About 2000 apps available for webOS users and why that low number can be ok

We see lots of criticism in terms of webOS and the low number of available apps. Actually, in the past I have been a voice of that criticism, but after having my hands on a Pre Plus and Pixi Plus for a few weeks I am having a slight change of heart. Of course, this could still be the high that comes from playing with a new gadget, but I think there is more to that. You see I am a recovering iPhone addict, or more specifically a recovering iPhone app addict. Given that when I first heard these numbers on the amount of available apps for webOS users I almost said “only 2,000.”

Anyway, before I go any further in my rant, according to a recent post on PreCentral the current app totals and breakdowns are as follows;

“as of this writing, the official on-device App Catalog has 1623 apps (counting all apps in all regions), Web Distribution has 145 apps, Beta distributionhas 61 apps, and the homebrew gallery has 443.”

Which in the end adds up to 2,272 available apps. Compared to other places that is not a high number, but should we be comparing? I am saying we don’t need to compare.

You see, I once knocked webOS because of the lack of apps that were available in the App Catalog. Of course we all know that there are plenty of reasons for the low number and I am not going to suggest that I don’t feel like there should be more at this point. But after looking at what webOS and the App Catalog is by itself, I now think that 2,000 is actually an ok number.

I will say that it is ok for a few reasons, but mainly because the apps that are available are seemingly all nicely done. In fact, short of having to do a few things in the browser that I had an app for on the iPhone I have found everything that I need (and yes I realize everyones needs are different).

Bottom line here is that it is easy to poke fun at what is a low number compared to the iPhone App Store or the Android Market. But what is important to remember is that few people need more than a handful of apps and many will likely find what they need if they were to just give it a chance. Plus there is a Facebook app, as well as several Twitter apps and for lots of people that is where the need for apps truly ends.

As far as what I have installed outside of the default apps, in no particular order, here is the list. The Weather Channel, Slacker Radio, Mediafly, Evernote, TweeFree, Facebook, Foursquare and The New York Times.