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For September, Book-Related Apps Overtook Games On iPhone

Posted by timothy on from the fall's-good-contemplative-reading-weather dept.

ruphus13 writes "In a sign that ebooks are rising in popularity, a recent survey by mobile analytics company Flurry revealed that users may be using the iPhone for more intellectual pursuits, and not just the visual sizzle. The 'book-related' apps on the iPhone overtook games in terms of new apps released. According to the post, 'Book-related apps saw an upsurge in launches in September ... So much so that book-related applications overtook games in the App Store as a percentage of all released apps. The trend isn't an aberration. In October, one out of every five new applications launching on the iPhone was a book ... from August 2008 to the same month in 2009, more apps were released in the 'games' category than any other and, as a result, the iPhone (and iPod touch) became a new handheld gaming platform, one that impacted the Nintendo DS. '"

24 of 96 comments (clear)

  1. No surprise there... by clang_jangle · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Not at all surprising. In spite of all the very vocal Apple haters who love to accuse Apple's products of being "all style, no function", the truth is a high percentage of Apple users are fairly well-educated people and they chose Apple because it does the work they need done. I still prefer Debian and FreeBSD myself, and would much rather have an Android than an iPhone (still using an old Treo 650 with Palm OS until the Droid comes out), but to most non-geeks free as in freedom is just not as much of an issue as we wish it were.

    --
    Caveat Utilitor
    1. Re:No surprise there... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Funny

      the truth is a high percentage of Apple users are fairly well-educated people

      The truth is they pretend they are.

    2. Re:No surprise there... by tomhudson · · Score: 4, Interesting

      Actually, it's because it's back-to-school season. Ask any parent.

    3. Re:No surprise there... by beelsebob · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Your speculation appears false. Go take a look at the iTunes store one of these days.

    4. Re:No surprise there... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Insightful
      Pointing out anything even slightly positive about Apple on slashdot brings all the anti-Apple trolls out of the woodwork these days -- check out the mod abuse of the GP's comment! Good thing we're geeks and not a bunch o' superstitious, ignernt religious fanatics 'round these parts, ain't it?
      --

      </sarcasm>

    5. Re:No surprise there... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Informative

      Yes,
        there's
        always envy among the inferior.

    6. Re:No surprise there... by realityimpaired · · Score: 2, Interesting

      If the iPhone was available with a fold-out keyboard like some Android phones (including the HTC Dream, which is what I bought), then my decision probably would have been harder. It's not a sheeple mentality for me, but the iPhone app store does seem to have a lot more of the kinds of stuff I need. (still looking for a port of something like AbiWord to Android... It would be really nice to be able to receive a document by e-mail, make some modifications, and e-mail it back to the person without having to find a laptop with a network connection). That said, I did find some of the coolest apps ever on the Android store... I *love* Google StarMaps, and the GPS Status app. Coupled with Google Maps (which has the ability to center location based on cell tower and GPS location if enabled), who needs a Garmin any more?

      As it stands, the fold-out QWERTY keyboard makes a huge difference to my typing speed for things like text messages, e-mails, and instant messenger. I guess it depends on what people are intending to do with their phones, but I got mine to serve the same basic function as a Blackberry (but with GPS and a good camera), so the keyboard was a must. That's functionality that the iPhone just doesn't have, and while not a deal-breaker for most, it is one for me.

      On the topic at hand... some people are saying that the small screen is hard to read... I can only guess that those people either haven't used the small screen, or haven't used an app that's specifically designed for the small screen. Facebook mobile is actually very readable on the small screen, especially when you turn it to landscape rendering. There's some scrolling, but not enough to be intrusive or annoying, I think. And that's one that's *not* specifically designed for the screen... get into a reader like WikiMobile, and you'll find that it's actually *very* readable, and easy to follow. If I wanted to read e-books, I'd probably go for an e-book reader for a larger screen (or just use the netbook I already own), but for people who don't have the option of owning more than one device, I'd say that the Android/iPhone isn't anywhere near as bad as some people are making it out to be. :/

    7. Re:No surprise there... by beelsebob · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Nicely assumed. And there's nothing insensitive about telling you to look at something before making assumptions. The fact that you can't look has only got to do with your choice to value freedom over functionality.

