This Mood Lighting Is a Bit Much

Back when we introduced the idea of After the App, we suggested that with every brand under the sun jumping on the app bandwagon, smartphone owners were sure to start suffering from app overload. And, when these users eventually started pruning their app menus, only the most useful or most entertaining apps would survive the cut. At the time, we advised brands that if they couldn’t deliver true utility or entertainment, they might be better off concentrating on their mobile web experience, seeing as mobile browsing is actually the “killer app” we’ve all been waiting for.

So, when GE recently rolled out their MoodCam iPhone app, our antennae went up. It’s certainly a clever idea: snap a photo of a room in your house, determine what kind of “mood” you’d prefer the room to have (i.e. intimate vs peaceful), and the Moodometer will recommend the appropriate GE bulb and show you the expected result.

I get it. I really do. And I think there will be a lot of folks who use this once and get a kick out of it. And, maybe I’m underestimating GE. Perhaps this is a Trojan Horse of sorts, and they’re planning to blow out this app with additional features after the first round of users put it on their phones. But, if not, the app just seems to fall flat. Which means, after the initial use, this app’s just taking up space.

Back when we lauded the ColorCapture app from Benjamin Moore paints, we pointed out that the app allowed users to be inspired by colors in the world around them, then match those colors to the brand’s color palettes. For people who are likely to paint their homes, this seems like the kind of app that will be used repeatedly, even if it’s not everyday. But, how often are we really adjusting our lightbulb types?

Bringing it back to the central point of thinking After the App, we have to ask if this same functionality could be offered as effectively via the mobile web. Could consumers upload a photo to a GE mobile site (perhaps accessible by a QR code)? If so, let’s do the smartphone users a favor and save them some space on their app menus. After all, they need to make room for the new app from the Choose Your Own Adventure series!