably adult) friends to have a laugh together. It's a fun, innocent, foolish thing and we need some stuff like that in our lives.
9) Piano
I use this just to show off the beautiful screen. Period. It's only half a piano but who cares? The time still passes :)
Since the past few months, Samsung is offering paid apps which I feel is a bit premature. I am not even sure if I will settle into this OS in the long term and I am still sampling what the store has to offer. I get the feeling that the ratio of paid apps in the Samsung store is very high. As with all app stores across platforms, the big problem is that you cannot try before buying and have no way of knowing if the experience will be good or not.
Since October, when I bought my handset, I have downloaded nearly 30 apps and widgets. I regularly use maybe 10 of these, while the rest are, well, around. Here's a list of the stuff that I have found useful;
1) SNS Widget
It's a very basic point, but widgets are the first thing you want on your phone because they function as shortcuts. You can go directly from your desktop/ screen to the place you want to go. The SNS widget linking to the default mobile FB/ Twitter sites is the most used widget on my phone. Samsung also offers a widget with live feeds, but I don't use it because it kills the battery life.
On the subject of widgets, I really like those which load as small icons as they enable me to keep more stuff on a single home screen. This is a shot of my current home screen. You can see how packed it is, and that is how I like it to be.
2) Date calculator
This useful app lets me enter two dates and then tells me the number of days between them. Handy all the time for planning work deadlines and travel.
3) Quick Mirror App
Women would love this one, and for all I know maybe men too! Quick Mirror uses the front facing VGA camera of the phone to create a 'mirror' that lets you check your face discreetly, any time.
4) AP Mobile widget
The simple reason for using it is that I get a few live news feeds on my desktop and the experience is quite addictive. Android users may be used to this all the time, but it's pretty sensational to experience this on a feature phone! I normally do not use AP and I am not as interested in general news as I am in tech news. It's a case of an app actually changing my behaviour (or the mere presence of an app, getting me to do something that I normally do not)
5) XE.com widget
I use this currency site all the time for my dollar-to-rupee conversions, and it's handy to use it like a calculator from my phone while I am working on my machine.
6) Weather Bug for bada app
I'm usually interested in the weather even though I travel a lot. But winter has been crazy in India this year. Mumbai has been cold in the evening, hot in the daytime, Delhi has been freezing, even Chennai has been pleasant! I got this app to check weather in different cities before travelling and make sure I carried enough warm stuff (or not) depending on the conditions.Its another case of an app altering my behaviour!
And finally, here are my show-off apps. Confession - I use these only to showcase my Wave's abilities to other people!
7) Asphalt 5 : T
This pre-loaded game came with my Samsung Wave and I give it to people to play. They are pretty impressed to get an 'iPhone type effect'!
8) Broken Screen :
Ask me as an adult, and I would say that this app is for teenagers. It runs in the background and plays a trick - when you touch the screen, it 'cracks' with a loud breaking sound. Dramatic way to fool around with people. I am a certified adult most of the time, but I find myself using this a lot with other (certifiably adult) friends to have a laugh together. It's a fun, innocent, foolish thing and we need some stuff like that in our lives.
9) Piano
I use this just to show off the beautiful screen. Period. It's only half a piano but who cares? The time still passes :)
Comments
Post a Comment