Ubuntu Touch is still considered a fledgling platform, so there aren't many native apps available for it. The guys from the unofficial app store for the platform, uApp Explorer, have put together a list of must-have apps for this mobile operating system, and there are at least a few surprises among them.
The biggest problem for any new mobile operating system built from scratch is the lack of native apps for some of the big services that already exist on other systems. This makes it especially difficult to move forward and open up to the market unless it's a behemoth with a lot of money to spend.
Even if a new operating system is fast and interesting, if it doesn't have native apps, it won't survive long because it can't adopt the others. For example, some people will never switch to an operating system that they can't use WhatsApp for. This is an important app that isn't present in Ubuntu, and there's no indication that it will be anytime soon.
Say what you want about Ubuntu Touch
The list available on uApp Explorer is not official, but it can provide some clues about what people really want to see on the platform. There is, at least, one surprise that has been revealed by the votes cast so far.
The most requested application is Firefox, followed by WhatsApp Messenger and Facebook. The choice of Firefox is strange, but at least, people know what they want. As for WhatsApp and Facebook Messenger, these will not happen anytime soon, since they require to remain active in memorywhile not in use, which is not currently allowed by Ubuntu.
