With 2008 almost over and everyone celebrating (or dreading) the upcoming new year, it seems that many people have an opinion about what 2009 will bring to our over communicated globe (note: thanks Twitter).
While no one can forecast what the future will bring–especially on mobile devices such as the iPhone–here are my “humble” predictions as to which iPhone blogging apps will dominate by the end of next year.
WordPress
Even though there are a plethora of iPhone apps that support posting to WordPress, I think 2009 will spell the death of most of them via the official WordPress iPhone app (provided that you have updated to version 2.7).
WordPress is planning on adding a host of new features ranging from the ability to easily add hyperlinks, edit pages, type posts in landscape mode as well as commet moderation (which will make a spammer cry a thousand tears).
Once the new version of WordPress for iPhone goes live, I predict many developers will try carving out other blog niche’s (especially since the official WordPress app is free).
Blogger / BlogSpot
Even though Google has yet to provide even a web app for their BlogSpot followers (note: I have serious doubts as to whether they ever will), I have a feeling that BlogPress by CoolLittle Things will carve out the Blogger niche all to themselves (especially after their latest update).
Thus far, BlogPress is currently unrivaled as it allows BlogSpot fans everywhere to not only post (and align) multiple images with text upon multiple blogs, but also insert labels as well.
CoolLittle Things is planning on adding landscape mode to BlogPress, and unless another app comes out with something more innovative (like comment moderation–hint, hint) at a cheaper price, I foresee BlogPress attracting the Blogger masses.
LiveJournal
Receiving corporate praise from the LiveJournal blog itself, the LiveJournal.app (from Igrick) will probably remain unchallenged as this application sports a host of features (ranging from its famous HTML bar to publishing multiple images and labels to posts).
But what sets LiveJournal.app apart from its rivals is that it allows users to create expandable post summaries from their iPhones, a feature I have yet to see duplicated on any iPhone app in the App store (note: feel free to correct me if I am wrong).
LiveJournal.app is currently available for free in the App store, and with the upcoming global recession hitting our “tiny” planet, I do not see any serious competitors dethroning this app within the LiveJouranl realm.
Movabletype / Typepad
Predicting who will dominate this space in 2009 is really tricky, despite the fact that Six Apart has already released a free iPhone app for Typepad (which was fairly good in my honest opinion).
As far as Movabletype goes, I do think that iBlogger by illumineX will probably dominate this niche due to the fact that it gives users a host of features, including an ability to post where you are blogging from (which will appeal to geo-bloggers everywhere).
Unless Six Apart tweaks their TypePad app to include Movable Type fans, iBlogger may be in the perfect position to dominate this niche from fans feeling overlooked by the coding wizards of Six Apart.
All of the above?
Even though there are plenty of iPhone apps that are able to post upon half a dozen blog platforms (or more), CellSpin will probably be one of the few that ends up on most iPhone screens due to its ability to post your voice upon your blog.
CellSpin is currently unchallenged in the realm of audio blogging as far as the App store goes, and they may even be positioning themselves to capture video bloggers (provided that Steve Jobs approves use of video apps within the App Store).
What about an iPhone App for ________ ?
While the i-Wars over the “big three” (plus LiveJournal) may not reveal any new challengers (due to the economy), I do expect the competition for other blogging platforms (such as Windows Live Spaces, Drupal, etc.) to heat up over the upcoming year.
As far as other blog related iPhone apps go (like RSS feed readers, Twitter, photo editing apps, Twitter, social networks, Twitter, and microblogging apps that are different–yet the same–as Twitter), the field at least for now appears to be wide open.