Legit Text

I started to research the points in the brief and also some apps which I deemed relevant to my project. Mainly focusing on anti-procrastination apps and idle games... I did quite a bit but i'm going to throw it here for safe measure.

My View on apps

I wouldn’t consider myself to be an avid app user, I don’t look for the next big app or spend more than 5 minutes playing a game. I believe it is due to how I use my time and the daily environment I live in.

I travel by car so I rarely have long periods of time to actually use my phone and when I do actually arrive to a place I have things to do ... so using my phone for long periods is a rare occurrence for me. When working for school or work I have a fully working pc in front of me which in my opinion  can do anything my mobile can but better.  Another personal preference is the medium I am managing my content on,  I wouldn’t trade the feel of pen and paper for any digital based application other than when the work involves other people. Even though I don’t use apps for long periods of time I do use a few apps like Spotify (only because I bought a pair of wireless headphones) which provide a certain level of comfort in some stressful situations. In my down time I’d much rather use and play on my pc than use my phone for long periods at a time. That being said apps do make my life easier but rather in small limited pockets at a time. They providing quick fix solutions and remove any avoidable annoyances rather easily.

Apps I Use

I mostly use the most common Apps which seem to be mandatory in today’s age. Some of them are specific to school and others utilities.

To keep up with social media facebook seems like the obvious choice along with messenger to keep in touch.

Work and School on the other hand push me to use different apps all of which provide different services. These ease the way content can be read and created on the go such as Google docs and g-mail, life savers at times. Kindle which I am using only to sort content in PDFs for my thesis, I rarely find an app that helps me sot content but this one is amazing. Lastly schoology to get notifications on assignment updates, this is a must for me as I do have trouble to keep up with updates manually.

Lastly Utility apps such as the calculator and alarm clock. The alarm clock is the most annoying, depressing and useful app ever created but I wouldn’t function without it. The calculator is an example of one of those apps that allows you to get quick solutions to tedious problems.

There are obviously more apps which I use but they are either not worth mentioning as they either rarely used or obvious to have such as phone or messaging.

Value of Apps

Though I do not use App services the their fullest extent, I do believe that there is a lot one can achieve in everyday life through their use. Apart from the mandatory apps one can find apps to do virtually everything,such as receive news or entertainment (which there are an endless amount of). One can also control their banking an finance through apps, this I don’t feel safe about doing in any case. Other cool apps are charity ones that allow you to help charity in a generally more fun or illuminating way. This being said, if one is capable of using productive Apps on a daily bases it can be integrated into their lives. This will  benefit them in ways that would be harder to achieve without them.

Whats Missing

A simple look on play store holds a huge amount of categories which further splits into countless apps. This brings me to believe that it’s not that easy to come up with new apps to appease the masses but rather evolve and improve on what already exists. After some research, to my disbelief there are many app ideas that exist or are in the making. Most of which are very user specific which wouldn’t be worth making, but others seem to mention the same point in their ideas. People want to have apps which registers their habits and creates a personal database of information the app can run off. The apps then help the user in making decisions by reduces the time spent looking for places,  researching content or even structuring information.

Future of Mobile Apps

Apps are evolving everyday, delving into new experiences and finding ways to engage the consumer on an a deeper level. The more technology is advancing the more apps are changing with them. With the introduction of Vr and other Interactive elements Apps are creating  different ways to convey and entertain. 

Even though Apps are integrating new technologies the future of Apps as we know them may come to an end. Apps are having a hard time to keep up with users and there ever lacking attention span. People are finding it hard to dedicate time to downloading or installing apps just to see one thing let alone filter through the over saturated app store to look for new content.  This leads many to believe that the next step is the evolution and the merge with web servers. This will focus on content and discoverability, rather than forced downloads and sign ups. The industry is looking to break down the barriers between apps and the mobile web by creating a web with app-like experiences.

This will not be the end of apps but rather the evolution into something greater and more convenient for users everywhere.

Checklist

What does it do?

This application is a To Do list creator which allows you to sort any checklist into separate tasks and sub-task which can then be organized into columns to further organize your checklist.  There are be readily made templates that allow you to get a quick start on what you want to remember. You can also share lists with other people if necessary and sort you checklists in private and work sections. 

Strong Points

• Good at creating short lists. 
• You have readily available templates for faster work flow.
•  Can invite other people to share lists if nessecary.

What does It lack? 

It serves it’s purpose well, other than some UI features that are hard to find. In my opinion Apps like these lack visual motivation. When I am bombarded by text, especially on screen I find it hard to concentrate. 

It does not allow the upload of files or any media which could be helpful in sorting your and finalizing the location of your work. It may not be to cater for huge checklists as even in the description they push to create simple checklists such as shopping lists. If this is what they want to expose the most it is mostly designed to structure simple and quick Checklists.

Asana

What does it do?

Asana is used mainly by teams of people to track their work and manage their content as a collective. It is a platform where users can be separated into departments and communicate to get a project done. Users are able to comment, like and upload their part of the project in a more dynamic environment. Users can also view and manage deadlines and assign followers or employees with specific tasks. Once the task or project is finished they can notify the team that it is ready archive it which will store the data until its manual deletion. 

Strong Points

• You have the ability to search through your tasks by using a search bar 
• You have the ability to use one account for both work and private projects. 
• The UI is clean and simple with a beautiful colour palette
• The ability to get to all the major locations in the app using one tap.
• You can also upload files which allow other users to download 
• The communication abilities such as comments and likes.
• Assign work to other users.
• Archive finished projects.

What does It lack? 

This is no excuse on my part to bash the app but it does need some time to get used to especially when there are a lot of projects and tasks going on at the same time. The is more apparent when moving from the desktop version to mobile. 

Make A City

What does it do?

This is mainly an Idle Upgrade Game, your aim is to do nothing and get rewarded for it. You can build houses and upgrade them, which earn you money allowing you to build bigger houses. You can use the money to hire workers and scientists  to earn the money for you. You are virtually constructing a city doing nothing. An achievment system is place which fill further increase your money and upgrade capabilitios. The app provides a network of upgrades to generate money for you when you are not actually playing, it is a never ending cycle.

Strong Points

• The feeling of playing while you are not. 
• Cannot lose.
• Playable by people who dont have time to immerse themselves in gaming.
• The provides a quick fix game like sensation.
• Visualy stimulating. 
• Achievments. 
• Playable offline.

What does It lack? 

Motivation to keep playing the game. There is no long term goal or reason to waste your time playing this game, when you relize how usless it is. It also does not teach you anything but rather mindless time consuminginteractions. There are also ads to reduce any costings in the game which for me are quite annoying, stop being so desperate.