      For what it's worth, the iPhone as far as I've seen has generated some of the most innovative games in many years, simply because it's got some relatively "weird" control systems. You are right that there are many flash-game alikes, but there's also hundreds of *really* high quality games out there. Unfortunately, I can't link them though, as it would only anger the linux geek further.

    8. Re:No surprise there... by The+Leather+Duke · · Score: 2, Funny

      "the evil version of Microsoft"
      I thought the evil empire was Microsoft? Am I misinformed? Um, wait...
      Provided evil is negative:
      If Microsoft = Evil
      and Apple = Microsoft * Evil
      then Apple = Good

      Oho! Ohohoho! You fanboi, you!

    9. Re:No surprise there... by beelsebob · · Score: 2, Informative

      Most vendors (outside of the computer industry) also have a satisfaction guarantee, wherein you can return a product if you're not satisfied with it, as long as it's still saleable and within a reasonable time frame. That isn't enshrined anywhere as a right, but it is a privilege that most vendors agree will help improve business over time.
      Every game shop I've ever been into has been extremely cagy about even accepting a return of a damaged game – I've opened the box, and seen the serial number, I could be trying to pirate it.

      Aren't many apps on the Apple store free, though? On Android, I haven't had to pay for a single app I've downloaded... they've all been free (as in beer). Some of them have been trialware where you get to try an app out and decide whether to pay for the upgrade, keep the crippled version, or delete it from your phone, but for the most part, everything I've downloaded has been a case of "here you go, have fun".
      Yep, last I checked, about 40% of he 100,000 were free, my numbers may be a bit off by now. You're right, on the iPhone too, a decent chunk of the free ones are demos/trialware, I expect that a lot of the paid apps will turn into free apps with paid upgrades inside now that apple have let developers release free apps with in app purchases.

  2. What's the correlation? by Necroloth · · Score: 5, Insightful

    I'm sorry if I've misread... but from my understanding, there are more book-type apps released, not apps sold/used?

    1. Re:What's the correlation? by gyrogeerloose · · Score: 2, Informative

      Would be nice to get the app separate.

      There are several free e-book reader apps available for the iPhone that are pretty decent. Most of the stand-alone books have been public domain stuff released by one or two publishers who have pretty much spammed the App Store with them hoping to capitalize on people who aren't aware that much this stuff is available for free. It got so bad at one point that Apple was forced to make a separate category for books so users didn't have to wade through the hundreds of book titles to in order to find the apps they actually want.

      --
      This ain't rocket surgery.
  3. Maybe by zblack_eagle · · Score: 5, Insightful

    While it may be technically accurate that ebook apps are rising in popularity, I don't think that developers releasing more ebook apps (likely to be more individual books released as apps than app readers) translates to it being popular for users. For one, it is probably relatively easy for publishers to recycle some code to wrap around books they publish and release them as apps in the app store. Making unique games for a somewhat different platform in terms of IO and UI would be more difficult. If anything it just means that the traditional content owners have been moving in on the iphone as yet another platform for releasing their content on to.

  4. Let me quote Steve Jobs ... by stasike · · Score: 2, Funny

    People don't read anymore

    http://www.google.com/search?q=quote+steve+jobs+people+don't+read+Anymore&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&aq=t

    1. Re:Let me quote Steve Jobs ... by emm-tee · · Score: 3, Funny

      People

      tl;dr

      ;)

  5. interesting for dedicated e-book manufacturers by Chrisq · · Score: 3, Insightful

    This could mean that people will become more used to reading books in electronic form and more likely to buy a dedicated e-book reader for the improved contrast, battery life, etc. On the other hand it could mean that people will find the advantage of "one device" means that they will go with phones rather than dedicated readers. It will be interesting anyway.

