Update your flipping apps on your iPhone: PLEASE!

This post over at Textually got me going. It shows a very busy iPhone screen. What annoyed the hell out of me was the fact that there are 16 apps waiting for an update.

ARRRRGH!

I simply cannot stand it when someone shows me their iPhone for some reason or other. You know, to demonstrate an app, or to show me a photo — and then I end up seeing the front screen.

I can’t stand it.

Because invariably I am forced to see that the person has updates waiting — and it’s never one or two — it’s usually TENS of updates!

I can’t stand this!

It really winds me up.

When I point it out to people, they invariably respond with something like, “Oh.. yeah, I’ll need to update those.”

Now and again I meet people with crazy amounts of outstanding updates. It winds me up something chronic.

Let me tell you why: I remember, you see.

I remember back in the horrible old Symbian days when actually getting an application ON to a consumer’s phone was punishingly difficult. The attrition rate from the ‘download this app’ web page to actually getting the app installed on the phone was shocking. It was seriously difficult to imagine any normob (“normal mobile user”) actually using third party apps. It was SO difficult that Nokia executives used to line up to tell me that I didn’t understand the app ecosystem — that the best apps would rise to the top — and what they meant by this is that Nokia would preload them.

Geez it was difficult.

I used to meet developers all the time who had super ideas but who were continually beaten by the distribution problem. Getting apps on phones was nothing short of a miracle feat during the dark days.

And now… NOW! NOW it’s easy. Too easy. So easy that folk don’t bother updating apps!

Gaaaaaaaaaah!

It’s fine for consumers. I don’t mind the normobs not quite understanding the importance of updating. But industry executives? Folk who’ve been around the block in mobile? Come on! You were there. You remember the utter pain of third party apps? Come on! Think about the poor developers. You OWE it to those who have struggled with signing certificates and buggy custom operator firmware to upgrade your apps whenever you can!