IPhone App Store encourages new affliction: Appiphilia

For the last few weeks, I've been staying up late glued to my screen, and frankly it has been wreaking havoc on my sleep patterns. No, not watching the Olympics or the nonstop political gabfest on 24/7 news channels.

I have been obsessively logging in to iTunes.

It's not about the songs, audiobooks, TV shows or movies. It's all about the apps.

As an early adopter of the iPhone -- yeah, I paid full price last year; what of it? -- the one thing I really missed in retiring my Palm PDA was having all of the many applications that entertained and aided me in living my life. Apple didn't let developers create programs for the iPhone when it launched (only its Web browser, which is a huge difference). So I couldn't track my expenses, calculate my calories and get my game on, like I could through those programs I downloaded for my Palm. I mourned the loss of those conveniences daily, though I was comforted (and distracted) by getting the real Internet at the touch of a finger.

But all of that changed when Apple opened the App Store last month.

I was so elated that the night the store opened I was there downloading applications I couldn't even use yet. (We had to wait for the free software upgrade to iPhone 2.0 the next day.)

Which all leads me to this: I'm addicted to apps. The first step to recovery is admitting you have a problem.

My problem started gently with the free apps. They're free, right? So a Mobile Banking and Pandora Radio app here, a Facebook and AIM app there. Shazam, Truveo, Mobile News Network. Download as many as you want. Maybe browse through some of the other App Store offerings while the phone is syncing. What's the harm?

That's how appiphilia starts. The free apps were a wonderful appetizer. But ...

(Are you app-addicted too? Share your virtues on this vice in comments below.)

... there wasn't enough variety. I wanted more.

A colleague of mine steadfastly adheres to an I-will-spend-no-money-on-apps stance. That's admirable, but that's just not me. After all, I'm the gal who can't watch an "I Love the '80s" marathon with my laptop nearby, for fear of an impulsive nostalgia-fueled shopping spree with every song snippet.

After a while, 99 cents an app didn't seem like too much to spend on something I'd use over and over. Hey, I thought, it's what I'd spend on a song on Amazon.com or iTunes.

Soon, I moved on to the harder stuff, downloading $3 and $6 apps without a thought. Click, click. There was MLB.com At Bat for baseball stats and video, Wine Snob to track my tastings. One-click shopping (Apple stored my credit card information) eliminated the pondering process. It's an impulse buyer's dream -- and nightmare.

I'd click in at work during downtime to do a quick look, or tap the App Store on my iPhone when riding on a Wi-Fi connection: Did something cool show up in the middle of the day?

I'd click in at night to scour an entire category page by page.

I even began to share my addiction with my mom, who inherited my 1st-gen phone when I upgraded to the 3G. (Come on, Mom, I said, it's just a click -- everybody's doing it.)

Somehow $10 for a game began to seem the same as a 99-cent click. From all reports, Super Monkey Ball was well worth the money. No argument there, but the game frankly stresses me out a little too much -- something about the bubble-bound monkey flying off the track into the water way too often.

Soon I had more apps than I could ever think of using -- 5 iPhone screens worth. I had downloaded about 80 apps. Although many of them are free, I'd spent $90 within a few weeks. 

I tried grouping them page by page on the phone to be able to make sense of them. This is no small task as dragging an app from the first screen to the last takes some serious digital dedication. (Note to Apple developers: You might consider figuring out how to offer users the ability to configure the screens within iTunes.)

This application shuffle helped distract me from the fact that I had to connect my 3G phone to a computer or power outlet about every 20 minutes to keep it charged should I actually want to use the phone. Checking e-mail and using all those apps kept sucking my battery dry.

Every time I checked the App Store, there was another offering I wanted to try out. There are about half a dozen different Weight Watchers-friendly apps. Which one is better? Since there are no trials, you have to buy the app to figure it out -- or base your purchase solely on the reviews.

(A plea on behalf of the app addicted -- a core constituency: Apple, how about offering trial versions? It seems to work for Pocket PC and Palm.)

Then I hit my highest high. (No, I didn't buy the "I Am Rich" app for $1,000. I have my standards.) In a fit of iPhonic euphoria, I clicked away $30 within seconds to download the American Heritage Dictionary app. You never know when you might need to define something, right?

But that's where I had to draw the line. I had become app-pathetic.

