iOS

The End of the Flashlight App and More

Wednesday, June 12, 2013

iOS7 is bringing some incredible new features, from transparencies, a new look and design, and the control center. But coming with the new controls and usability, Apple may also be putting a nail in the coffin of the many flashlight apps that are available in the iOS App Store by indie developers, among other offerings.

Being able to turn on your phone and immediately access a flashlight (via the camera flash LED) is something that has been a long time coming and is finally going to be available in iOS7. But what is to come of the poor developers that have created apps that do this very thing?

Our guess is their apps will slowly fade into the abyss unless they do something other than the exact same thing the new iOS7 Control Center does (maybe flash it, or have some sort of zombie killing ability). And as iOS7 gets spread across the spectrum of Apple devices those apps will simply become more deprecated.

But the flashlight app isn't the only one in jeopardy here. So what other types of apps could be on the waiting list for "app store death row" after the iOS7 public release? Here are a few that might raise some eyebrows.

iOS in the Car makes it easier to drive and use your phone safely. Driving assistant apps could be a thing of the past.
AirDrop lets you share files wirelessly with other iPhones and iPads. You won't need an app like Bump to swap files now.
FaceTime Audio completely destroys apps like Skype and Viber. Now you can make calls over Wi-Fi directly from your built-in Phone app.
Apple's revamped weather app offers a lot more information now. It looks a lot like the excellent weather app from Yahoo, and even uses the same data - I'm not sure Weatherbug has anything to worry about here just yet though because of the radar features.
The new iTunes Radio service encourages you to ditch Pandora. Although we still prefer Spotify
The new Safari web browser's 3D tabs looks great. It's faster than Google's Chrome browser too.
The new camera app has built-in photo filters, which might make you rethink opening Instagram.
There's no need to use a third-party lost iPhone finder. If you lose your phone, Apple will let you deactivate it remotely. The phone can't be reactivated again unless the thief has your Apple ID and password.
The new photos app can automatically build photo albums for you. These smart albums connect photos based on location and time. The new photos app challenges our favorites, Flayvr and Wide Angle.