“Apple’s iOS 5 built-in a lot of new, basic functionality previously filled by 3rd party App Store apps, which effectively “Sherlocked” those apps, rendering them redundant in a post-iOS 5 world,” Rene Ritchie writes for TiPb. “Or did it? There’s a world of difference between basic functionality that serves the needs of only the most casual user, and advanced functionality with enough control and features to satisfy a hardcore pro.”
MacDailyNews Take: There’s also a world of difference between the number of “casual” or average users and “hardcore pros.”
“What Apple did with iOS 5, as with previous generations of iOS, is take away the entry-level business of several prominent 3rd party apps, but still left them with the premium, higher order market,” Ritchie writes. “While it’s always dangerous creating an enterprise based on glaring functionality holes Apple will almost certainly fill at some point in the future, there’s just as much opportunity building a great product that Apple’s entry into the space can benefit.”
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Here are a 5 apps I think could make that case:
• Instapaper (iOS 5: Reader and Reading List)
• Camera+ (iOS 5: Camera app)
• LockInfo (iOS 5: Notification Center)
• Todo (iOS 5: Reminders app)
• Kik (iOS 5: iMessage app)
Ritchie writes, “With iOS 5, Apple certainly killed the low-end, casual market for a lot of iPhone and iPad apps… For the best-in-class, however, for the premium apps with the pro-level functionality, it’s possible Apple’s entry into their space will validate their functionality and introduce them to a much larger audience. Only time will tell if they ultimately lose any sales to the new built-in apps, or gain even more customers due to increased awareness.”
Read more in the full article here.