To slow the flow of money from my account into Apple's coffers, I've had to put on my own parental controls, so to speak. I activated the shopping cart feature. Imposed prudence, I thought.

Unfortunately, it doesn't apply to application purchases.

I still have twitchy fingers, but I'm trying to think before I click.

-- Michelle Maltais

Maltais is the Business section's Web editor

Are you app-addicted too? Share your virtues on this vice in comments below.

Comments

OH my GOD! I'm not alone anymore!!

You're not the only one . . . Ever since July 11th, I have been using the handy "advanced search" in google. I search for Iphone "within the last 24 hours" and all of the recent stories pop right up. Everything from new apps, to kensington chargers, to 2.0.1 & 2.0.2. Its becoming quite a habit. It was this type of dedication that allowed me to get my hands on Netshare. Between those searches, and seeing what is new at the App Store, I haven't been bored since July 10th. All thanks to Apple.

[Doug]

Yup, stay away far away from me. I think I'm in remission, because I haven't downloaded anything with the past 24 hours. I know I'm still contagious though, because anyone that plays with the Ms. Pacman app on my phone, either immediately downloads the app to their phone or vows to go out and buy an iphone the very next day.

[D. Rich]

I can't access iTunes at work so I use the App Store link at http://www.redrome.com which looks like a backdoor to iTunes. It shows recently released apps and has historical data that shows all updates that have occured in the App Store.

[Steve]

collecting apps is harmless enough. just think-before computers you would have been the weirdo with the house stuffed with newspapers and garbage, so it could be worse.

[Tommy]

How is this front-page news? It may as well be an apple press release. ...although I AM posting this from my iPhone...

[Phil Peterson]

I tried to install a few iPhone apps to my PC, but those program won't run. I have Windows Vista Premium, and I even started messing with the directory, thinking if I delete a few entries, it will make room in the raw to run the iPhone apps. This didn't work. Now my PC won't boot. I'm thinking to connect my now crippled PC to my laptop via the serial cable. The guy at Staples told me this is a way to "jump start" my PC. Ok, so the lesson here is that the iPhone apps don't run on PC's...I really wish Apple would've issued a warning!

[Jake]

I totally agree, and I'm glad I'm not the only one! I get email updates from gotapps.com every time a new app comes out, but I'm still surfing the App Store 3x a day. I also refresh rocktheiphone.com 50x a day to keep up with RSS feeds about it.

My wife is mad I keep buying games, but I haven't loved a product as much as the iPhone since I got my first computer at age 13. It's very addictive! Even my kids spend hours a day playing the games.

I use my phone for EVERYTHING... work, play, pictures, the works. I don't even take my digital camera to family events anymore. I just take pictures on the iPhone.

Now if they would only release a VIDEO recorder.. I'm have to adopt the phone and make it my third child. :)

[Ken]

Hi, I'm Ken, I'm an appaholic. (group: "Hi Ken.") I started with just one app a day, then my addiction grew to the point where I had over 100 apps crowding my screen, and I had long forgotten what most of them did. That didn't stop me, I kept downloading. I'd sneak a download in the bathroom, and while at work when no one was looking. I even downloaded while in church. ("Forgive me, Father, for I have downloaded.")

I visit the iTunes store every five minutes looking for new apps. My thirst is insatiable.

I even went to a 12-step program for appaholics, but it didn't help. We spent the two hours trading info about apps, tips and tricks, and building our wish list for new apps. I even confessed that I might like to become a developer to create and sell apps for the iPhone. No matter that I don't know how to program. I didn't do a lot of things before I owned an iPhone, but that hasn't stopped me. Before I go any further, though, I'm going to make sure there's a 12-step program for app developers. If there is, then I know I'll have a great resource for app ideas and source code.

I tried to stop, but resistance is futile. Even the flashlight app won't lead me out of this darkness. Apple, you've snagged my soul. And, I love you for it.

[leo d.]

you people are nuts.

i got my iphone and so far only got like 5 apps.

though i am waiting for these:

1. a true gps app
2. a video recorder
3. dialer with speed dialing AND voice dialing
4. xm and sirius player

[Kip Beatty]

Ha, I tell everyone who asks how I like the new iPhone that "I hate it!". The reason? iPhone Appiphilia! Never have I wasted so many hours of my time in so short a span. I'd keep typing this reply, but I've got to check the App Store!

