I am all for notifying the world when I think I have discovered some appropriate tech. I know I am not the first to mention these things, and I am sure I am not the last. Some may argue I just like hearing my own voice (or in this case, seeing my own typed words). In this lovely post, I shall enlighten my readers about mobile apps and why they are important in Kenya.

First off, what are mobile apps? Mobile apps are applications usually written in some form of the Java programming language that run on your mobile phone. Because most phones nowadays run some form of Java, many of these apps are written once and can be executed on many different handsets, much in the same way applications can be written for Windows, Macintosh and Linux. The actual particulars are a little deeper than that, but I will stick with that analogy for now.

The benefits of mobile apps are many in the developing world. First off, the mobile phone is a comfortable interface for many people throughout the world, unlike the personal computer with its unwieldy mouse and imposing keyboard. Mobiles are also far more affordable, but with the right programming techniques are capable of delivering much of the same functionality as a full blown personal computer in terms of information access. Thus, mobile apps offer one distinct advantage already: they run on affordable, ubiquitous, inviting hardware.

Great, so people have the hardware, but what about the software? The benefits of the software are two part in my opinion. The first part is that the restrictions of the hardware in terms of number of keys and processing power forces the app programmer to create a simpler user interface. It is much easier to teach human-computer interaction when the number of necessary steps to complete a task is reduced. Of course, many programmers may see the limited number of buttons and interactive-methods as restrictive and create clunky interfaces instead, but the number of good interfaces leads me to believe that there are plenty out there will to put in the effort to create good interface design.

Also, sourcing much of the data crunching on the hardware and less on the cloud allows the transmission cost of the interaction to be reduced. This second part only applies to apps that require data connections for items such as news and email. If all of the information was transmitted through a web browser then the data connection would be using bytes to transfer both the content as well as the overhead in terms of site scaffolding. Meaning, if you want to check your email, you get your email, but you also get all the data used to build the visual appearance of the email website. Unnecessary transmission in my opinion, and unnecessary overhead costs. By using mobile apps, such as the GMail app, all of the scaffolding and interaction features are stored on your phones memory and your data connection is used only in transferring actual data.

Those two features of mobile apps to me are the most important. Programmers are forced through hardware limitations to be simplistic and thus easier to comprehend and use, and they also reduce the data transmission, increasing the lifespan of your valuable credit. So which mobile apps do I use in my daily life? Well, I lead a relatively simple online life and thus rely on two lightweights and one heavy hitter. The lightweights are the GMail App for checking my GMail accounts, and the BBC News Select for getting my daily international news. I am calling these lightweights because they serve one purpose each, and do each very well.

My heavy-hitter app is the Opera Mini web browser. The best feature of the Opera Mini web browser is its web compression technologies. Basically, whenever you request a web site, the site first goes to an Opera server where it is compressed and then fed to your phone. We are talking about megabytes of savings in terms of data transmission over the course of a month. That directly translates into shillings saved. What more could you ask for? Well, even if you aren't asking, there is more. Opera Mini is also capable of handling most modern websites in their full. Complete CSS, near-complete Javascript, fully XHTML compatible. If I sound like a commercial it's only because I appreciate this technology completely.

There are some limitations however. For example, not all SSL connections work well, and the zooming and panning required to view a full site in full is annoying. Opera tries to compensate by detecting text blocks and resizing their margins so that they are the size of one zoomed in window. This means that you still get decent access to the written content of a site, but don't be trying to view full pictures or anything on your little Nokia or Motorola 2 inch screen. But overall I am very happy, and the browser is particularly speedy and responsive when using such critical sites as the Facebook Mobile page or the Twitter Mobile page.

If I can paint such a rosy picture of mobile apps, why do computers even exist? Well, there is one particularly large problem in terms of mobile apps. Mobile apps are great for content consumption but are terrible at content generation. I cannot stand writing long emails on my T9-enabled phone. Blogs? Nuh-uh, especially since Wordpress is particularly slow without a Google Gears-enabled browser. Sure there are ways to upload phone pics and videos to services such as Youtube and Flickr, but the videos and photos from phones are usually of a lower quality anyway, unless you are sporting a nice Nokia N series with its 5.0 MP cameras (I am not).

Overall I am very pleased when a well designed mobile app comes out. It is further proof that there is a low cost, viable market for application development in the developing world, and more people need to be trained and exposed to this environment. The potentials for data collection and dissemination are huge if the interface is well designed and conducive to long-term interaction. And most importantly the cultural barrier to teaching mobile apps would be much lower than development with personal computers, as mobile phones are a much more ubiquitous technology and have already infiltrated Kenyan culture.