Some iPhone apps are pricey
May 13, 2013, 5:09 PM | Updated: 5:09 pm
A.J. Shepherd, who blogs at Three Thrifty Guys, put together a list of some of the most expensive iPhone apps he could find.
“Last weekend my father-in-law and I were discussing our smartphones,” Shepherd writes, “and he was telling me he purchased a $50 astronomy Apple iPhone app awhile back. I couldn't believe it — $50?!”
As his list shows, cost does not necessarily mean value. One of the items, the “BarMax CA,” claims to be the “leading comprehensive California bar exam review course with the highest overall pass rates.” That app sells for $999.99.
The first question on that review course, one would suspect, tries to determine if the person really thought $999.99 was significantly less than $1,000.
Shepherd found an app called “Ignition,” ($129.99) which gives people remote access to computers and so forth.
Another app, “LAMP Words For Life” ($299.99), had this product description on iTunes: “A full English vocabulary augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) language app that combines the power of the PRC Unity® language system with Language Acquisition through Motor Planning (LAMP™) principles and strategies.”
Apparently if you pay the $299.99, they will tell you what that means.
One of the most odd offerings was the “Water Globe” created by a company calling itself Ubiquitous Muffin. For $219.99, you will have multiple cute, interactive, virtual snow globes to watch on your iPhone.
If you drop the phone and break it, the “Water Globe” app will whisper “rosebud.” Well, not really, but for $220 you would hope it might.
Kevin Smith at Business Insider made a similar list. “What's interesting about these expensive apps is that they show the App Store can be a really big software market for a number of different sorts of industries,” he wrote.
There is an app to look at 3D images of nasal fossas (3D Nasal Vista $199.99), an app to diagnose animals (iDIA $399.99) and one for dentists to show patients how cool teeth look on the new iPhone your kids braces helped him buy (DDS GP Yes! $499.99).
There are also a slew of apps that, mysteriously, won't go a penny above $999.99 such as vueCAD Pro, a CAD viewer and QSFFStats to keep track of flag football league stats.
EMAIL: mdegroote@deseretnews.com
Twitter: @degroote
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