[i.like.juice]

I’ｍ　ａ　ｔｏｔａｌ　ａｐｐ　ａｄｄｉｃｔ　ｔｏｏ．　Ｉ　ｔｈｉｎｋ　ｉｔ’ｓ　ｂｅｃａｕｓｅ　Ｉ’ｍ　ｈｏｐｉｎｇ　ｔｏ　ｇｅｔ　ｔｈａｔ　ｏｎｅ　ｐｅｒｆｅｃｔ　ａｐｐ　ｔｈａｔ’ｓ　ｗｈｙ　Ｉ’ｍ　ｓｏ　ｅａｇｅｒ　ｔｏ　ｃｈｅｃｋ　ｏｕｔ　ｅｖｅｒｙｔｈｉｎｇ．　For example, news feed. At first, everyone of them sucked, they either crash, too slow, force load in safari, or doesn't read Chinese. I want one that work the way I wanted so badly that I nearly downloaded all the pay or free ones. After weeks of waiting and trying, netnewswire has updated couple times and it has all the things that makes me really really happy. BUT! who knows...maybe there will be a better one coming out tomorrow, or tonight, and the hunt for the perfect app never ends.

[ebonieeNJ]

I'm glad to hear there are other's like me!!
I go to bed looking at the app store. When I'm at work i peep at the app store to see if the perfect fitness app appeared or updates to a current app appeared. Then I move on to the free apps and click BUY!, click INSTALL! Then I go to catagories to see what's new.. I also have all of my apps sorted in catgories on my phone (games page, most used page, reference page etc.. ) I am an app-aholic!!!

[mac]

drew the line at paying for the dictionary too. but isn't the spanish phrases app the best?
almost got into a couple car crashes, and had to throw the thing in the back seat until i got to a parking lot. it's terrible! tsk tsk
o, and yeah -- has anyone figured out how to 4ward text messages? i can't believe it's not obvious, if that is a feature. am really stumped.

[William kraal]

OH JEZUS MOTHER MARIA I NEED HELP IM ALSO ADDICTED, ITS LIKE GOOD SEX I JUST CANT STOP!! HELP ME!!

[izzy]

I call these people iHoles.

[Charles S]

I started with a jail broken iPod Touch and its "AppsStore" months and months ago. (which in a number of ways I think is much better designed than Apple's). I was up every night for months playing with all the possibilities. The unsung heroes of this are the jailbreak programmers who first opened up all kinds of possibilities. Now the Apps Store has me doing it all over again. It's really about the device, though, and the fact that it works so well. The other night three friends were over for a visit and the entire night was taken up sharing our experiences/oberservations/predictions/wishes regarding our iPhones/iPod Touches.

[Julio]

Good job Michelle!! Keep up the good work.

[Ntombi]

Yeah, I'm right there with you. I haven't spent quite as much money, but I'm not bragging, because next thing you know, I'll be here saying "You think $90 is bad?!"

I'm crossing my fingers that I will either run out of pages or get over my appiphilia before I spend much more money. I've taken one step in the right direction: I actually *deleted* 6 apps this morning.

One day at a time, one app not downloaded at a time...

[Graeme Gibson]

I used to say that my Nokia N95 was all a phone should be but the iPhone is something else.

As for the apps, I see I'm not alone. I can't believe that I paid for the Koi Pond... it does nothing expect look great and shows the wonderful piece of technology that is the iPhone.

I at least get a discount. I buy my online apps and music through a shopping club called www.MoneyBackHeaven.com and they pay be back 2% on every purchase. Not sure though that I'm saving money jus allowing me to spend more :)

[John Andrews]

Leo, Two words - Pan dora.

[Bluejade]

to ease the money pain - you can use the apps on up to 5 devices so your mom can use the ones you bought and vice versa : )

here is a link

http://allforces.com/2008/07/22/share-apps-between-iphones/

[rt]

FINALLY we're getting some help with this by some honest folks in the news sector who too have these phones. Good job.

[Partners in Grime]

Waiting for Mr Good App.

MLB.com is an amazing app.

[J Sam]

Hi, I'm Sam and I'm an addict... Play Arabela for an hour and then try to stop...