I know there have been plenty of complaints about AT&T ‘s service (or lack thereof) in certain cities of late “ and that there are many folks who are hoping that AT&T ‘s exclusive on the iPhone in the US will end soon.  Here ‘s a timely reminder of one of the things I love […]
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Blackberry Spam Apps – Another Reminder of Where Apple Got It Right with AT&T

Apr 19th 2009 by

att-blackberry-apps

I know there have been plenty of complaints about AT&T ‘s service (or lack thereof) in certain cities of late “ and that there are many folks who are hoping that AT&T ‘s exclusive on the iPhone in the US will end soon. 

Here ‘s a timely reminder of one of the things I love about Apple ‘s relationship with AT&T though “ by all accounts Apple let the carrier know who was ‘in charge ‘ in a number of key areas right from the off.  One of these was Applications.  As in, no crappy carrier apps on this device.  And that was “ and remains “ such a great move.

I was reminded of this when I saw our friend Wayne ‘s post over at Gear Diary today “ detailing the numerous ‘spam apps ‘ he has been seeing appear on his AT&T Blackberry this weekend

Within the last day or so users of AT&T BlackBerry
service are noticing additional unwanted icons on their BlackBerry devices. Some of the exciting spam apps now on my BlackBerry: VPL Yellow Pages, Tetris, PAC-MAN, Make-UR-Ringtones, Mobile Banking.

Most (if not all) of what ‘s been pushed are links to download the full or demo applications. Which might lead BlackBerry users to ask – what right does AT&T have to place non-critical applications like games and ringtone makers automatically (and without my permission) on a device that I pay over $100 per month for? I can understand the crapware that comes pre-loaded – but adding software AFTER The purchase seems wrong. Doesn ‘t it?

Yes, it absolutely seems wrong to me.  This is one of the traditional ways in which so many mobile OS platforms have got it all wrong for so long.  Prior to all of their efforts to imitate the App Store, the typical ways to get apps onto other leading mobile OS platforms were: scattered, confusing, and clumsy to use (in most cases) “ and on top of that, you often got a bunch of junky carrier-imposed apps thrown onto your device. 

I don ‘t mind the idea of Apple ending its exclusive deal with AT&T for the iPhone and opening it up to other carriers.  I just hope “ and very much expect “ that they will hold firm on their ‘No Crappy Carrier Apps ‘ policy regardless of how many carriers they work with

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