  6. It's easier to produce a 100 book apps by Chris_Jefferson · · Score: 4, Informative

    Looking through those book apps, there are many groups of people who are just taking every out-of-copyright book they can find and turning each into a separate app. In general, the games don't do the same things, hence the lower quantity.

    --
    Combination - fun iPhone puzzling
  7. not suitable for ebooks by umberto_soprano · · Score: 2, Insightful

    320x480, 3.5" too small for ebooks IMHO

    1. Re:not suitable for ebooks by Cro+Magnon · · Score: 2, Informative

      I've read ebooks on my iPhone. It's not as good as my Kindle, but the books are readable.

      --
      Slow down, cowboy! It has been 4 hours since you last posted. You must wait another few hours.
    2. Re:not suitable for ebooks by ColdWetDog · · Score: 2, Informative

      320x480, 3.5" too small for ebooks IMHO

      Maybe yes, maybe no. I just finished reading both Moby Dick and Tale of Two Cities on the iPhone, just to see what the experience was like. Not bad, but certainly not optimal. It's just a little too small to handle comfortably for long periods of time, but I found that it was pretty easy to immerse myself in the books even with the small screen because flipping pages (on Stanza) was so easy. I also found that the reverse screen was quite readable for long periods of time.

      I'm still in the market for a dedicated ebook reader (or a decent tablet), but for casual use - or to read on a bus or a plane - it was better than I expected.

      YMMV. Past performance not indicative of future gains or losses. Don't read while driving or operating machinery. Do not taunt happy fun ball.

      --
      Faster! Faster! Faster would be better!
  8. Calm people, calm... by omgarthas · · Score: 5, Insightful

    It's just apps released, I could release tomorrow three millions of "Find your ideal weight" and that wouldn't mean that Fitness apps were rocking the market...

    Book apps are easy, fast and cheap to release, hence the massive release numbers, not any indication of a success

  9. screw that by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Insightful

    The idea of wasting a slot and otherwise cluttering up my springboard for a single book irks me to no end. If I read at even a fraction of the percentage of books I do like this, I'll have no room left and will have to delete books to fit in new ones in a month or two.

    Hey publishers, you don't need to release your books as their own frakking app, release it in a standard format that can be purchased and read in the a reader like Stanza and you'll have my attention. Until then, I'm not interested.

    CAPCHA: sympathy
    No, they will have none!

  10. the iPhone is a so-so ebook reader by obarthelemy · · Score: 3, Informative

    I had a go at my sister in law's iPhone over the week-end. The thing certainly is way better then my WinMob 6.1 piece of crap. The user interface in particular is quite good.

    I was especially trying to confirm whether the iPhone would work for me as an ebook reader. I'm used to using PDAs, starting with the original Palm Pilot, on to an aging Palm TX. Sadly, the answer is no: the screen is too small for me. I'm hoping to upcoming 5" android phones will be good.. and not TOO big.

    BTW, my 2 dislikes about the iPhone;
    - the thing is a fingerprint magnet,
    - and the "page-preview" in Safari is not kept up to date with the actual page render, so if you want to know if a longish page has finished downloading, you have to actually fully open it, you can't see it from the "tabs" preview.

    --
    The Cloud - because you don't care if your apps and data are up in the air.
  11. Development time vs Shovelware time by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Insightful

    The "Percentage of Releases" stat means nothing to me in this case because once a company has released one eBook it costs them virtually nothing in either time or money to release as many others as they want. All they have to do is release the same app with a different eBook file in it and a different name. If each game that comes out takes months of development and each eBook beyond the first takes minutes of "development" then it's obvious which will be released in greater quantities.

    Now, if you told me more people were actually BUYING eBooks than games, then I'd be impressed.