Do You Prefer Native iOS Apps Or Do You Use 3rd Party Alternatives?

Jaguarr40

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What is your preference with apps? Would you rather use Native apps or 3rd Party apps.
Personally I think they both have their place depending on what you want to do and at times you have no choice but to go to a 3rd party app. I try to use Native apps whenever I can myself.
 

Just_Me_D

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Whichever best serves my needs, and therefore, I prefer to use both native and 3rd party apps.
 

zerog46

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I personally use native apps for certain things. Calendar is my one and most important. I have had issues with after market calendar apps and have been Burt by them. I have way to much info to worry about that app not working.
 

kataran

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In the past most Native apps lacked any real function that's where third party Devs got there ideas on how to give users a better experience but then in turn the companies started to see the improvements and incorporated them into there Native apps in incenses cutting into the Devs that brought the ideas in the first place

I use Native apps because they are naturally more integrated in the OS


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Amamba

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What is your preference with apps? Would you rather use Native apps or 3rd Party apps.
Personally I think they both have their place depending on what you want to do and at times you have no choice but to go to a 3rd party app. I try to use Native apps whenever I can myself.

Thing of it as a general vs specialized. Apple apps are general; they provide basic set of features, because Apple needs to distribute their resources evenly to work on iOS as a whole.

3rd party software is specialized. They concentrate on one thing, and they try to do it better.

I use 3rd party where it makes sense, i.e. where I need more than what Apple has to offer.

E.g. time management (calendar / reminders). Apple omitted a major feature by not showing due reminders in calendar view. I need to see what my commitments are for the day, and I don't want to switch between two different programs for this. So I get a 3rd party soft - there's a number of great solutions (PI, Calengoo, free Jorte). I went with Calengoo because this is what I used on Android and I am used to the way it works. This doesn't mean that iCal or Reminders are bad - just that they are insufficient for my needs.

Same with Notes. If all needed was to type a quick two liner, it would be fine. But if I want to take meeting notes with some structure, do a quick sketch, or quickly hand write something, Notes is inadequate. Again, there's a number of solutions - Evernote, Springpad, a word processor like Pages, I settled for Good Notes - they allow handwriting, typing, even great for mindmapping, and it's a fast program.

I am using Google Hangouts instead of FaceTime. The biggest advantage is that with it I can call a US phone number on Wifi from my tablet using Google Voice for free. As far as I can tell, the video conferencing is about the same (not sure though if FaceTime allows video calling more than one person at a time like Hangouts does ? We often have 3-way video calls with other family members)

I don't have an iPhone, if I did I would likely use Waze for navigation. I have it on Android, and I find it better, especially for long distance travel, than Google maps - it has real time updates when there are major accidents or other delays along the way, while Google Maps is often late in reporting delays. I assume Maps on iOS would also be behind in the real time data.

OTOH, Safari is a good browser, and there's no reason for me to switch. Numbers is a nice, if bloated, program, and I could use it for a quick spreadsheet I don't intend on sharing.

Basically, you find the best tool that works for you, and depending on how much you use something, you may be ok with a basic version included with OS, or you may need a more specialized program to better suit your particular needs.
 

BlackBerry Guy

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Since I'm a multi-platformer, I use both to make everything work across all devices. Native contacts and calendar on my iPad and Mac, and synced via caldav and carddav to my Nexus 5 and 7, and BlackBerry Z10. I use Evernote for note taking, Wunderlist for to dos and reminders, and Dropbox for cloud storage.
 

jclisenby

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I use native apps for Calendar, reminders, email, alarm clock and timer/stopwatch, and, of course, Safari for web browsing.

Google Maps for navigation, Tweetbot for Twitter, Native Instagram, Facebook, YouTube, and Foursquare builds. The Weather Channel Max for weather.


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jmendel33

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Thing of it as a general vs specialized. Apple apps are general; they provide basic set of features, because Apple needs to distribute their resources evenly to work on iOS as a whole.

3rd party software is specialized. They concentrate on one thing, and they try to do it better.

I use 3rd party where it makes sense, i.e. where I need more than what Apple has to offer.

E.g. time management (calendar / reminders). Apple omitted a major feature by not showing due reminders in calendar view. I need to see what my commitments are for the day, and I don't want to switch between two different programs for this. So I get a 3rd party soft - there's a number of great solutions (PI, Calengoo, free Jorte). I went with Calengoo because this is what I used on Android and I am used to the way it works. This doesn't mean that iCal or Reminders are bad - just that they are insufficient for my needs.

