Will we see new iPod Nano apps?

The clock is a very basic app for this Nano. Obviously the look and feel of the device is reminiscent of iOS, so the desire for apps is inevitable.

It also has Nike+, Photo, and Voice Memo apps. The Voice Memo app in particular suggests a speaker and microphone, but where???

And where there are apps, there are games. Previous generations had click-wheel games, so obviously those are gone. But basic touch games could work on this device.

However, along with the click-wheel, the Nano has lost its video camera. And with that, it seems to have also lost its video playback app. (Who wants to watch video on a 1.5 inch square screen anyway?)

Have we also lost the contacts, calendar, and to-do-list apps? If so, what does this portend for Nano Touch apps?

Creating Apps for so small a window would require an entirely new branch of iOS and would require developers to create entirely new applications.

I, of course, have no idea what will happen to the Nano in the future, but my gut reaction is that Apple feels that if you want Apps, you should step up to the iPod Touch.

This is also presupposing that the nano runs iOS.

The microphone is is the earbuds, as are the non-touch controls, just like on the shuttle last year—useful for runners who can’t be looking at the screen.

My sampling of comments on various news sites seems evenly split between users who wonder why it’s a touch device at all, given the screen size, but who like it anyway—for the gym, running, biking, slideshows on their lapel; and those who are ordering last year’s model expressly for the clickwheel. The later group also thinking the camera and vido app are worthwhile, although admitting the Touch is the better choice for that. A serious number think Apple made this model less appealing on purpose to move people into iPod Touch family, where App sales and movie rentals, etc. can earn more than the mere purchase price.

Apple is telling journalists who came to the event that the new Nano is NOT an iOS device. No Apps.

willrob - 01 September 2010 09:00 PM

Apple is telling journalists who came to the event that the new Nano is NOT an iOS device. No Apps.

During the presentation, Steve did refer to it as an iOS device.

Steve also said the HDR Photo technique was coming to the iPad with iOS4. Will there be a new iPad by November, one with cameras?

It’s probably not iOS, but it could support its own apps. There’s some precedent with the click-wheel games, contacts, calendar, etc. of the previous nano. It’s really up to Apple, but they are teasing us with the included apps and the iOS-like function.