My apple: What makes a good iPhone app

In the UAE App Store the top 10 free apps at this moment are: 20Q Mind Reader FREE, Do Not Press The Red Button, All 51 Games FREE, Doodle Buddy, The Oregon Trail FREE, Bump, Offender Locator Lite, Guess My Age Math Magic, Kingdosm Live 40 Legend Points, and Deer Hunter 3D Free.

That’s quite a collection of apps and games, ranging from fun to pointless, from creative to useless.

An interesting question becomes what is it that makes these apps the top 10 free ones at this moment? If we assume that these are truly the 10 most downloaded free apps and not just a list that Apple put together, what makes them so desirable? Sure they are free but even with something free we have certain standards, don’t we?

Don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying these are necessarily bad or useless apps. In fact I could not say that with any authority since I’ve tried none of them. I guess I’m trying to get at what makes a good iPhone app?

Let me get a list of suggestions started and you can add to it in the comments:

• It should be well suited to be used on an iPhone or iPod touch, considering the touch screen, the interface, the small device factor, and more.
• It should auto-rotate in situations where it makes sense and the user expects it.
• It should be quick and easy to use.
• It should also be quick to load and fast to perform its main functions.
• It should offer something a web site or desktop app doesn’t, in accessibility, functionality, or in some other aspect.

I’m sure there’s a lot more to it than that so help me out, what would you say makes a good iPhone app?