dBelement are removing the beta tag from their suite of iPhone web applications, and will begin requiring a subscription to use the apps as of May 20th. As a registered user, I received this news via en email over the weekend, which also offers a 25% discount to sign up now.
We are excited to announce that all of our apps are moving out of beta.
This means that our apps are fully stable, feature rich, and ready for the public.
The suite of apps from dBelement are:
- reader – The most powerful and full featured eBook reader for the iPhone. Store your entire library of books in one place!
- noter – A quick and efficient to-do list creator with full online Sync.
- MindDojo – A brain training game designed to get you ready for your day.
- Stripr – Advanced customizable RSS reader with hundreds of user submitted comics formated and updated hourly for your iPhone.
- cityRUNNR – Keep track of your runs, in this convenient exercise log application.
dBelement will now be offering access to this suite of apps for $3.99 per month ($2.99 if you’ve been a beta user). There is no requirement to enter into any long-term commitment, just a month-to-month arrangement. The subscription gets you access to all of the apps listed above as well as:
… constant app updates, unlimited bandwidth, unlimited storage and customer support!
I have tried out all of the apps in the dBelement suite except city
Runnr, as I just don’t have any need for it. They all seem decent enough web apps, and I’ve enjoyed MindDojo quite a bit (though it does not seem to have been refreshed in quite a while) – but I wouldn’t rate any of them as outstanding, or able to match up to native apps that provide the same function. The reader app for ebooks reading, for instance, is very sparse on options compared to the two native programs in this area – and a web-based ebooks reader (without 3G especially) just doesn’t seem to stack up against a local version at all.
There may well be a great market for these – but personally I can’t see paying out nearly $50 over the course of a year for a set of apps that will likely not stand up well against full-blown local apps that will appear in the App Store over coming months. For me, in order to be compelling enough to pay for, a web app needs to at least match up to any native app rivals, and should most likely have very strong full browser versions as well. Things like Gmail, Remember The Milk and apps that are powerful and easy to use via any browser, I can see paying for or subscribing to.
What do you all think? Would you pay for a web app right now? If so, which ones or which types would you be likely to choose over native apps?
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