Mobile App Stores
As I have mentioned before, Apple has done some things to shaken my loyalty. I am at the point where my next phone will not be an automatic iPhone purchase. I have friends and colleagues pitching alternatives pretty hard. Out of curiosity, I looked up the availability of my favorite mobile apps on the Windows and Google App Stores. Here is what I found.
| App | Android | Windows Phone |
|---|---|---|
| Any Password Manager (like 1Password) | Yes: LastPass | Yes: LastPass |
| Evernote | Yes | Yes |
| Google+ | Yes (duh) | No (duh) |
| Kindle | Yes | Yes |
| Any Exercise GPS (like Garmen) | Yes: RunKeeper | Yes: Mobifit |
| Mint | Yes | No |
| Movies (by Flixster) | Yes | Yes |
| Pocket (or InstaPaper) | Yes | Yes: MetroPaper |
| RememberTheMilk | Yes | Yes: Milkman |
| RSS Reader (with Google Reader Support) | Yes: Google Reader | Yes: nextgen Reader |
| ServerDensity | Yes | No |
| Any SSH Client | Yes: lots | Yes: Token2Shell |
| Tripit | Yes | Yes |
| Yes | Yes | |
| Yelp | Yes | Yes |
| YouTube | Yes (duh) | Yes |
Overall, I was surprised by the number of apps on the Windows Phone store. The screen shots looked really nice too. However, I think that the combination of Mac + Windows Phone would be challenging. If I was a Windows user, the Windows Phone would be a pretty attractive option.
One thing that I find limiting on the iPhone is that Safari is locked down and doesn't accept plugins. I assume that Android doesn't have this issue because it gives you different browser options. Does Windows allow you to install mobile IE plugins/extensions?