Retro application. We found the first versions of Instagram, WhatsApp, various maps and more

It was 2007 and Apple introduced the first iPhone. It revolutionized the concept of smartphones, with the advent of the App Store and Google Play the same thing happened with apps. Without the ability to install applications, cell phones would not be where they are. But as the devices themselves evolved, so did the applications. Their functions and possibilities increased, some disappeared, others arose. Here is a list of the most famous. You can look at what they looked like then and find out how much (not) they could do. Would you know them at all?

Mapy.cz

The platform was launched in 1998, the first major expansion took place in 2005, and in 2007 a tourist map was added. The application then appeared in the App Store at the end of 2010. Compared to Google maps, the clear benefit for domestic users was that, apart from the tourist ones, you also found historical maps here.

Of course, the application recognized your current location and offered you categories of points of interest sorted by distance. You could then immediately display the selected categories on the map in the form of clickable flags. Mapy.cz also knew how to search for a route and they also had a built-in electronic compass.

Google Maps

As you can see at Mapy.cz, the domestic maps of the world leader have clearly overtaken the search. Google Maps was not launched until February 8, 2005. However, they hit mobile phones in the autumn of 2007. On Android, specifically a year later, because their release was aligned with the announcement of the first device with this operating system.

He is a clear leader in the field of map materials, as well as in navigation. It is also constantly adding new features, the last of which is the possibility to view historical Street view images. In 2012, the application was given the opportunity to store data for off-line use, for example in places where there is a lack of mobile data connectivity.

Geocaching

At the end of 2010, an important update came into the application, which catered mainly to domestic users. Version 4.2 brought support for the Czech language. However, it also had other innovations, such as adjusting the formatting of HTML tags so that the listing, and especially the images in it, are displayed correctly. When you open Geocaching.com from the application, the login details were also transferred automatically.

Since we already had an iPhone 4 on the market in 2010, the application was also tuned for its Retina display. Unlike others, however, it was not distributed for free at the time. If you wanted to install it, it cost you about CZK 200.

Waze

Waze’s history dates back to modern application stores, as the title was preceded by the Israeli project FreeMap Israel, which aimed to create a free digital database of the map of Israel with the help of community users and crowdsourcing. It was written in 2006. Waze did not turn it out until 2008. In 2013, the service was bought by Google for $ 966 million.

Even today, however, the original meaning is unchanged. The application continues to rely on a community of users, which gradually creates maps even by reporting various emergencies. The title also has a social overlap, because you see other users here from the beginning. The more you use the navigation, the more points you get. Apart from Android and iOS, the application is also available in Android Auto and Apple CarPlay.

Dropbox

Dropbox was one of the first cloud services to store and share files with other Internet users with a simple link to a data location somewhere near the provider. The company itself was founded in 2007, the start of operations dates back to 2008, in 2010 Dropbox already had 4 million users.

However, he did not look at mobile platforms until the beginning of 2012. Its added value was the automatic backup of photos from the very beginning. Unfortunately, the service has suffered, and still suffers, on small storage provided for free, so lately it has lagged behind the competition in the form of Google Drive, Microsoft OneDrive or Apple iCloud and others. The paid tariffs will then be used by the corporate sector rather than ordinary users.

WhatsApp

The company was founded in 2009, when its application entered the App Store the same year. The real growth soon came, because this year Apple allowed applications to send push notifications. The platform looked at Android in 2010 (as did Symbian).

In 2014, WhatsApp bought Facebook for $ 19 billion, the largest acquisition at the time, and built the world’s most widely used communications platform. A year was enough for him. The platform gained popularity mainly because it provides multiplatform communication between iOS and Android devices as well as computers.

Instagram

This social network, originally focused on editing and sharing photos exclusively in 1: 1 format, came to the App Store in the fall of 2010, and did not look at Google Play until two years later. She also bought it in the same year on Facebook. However, the application has gained extreme popularity, although today it has deviated a lot from its original intention.

We have a free content format, videos can be shared here, and of course there are stories. Instagram can feed a lot of people directly, among other things companies can promote and sell their goods on it. Instagram is also a communication platform because it can send direct messages or provide video calls.

Apple Maps

It was 2012 when Apple released iOS 6 and with it introduced users to its own Maps application to break away from Google’s services even more. However, this commendable step was taken very critically, because the map data was simply not good and showed numerous errors. With us, for example, instead of going to Zlín, you had to go to Gottwald to get where you actually wanted (Gottwald was renamed Zlín in 1989).

Over time, however, the company has worked properly on its platform, and nowadays its documents are already fully usable, not only on iPhones and iPads, but also on Mac computers. Apple is also constantly improving various 3D views of monuments, as well as implementing public transport and cycling routes. But still more sporadically in our country.

Czech Post

Already at the beginning of 2012, the Czech Post also invaded application stores. The main menu offered four functions – tracking shipments, searching for mail, searching for postal codes and useful information. The most important function was tracking shipments (and still is). Thanks to it, the application was already able to track a shipment or registered letter according to the submission number.

It was interesting that several shipments could be tracked at once and that you could also name them manually for better orientation. There were also notifications informing about the status of the shipment. In the useful information, you will find advice on packaging shipments, recommended address patterns or instructions on how to send shipments abroad.

Office 2013

Windows Phone was first released in October 2010, only to die 7 years later. But that doesn’t mean it has no place in the history of mobile systems. It was in 2013 that Microsoft introduced its office suite, which was adapted for touch screens of phones and tablets. In addition, Office 2013 was designed for Windows 8 devices.

Even then, documents were saved to the web by default so that you can continue working on another (supported) device. Microsoft has integrated touch gestures, from simply scrolling in reading mode to pinch-to-zoom. For example, in a PowerPoint presentation, such a finger flip was much more natural than tapping various buttons.