I seem to be in a 'unusual' scenario, I say unusual because I have no real use for mobile apps. When I am out and away from my computer the last thing I want to do is play games or use some app simply because it seems quite pointless and doesn't make my life any easier, as it makes no sense to use 'apps' outside. I am going to remove games from this problem altogether as I don't even like games on desktops anymore and never even liked oldschool games like snake and stuff.

I don't use social networking simply because my life is very static and it would result in a lot of pointless posts over and over, either about what I eat or what the cat did. Even when I did use FB I NEVER wanted to use it outside work, FB was really that thing I would go on to pass time when I was bored at work, but I never did that on a phone.

I use my phone to call, send / check e-mails and my schedule, I use an actual camera to take pictures if I need to, phone cameras are quite terrible, before iPhones or whatever came out this was also the case and equally I had no purpose or desire for apps. I am usually good at putting myself in other peoples shoes, very good I would say but I cant seem to understand why mobile apps would be popular, the way I see it, I think of apps being good when travelling away from home, or useful when 'waiting' for something. I had a look at some apps that were popular and I have to say I didn't find any use to them, even things like maps were somewhat pointless to me as I have sat nav.

Sadly this is a large market (although as days go by I am starting to feel it is smaller than it seems) and I feel I am going to have to 'get' it. I feel I am not alone in this situation either, however my life is very commercial orientated and if I ever used an app to communicate instead of a call I would probably get laughed at.

I had a look at http://www.appstoreapps.com/most-popular-apps/ to see whats popular, so far I have looked in many lists and yet to come across even one app that remotely made me interested. Now I originally thought the problem was that I had a windows phone and not an iPhone or an Android, but assuming that site is sincere, I think it is safe to say I would feel like this regardless of device.

Ok so my questions are, am I alone in feeling like this and if so what am I not getting?

I should mention I do all my work and stuff on a desktop / workstation and when travelling abroad a laptop, simply because I need a big screen and a 'real' full keyboard.

Ok, so you've arbitrarily removed games, social media and cameras because you personally don't like them. You're entitled to your opinion of course, but are you seriously telling me you cannot understand how other people would use those kinds of apps?

I often play mobile games if I'm waiting for something (e.g. flight transits, etc). Social media? Obviously people like it and tbh, it makes more sense on a mobile device than on a desktop really. Cameras? Absolutely a DSLR is better than a phone if you're a photographer. But if you just want to take some snapshots of something, phone cameras are actually pretty decent these days (to the point where the compact point'n'shoot camera market is circling the drain). The best camera is the one you have with you.

But even forgetting all those categories (which are probably the largest)... there are plenty of useful apps out there.

Apps are just software tools. If a tool is useful, why not have it on you when you're not at home? You already use "apps" in that you use a mail app and a calendar app. Are you also saying you've never wanted to be able to access any other information while not at home? Movie times? Restaurant reviews?

Now you can make an argument as to whether a particular software tool is better as a web page or a dedicated tool, but that's just arguing over the UI.

I don't use a ton of mobile apps/games, but i can see the point. it's nice to use pandora while working, rather than listening to the same song 20 times on any radio station. I don't use facebook to share things, more to keep in contact with people(far easier than email), rarely making a post more than once a month.

It's also incredibly handy to recieve/send emails on my phone, since i can get them whenever. being able to browse the internet while on the ride to/from work is also quite handy, reading articles, checking the forums, etc. I wish i could program on it, but it's not the same without a real keyboard(not sure about android, but on a jailbroken iphone, you could install gcc onto it, and compile/run stuff right there).

I have a few games i play to pass the time, but i don't activly search for new games. in affect, you can pretty much do anything on a smartphone that you could do on a desktop/laptop, your just forgoing a mouse/keyboard for touch input. this has it's own bags of problems, but nothing that can't allow you to work around it.

edit: also, many current phone cameras are quite comparable to an average camera, my phone takes quite impressive pictures.

Mobile devices have always been roughly 10 years behind desktop devices. This was true even back in the late 90's. Just about anything that was commonly done back in 2004 can be done on a mobile device today.

What do you do on your computer? You don't play games (desktop or mobile), you don't use social networking. You do surf the web, and you use business apps.

You don't play games, so that's a huge block of things gone. You don't have a social network, so no need for apps or texting or email. You don't watch videos, so no need for entertainment software.

You talk about having a nav system in your car so you don't want to use mobile devices. When was the last time your maps were updated? Map apps are continually updated so you won't need to worry about getting lost in that new subdivision. Also mobile maps frequently include real-time traffic information and will reroute around congestion. Some cities like the Bay area's 511 Traffic even reroutes you for predicted slowdowns, not just the ones currently in progress.

There is mobile commerce (see something, scan it, either get coupons or get the best prices online), mobile payment (swipe your phone instead of a card), and location-based services like FourSquare and Latitude.

You mentioned photography, do you have a model release form? There are apps for that.

As far as your laptop goes, I'm guessing my Transformer tablet with a 10" screen, keyboard, laptop-style touchpad with a 3-button bar, that measures a half inch thick is probably considerably smaller and lighter than your laptop. I use it for more than the things listed above. I can VPN and run remote desktop, and my list of Windows remote desktop machines currently has 15 machines. I can also run it as an X server if I want to connect to Linux or *nix based machines. So the few things it doesn't do native I can connect to a desktop and run remote.

The whole concept of computing has changed over the last decade.

In the past, computing was something you did externally. You went to a computer and did some work. You went to a game console and played games. Technology was parallel with our lives.

Today computing augments whatever you are doing. When you travel you can augment it with maps and traffic reports. When you communicate you can augment it with instant turnaround. When you are bored you can entertain yourself. The technology is intertwined with life.

