iPhone Web App Directory AddFone Takes Terrible Approach To Search

We are now at a point at which only a week, one heavy with anticipation, separates consumers from the official US release of a product millions eagerly wish to own. The iPhone. And already, a developer has established an application directory assembled specifically for users of the device. It’s called AddFone.

If you’re keeping up with announcements of Web apps crafted for the iPhone, you’ll know from the start that the directory will be considerably sparse by the time of the device’s launch next Friday.

And that makes AddFone powerless, because "Magno Urbano", the self-professed creator of the AddFone directory, has assembled the entire directory around a single search bar. Not. Good. Correct me if I’m wrong, but is not the purpose of a directory to list information from the outset? Should one have to guess the title of an application one wishes to discover? How would that even prove possible?

The simplicity of the site is appreciated, very much so. White background. Basic, Google-esque features at the front end. It’s attractive. It gives a good first impression to the visitor. But as of right now, looks are all AddFone is running on. Because the site isn’t useful in the least.

Clearly, Magno Urbano has assembled a database; one that is searchable. Which is okay, considering that that’s what everyone does these days on the Web. But one generally needs to know something about what one is searching for, yes?

With Google, Yahoo!, Ask, or MSN, one can input very vague queries, and rarely will any of these engines draw a blank as a result. That’s because they scour the Web for all the addresses and links they can find, and then catalogue them. I, however, suspect one will have far worse luck finding what one is looking for within a directory of AddFone’s very limited proportions through the use of a mere ‘Search’ field.

Magno Urbano should rethink his/her approach, and fast. There’ll likely be a million or more iPhone users come the close of June in the US, and many of them will probably want to geek out a bit; find some little apps to play with, etc. Most won’t know exactly what they’re looking for, but you can bet they’ll be looking.

If AddFone’s creator wishes the site to be the place to find nifty widgets and such for the iPhone, he/she will have to make sure visitors can actually find them.