Same with Notes. If all needed was to type a quick two liner, it would be fine. But if I want to take meeting notes with some structure, do a quick sketch, or quickly hand write something, Notes is inadequate. Again, there's a number of solutions - Evernote, Springpad, a word processor like Pages, I settled for Good Notes - they allow handwriting, typing, even great for mindmapping, and it's a fast program.

I am using Google Hangouts instead of FaceTime. The biggest advantage is that with it I can call a US phone number on Wifi from my tablet using Google Voice for free. As far as I can tell, the video conferencing is about the same (not sure though if FaceTime allows video calling more than one person at a time like Hangouts does ? We often have 3-way video calls with other family members)

I don't have an iPhone, if I did I would likely use Waze for navigation. I have it on Android, and I find it better, especially for long distance travel, than Google maps - it has real time updates when there are major accidents or other delays along the way, while Google Maps is often late in reporting delays. I assume Maps on iOS would also be behind in the real time data.

OTOH, Safari is a good browser, and there's no reason for me to switch. Numbers is a nice, if bloated, program, and I could use it for a quick spreadsheet I don't intend on sharing.

Basically, you find the best tool that works for you, and depending on how much you use something, you may be ok with a basic version included with OS, or you may need a more specialized program to better suit your particular needs.


Thats a really great way to put it, i agree with you!
 

JobSteves

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I work as a CNA so I don't really need my apps to have 17363843 features for my job so all of the native apps do their job perfectly for me. Plus Safari is my favorite mobile browser I've ever used (although I do miss text wrap from opera.)


Edit: I lied. I have hangouts that I use instead of FaceTime because no one I know has any iOS devices (well my girlfriend has an iPad but she also has a GS4 so that still makes hangouts better for me.)


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projectman

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I prefer native if possible. However...I use Pocket Informant for calendar. That might be the only native app replacement I use regularly.
 

Jaguarr40

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Thing of it as a general vs specialized. Apple apps are general; they provide basic set of features, because Apple needs to distribute their resources evenly to work on iOS as a whole.

3rd party software is specialized. They concentrate on one thing, and they try to do it better.

I use 3rd party where it makes sense, i.e. where I need more than what Apple has to offer.

E.g. time management (calendar / reminders). Apple omitted a major feature by not showing due reminders in calendar view. I need to see what my commitments are for the day, and I don't want to switch between two different programs for this. So I get a 3rd party soft - there's a number of great solutions (PI, Calengoo, free Jorte). I went with Calengoo because this is what I used on Android and I am used to the way it works. This doesn't mean that iCal or Reminders are bad - just that they are insufficient for my needs.

Same with Notes. If all needed was to type a quick two liner, it would be fine. But if I want to take meeting notes with some structure, do a quick sketch, or quickly hand write something, Notes is inadequate. Again, there's a number of solutions - Evernote, Springpad, a word processor like Pages, I settled for Good Notes - they allow handwriting, typing, even great for mindmapping, and it's a fast program.

I am using Google Hangouts instead of FaceTime. The biggest advantage is that with it I can call a US phone number on Wifi from my tablet using Google Voice for free. As far as I can tell, the video conferencing is about the same (not sure though if FaceTime allows video calling more than one person at a time like Hangouts does ? We often have 3-way video calls with other family members)

I don't have an iPhone, if I did I would likely use Waze for navigation. I have it on Android, and I find it better, especially for long distance travel, than Google maps - it has real time updates when there are major accidents or other delays along the way, while Google Maps is often late in reporting delays. I assume Maps on iOS would also be behind in the real time data.

OTOH, Safari is a good browser, and there's no reason for me to switch. Numbers is a nice, if bloated, program, and I could use it for a quick spreadsheet I don't intend on sharing.

Basically, you find the best tool that works for you, and depending on how much you use something, you may be ok with a basic version included with OS, or you may need a more specialized program to better suit your particular needs.
So I took it for granted that most answering this would know I meant iPhone.
You now owning an iPhone out of curiosity what made you answer this post and if you had an iPhone would you feel the same way as your post?
 

Highrisedrifter

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Whichever best serves my needs, and therefore, I prefer to use both native and 3rd party apps.

Same for me. I would dearly love to get rid of my jailbreak because the apps I currently use are included in the next OS (BiteSMS quick reply on my iPhone 5 for instance). I have F.lux on my iPad 2 and I know that a halfway-house has been included in 7.1 and i'm debating whether to remove the jailbreak and install 7.1. This will be the last iOS that will run on my iPad 2 by all accounts as I hear that iOS8 will not support it and the iPad 2 has been removed from the Apple Store anyway.

I'd prefer to use built in apps as there is less chance of a screw up but I still use third party apps as and when necessary.
 

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