iPhone App: Joost

December 1st, 2008

starstar = 2 stars

So Joost had a video website that seems to have fallen by the wayside what with Hulu and other options. Now they may have found an alternate method to get people to install their app through an iPhone app that basically does the same thing as the Joost desktop client - streaming video content to the iPhone.

The Good

  • The product largely works as advertised. Content is organized into a simple, iPhone-like navigation tree of categories, with little thumbnails next to each show. Touch one and a Joost video UI appears, with expected controls.
  • Video quality is acceptable for the tiny iPhone screen.

The Bad

  • The biggest mistake with this app is it’s WiFi only. If I’m anywhere where I have a WiFi connection, I’ll likely just whip out the laptop with a bigger screen. Otherwise, I’ll just watch videos I’ve loaded on the iPhone, iPod style. Sure, the lack of streaming is likely due to 3G being too slow for Joost’s streaming technology, but that’s not my problem as a user. From my point of view, it’s a serious limitation to eliminate the “mobile” the iPhone and will limit my use of this app considerably.
  • The content is the same old, half-baked Joost stuff that I can’t imagine going out of my way to watch. The iTunes video store offerings and the YouTube app are much more compelling.
  • While trying this out over my WiFi network at home, the app complained that the network connection was too slow. Well, I can stream video just fine with the Joost client on my Mac or the Netflix Roku box, so it ain’t the network.
  • Within a few minutes, this app crashed twice.

Conclusion

This app has a lot of potential, but in what seems to be a running problem with Joost in general, it’s sadly half-assed. The content is still the same old second rate stuff and the omission of 3G and limitation to WiFi is a huge deal breaker. While fun to fool around with for a few minutes, I don’t think this app will be worth installing until it can stream over 3G and the bugs are worked out. Thank goodness it was free.

iTunes App Store Link: Joost

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folder Categories: 2 Star iPhone Apps, Apple, Free iPhone Apps, Technology, iPhone Apps :: ::
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  • jcieplinski
    I don't think it's just a question of speed for the WiFi only. As Apple itself only allows downloading of App Store purchases and even now podcasts at under 10 MB on 3G, I have to think that this is some sort of AT&T-imposed limitation. Joost probably had to consent to it in order to be listed on the App Store.

    Apple's own new Podcast episode download feature on the iPhone is fairly useless for me, because most of the podcasts I download are video, which are always going to be bigger than 10 MB.

    I agree with you wholeheartedly that WiFi only makes any app of this nature far less useful on an iPhone. If I'm in the range of WiFi, chances are I'm home, in which case I'll watch on Apple TV, or I'm in a cafe, in which case I'll watch on my MacBook Pro. The whole point of bringing this kind of service to the iPhone is to get it where I DON'T have WiFi.

    Apple needs to pressure AT&T into lifting this ban, or helping them build up the network to where it's strong enough to handle that load.
  • Yeah - when you put it that way, it all gets back to AT&T's 3G network
    issues / limitations. I really hope they're investing in more towers -
    they stand to make a lot of money if they can really provide mobile
    broadband to the masses.
  • Oui - Si elle est de cette façon, tout revient à AT & T réseau 3G
    questions / limitations. J'espère vraiment qu'ils sont d'investir davantage dans les tours --
    ils en sont à faire beaucoup d'argent si elles peuvent réellement mobile
    services à large bande dans les masses.
  • this joost app is so cool!
  • I like the one that Content is organized into a simple :) You did not waste your money when you bought the thing....
  • pinkycook
    I've now crossed into my eighth page of apps on the iPhone and everything is running fine
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