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Comment by ddlatham | Hacker News Reader

So he is asking, where are the apps that are available for Android, but not iPhone that meet the following criteria

1. Not made by Google or built-in

2. Popular and well made (no long tail)

3. Don't take advantage of things Android can do but iPhone can't (home screens, notifications, deep integration, background services, etc.)

Suppose you had such an app, or were developing one. While Android has passed iOS in new phones sold, it's still catching up on existing userbase. Why wouldn't you have an iPhone version too, since by definition your app already would run fine there?

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Since the definition of 'Killer App' is an app that makes people buy it because it's not available on other devices, it doesn't make any sense to eliminate the ones that rely on Android-only features. That's what enables a Killer App.

Ah, but switch the question around and you have grubers point: Why wouldnt you have an Android version too...

It's the iOS exclusivity that is interesting. iOS has exclusive apps that should be able to run on Android. The reverse isn't as much the case.

It's "Windows Only" logic: exclusivity through ubiquity. Why bother catering for the niche marget when you can score big with iOS?

In terms of deep integration, anyone know if an Android app can access the phone's text messages? I don't think an iPhone can, right?

SwiftKey (on Android) scans previous text and email messages, if I'm not mistaken.

The result is usually convenient, but it can be disconcerting - I had a friend borrow my phone to text someone and as he was composing his message, he continued to select the most suggested word until he'd completed an entire email I'd sent a week earlier verbatim...

Yes, there are many SMS clients, such as Handcent.

A "Killer App" is by common definition one that is not available on other platforms and drives adoption of a particular platform so it can be used. If an app is available on both iPhone and Android, it's not going to drive purchase decisions one way or the other in the way a Killer App would.

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