

Ask HN: app generators, OK or evil? - Tichy

Ignoring the iPhone niche where they are not allowed to begin with, would you say app generators are acceptable?<p>The obvious issue is that they could be seen as spamming the app stores. But I tend to think that it just shows that discovery mechanisms in the app stores would have to improve. Even without app generators, there are already hundreds of thousands of apps, so they can't be searched manually anyway.<p>The web seems to do kind of fine with the issue. For example suppose I would generate an individual app for every free book on project Gutenberg. That would be a lot of apps. But at least on the web, it is possible to find and read individual Gutenberg books without too much of a problem (one book could be considered a page a ka "app on the web"). They are not drowned out because there are so many of them. (I don't plan to do the book thing, it was just an example).<p>The alternative to the app generator would of course be a "mother app" that bundles all the other apps. The example would be an ebook reader with a special interface to project Gutenberg. Businesses might not be satisfied with that solution, though, they probably want an individual app for their brand.
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buro9
I'm not sure about the app generator side of things, but I am struggling with
trying to work out whether it's best to have one app or many.

In our case this is mapping. Generally I see that we only need 1 map app, and
that each slice of data should just be a layer for that map. This is the way I
would've traditionally done it, and it's the way that I think is 'right'.

However people seem to search not for layers on an app but for a specific app
that fills their very specific needs. An app that shows them locations of ATMs
is more discoverable and useful to them than a plugin to a different app that
supplies a layer to the generic mapping app.

People seem to prefer to have one app that does one thing well and does
nothing more. Even if this means that they end up with 50 such apps on their
device and a lot of functionality is duplicated in several of their apps (with
mildly inconsistent UI).

So we're seeing in our own apps that multiple apps dealing with one small
thing is more successful than fewer apps able to deal with multiple pieces of
functionality.

Going back to your example, I'd rather have a Gutenberg app that allowed me to
grab the books I wanted, but I suspect you'd see more success having apps that
match how people would search for them, which I bet would be by author... a
"Philip K. Dick compendium" for example and then a "James Joyce compendium",
etc.

I still prefer the fewer richer apps, but I seem to be in a minority.

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retube
that's an interesting observation, and I think you're right. from an
engineering perspective we feel a multi-functional app is the more optimal
solution. yet the consumer would rather have a dozen separate apps.

why? I think it's maybe down to the product message. a specific app can have a
specific, clear, simple message.

E.g "indian restaurant finder" is definitive. it's extremely easy to
understand, it's purpose is clear. and more importantly, when you need to find
an indian restaurant - ahh! there's an app for that! it has that mindshare.
but an app that is "search for everything" doesn't. when you need an indian
restaurant it's much less likely to come to mind - and even if it does, it'll
be behind the specialised one.

plus I think there's a trust/quality issue. if an app does just one, precise
thing, you will believe it will do that very well. an app that does everything
- well for any given search it just wont be as good, will it?

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RodgerTheGreat
Not to mention that an app for an extremely narrow set of needs will probably
have a simpler, more intuitive UI. With a complex application, it's easy for
users to not even realize a feature is available.

For example, did you know Word 2007 can generate "Lorem Ipsum" filler
paragraphs for you automatically? Most people, myself included, are more
likely to go to <http://lipsum.lipsum.com/> whenever we need filler text, even
when we have Word open and running.

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j_baker
My opinion is that app generators are alright as long as you know what they're
doing. It becomes a problem when you have it magically generating apps for you
when you have no idea how they work. When something goes wrong, you'll likely
be left scratching your head.

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seltzered
Won't app folders in OS 4 help solve this problem? Granted it's not going to
allow you to keep 50 ebooks in one folder, but at least solve the problem
where you may have multiple navigation apps for different regions.

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vaksel
I think they are ok, as long as the apps submitted meet some minimum criteria.

i.e. no things like "top 10 _______ images" apps

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gte910h
Clients have found many individual apps to sell better than a single multi
topic app that can use multiple pieces of content.

No idea why. But that is the issue and the crux. More individual apps sell
better.

