Episode 17

Jamie was too busy being the boss of the applesauce this week, so Jon was joined by guest co-pilot Matthew Bischoff, co-founder of Lickability, makers of Quotebook. The big issue of the week was the new Readability app and its implications for Instapaper. Jon and Matthew compared the feature sets and business models, their own ways of using them, and the idea of “copycat apps.” It led to a discussion of user meanness, the importance of loyalty and customer service on Twitter and in the App Store. At one point, Jon couldn’t help but effusively praise Quotebook, and Matthew mercifully allowed him to do so. They also talked about the black box of iCloud, the future of the home screen, and Jon introduced his new experiment: a white iPod Touch he bought in order to jailbreak.

If you’re tweeting how happy you are to “finally” be “dumping” my app, feel free to omit the “@” before its name so maybe I won’t see it.

— Marco Arment (@marcoarment) March 3, 2012

Subscribe to The Dock Podcast via iTunes.

Links

• Matthew Bischoff on Twitter: @mb
• Matthew’s home screen
• Quotebook on Twitter: @quotebookapp
• Lickability
• Build & Analyze (Marco Arment’s podcast)
• Instacast FAQ - Why is iCloud Sync not working?
• Unsanity

Apps

• Quotebook for iOS by Lickability
• Instapaper for iOS by Marco Arment
• Readability for iOS by Readability, LLC
• Read It Later Pro for iOS by Read It Later, Inc.
• Kippt
• Day One for iOS | Day one for Mac by Bloom Built, LLC
• Instacast for iPhone | Instacast HD for iPad by Vemedio
• Launch Center for iOS by App Cubby
• Dialvetica for iOS by Mysterious Trousers
• Alfred for Mac