I despise Facebook--think it's one of the worst creations in human history--practically does nothing but breed negativity, unnecessary drama, and people becoming tougher than 9 gods via internet.

That said, I use it excessively to pass free-time that would be better spent elsewhere because the other 9 billion people in the world are so infatuated with it that it's nearly the only way to communicate with them...

I don't use many mobile apps because very few of them I find useful.

--The Weather Channel app, I check every morning, used to check periodically during my time working in construction, and use to determine whether I want to hunt and/or which tree stand to use.

--Mobile Banking app to manage both my accounts.

--Spotify because I like music, and think it's better than Pandora.

I've also got 4 mobile games.

--Minecraft (For my sons)

--Survivalcraft (A much more realistic-survivalist version that I personally enjoy playing.

--Block Fortress(A hybrid between Minecraft/Tower Defense/FPS that I haven't played in months, but always say I'm going to)

--Goofy Cubes(To test for a fellow GameDev member.)

Now, with that said, I would play more mobile games, I just don't think many are worth the time/money. I'm not much of a casual gamer, I like in-depth games that I can play for hours if I choose to--RTS, RPG, FPS, Free-roam, etc.. These are much more enjoyable on a non-mobile medium. (Plus with my little 5GB iPhone4, not a lot of the games I'd like to play will run or fit without having to worry about space management. lol

Even when in the car, I often use my phone to find something over the sat-nav -- I can use google to find a business' address, and open it in maps straight away (or then copy it into the sat-nav).

I like to watch the pro Starcraft leagues (insert your own fav sport here), so I use an app to pre-download them while on the home WiFi, and then listen to them while walking or on the train.

When I need to catch a train, it's much easier to pull out my phone and make 3 taps to see the next departure time, rather than going into my office, loading up their website, typing in my address/the station, etc... (especially if I'm not at home).

Sure, dedicated tools like DSLRs and alarm clocks are great to have, but its still handy to have an inferior pocket version, especially if it's integrated into something you're already carrying anyway.
If you stay somewhere without a clock, or see something worh capturing, you've got that tool. Same with the GPS - I don't carry a sat-nav with me daily, but in almost any situation I've now got a GPS in my pocket (insert NSA joke here...), or calculator, or calendar.

I don't use too many other apps though. Occasionally when I'm out somewhere I'll load up urbanspoon to find a good restaurant, or if I want to know if I've been paid yet I'll use my bank's app. I scanned a QR-code once ;)

I guess your mileage will depend on how much time you spend outside of your office, your home and your car...

Woah, someone actually using a telephone to do phone calls...you're a dinosaur. Welcome to my world.

Hmm I am starting to get the idea that I am either living a very boring life or just use to living life before the mobile app wars began, with me my decisions for leaving the house are made at home and I guess I have just come late to the mobile world, I mean I have been without a mobile for almost 6 years and despite being in A LOT of messy situations I managed to survive without a phone altogether, even sometimes without a car.

I think the problem I am faced with, if I cant picture myself using apps or playing I cant physically work on a app and I feel this is something I am going to have to take advantage of for the obvious reasons. For me it is very important to understand not what people use but why and when, I guess I am just unsure on the market. Eitherway based on comments here, would you say games is really where the app market is more saturated? and are we talking more 'simple' games, like I dunno bejewelled or tetris or something? Things to pass time with rather than 'master'?

I often use my phone to find something over the sat-nav

I like to watch the pro Starcraft leagues

When I need to catch a train,

Sure, dedicated tools like DSLRs and alarm clocks are great to have, but its still handy to have an inferior pocket version, especially if it's integrated into something you're already carrying anyway.

I scanned a QR-code once ;)

1) I do use the Map, and some default tools that come on my phone, I didn't include those (camera, light, alarm)

2) I would rather just watch my favorite sport, lol

3) I don't use public transportation, so this doesn't paply.

4) I agree.

5) So did I! Literally like one time...

Woah, someone actually using a telephone to do phone calls...you're a dinosaur. Welcome to my world.

I completely agree... I swear to God, they could make the iPhone6 without a "Phone" function, and 90% of the world wouldn't figure it out (and probably 50-66% of those wouldn't grasp the fact that it's no longer a "phone")... Until one of the other 10% made a Facebook post about it, then everyone would take to Facebook in order to complain and bitch together in one big rally.

would you say games is really where the app market is more saturated? and are we talking more 'simple' games, like I dunno bejewelled or tetris or something? Things to pass time with rather than 'master'?

Absolutely the biggest concentration of app store applications are games. And yes, "simple" (aka, "casual") games are the huge market here. Most people don't want to stare at a 5" screen for hours on end. They want a game (like people have said above) that they can play while waiting in the airport or in the check-out aisle then put it away for later. Candy Crush is the hugest example of this. Then you've got a lot of "trading card" style games or what-have-you where you click a button to do a mission, and the game randomly generates whether you passed/failed and/or got your items. Each mission takes stamina away at increasing amounts, then you have to wait for hours while it regenerates.

Like I said, casual games, just to pass spare moments. (Unless you hit the Candy Crush jackpot and the world becomes so infatuated they start churches dedicated to you.)

I completely agree... I swear to God, they could make the iPhone6 without a "Phone" function, and 90% of the world wouldn't figure it out (and probably 50-66% of those wouldn't grasp the fact that it's no longer a "phone")... Until one of the other 10% made a Facebook post about it, then everyone would take to Facebook in order to complain and bitch together in one big rally.

Meh, my "phone" is actually a pocket computer. Phone calls, SMS, voicemail? All just apps. Could easily be replaced with skype/viber/whatsapp/whatever.

I guess I have just come late to the mobile world, I mean I have been without a mobile for almost 6 years and despite being in A LOT of messy situations I managed to survive without a phone altogether, even sometimes without a car.

Congratulations on making your life unnecessarily harder! :D