Steve Jobs seems to think that the AppStore “is a grand slam,” and we can’t find any reason to not agree. With unrivaled platform integration and third-party applications that readily take advantage of the iPhone’s multi-touch interface and various sensors, the AppStore has proven to be a boon for iPhone, iPhone 3G, and even iPod Touch owners.
So much so that the AppStore boasted over 1,000 iPhone applications as of this past Monday – 1,001 iPhone applications, to be more precise.
Granted, a good deal of iPhone applications aren’t worth a second look. But, the shear volume of iPhone applications available from eager iPhone developers is an indication that iPhone application development isn’t going to be slowing down anytime soon. What we’re seeing is the ramp up to a diverse and expansive iPhone application portfolio that will eventually offer solutions to just about any iPhone owner’s needs or wants.
My personal iPhone 3G already has four homescreen-pages worth of iPhone apps (beat that!), and that number is likely to keep growing. Most of my apps were free, but I did manage to bite to the bullet and actually pay for a few apps. Turns out, it’s not that painful. As long as you do the research and make sure you are buying an application that fits your needs and that no free iPhone apps are available with similar functionality, buying an iPhone app can be highly rewarding.
Of course, it’s a little harder to justify spending upwards of $10 on an iPhone game. But, if you really have a need (like using Texas Hold ‘Em Poker to make your Friday night poker games more fun and convenient) for them, then by all means, hit that “Buy” button. Remember, you can share your iPhone apps and games with all your friends and family, so it might be a good idea to convince your friends to pitch in to buy a more expensive iPhone application. Hit up our “How To” to get the low-down on sharing iPhone applications between multiple iPhones.
The AppStore will likely grow larger and larger every month, but that doesn’t necessarily mean that we’ll be seeing ever-increasing numbers of truly useful applications. There will come a time when the AppStore is essentially saturated with so many different types of iPhone applications that the flood of innovative new apps will slow to a trickle. Just how long it will take to reach that point is the question here.