Without a doubt, the two most downloaded iOS apps in the recent month or two have been Pokémon Go and Prisma. But will either of them still be hot in the next month or two? Or will they fade away? Here’s my opinion.

Let’s start with Pokémon Go. Pokémon Go doesn’t particularly interest me but then again I’m not a gamer. So, you can take this opinion with a huge grain of salt.

Pokémon Go on its most basic level is geocaching made more attractive by using an iconic brand. With geocaching, people spent hours locating a treasure, taking something from it, and putting something in its place for the next person to discover. A nice bit of human interaction.

Now people spend hours upon hours walking and driving to catch certain elusive characters to add to their Pokémon Go collection. The only real human interaction in this scenario is either bragging to your friends how large your collection is or being hit by a bus while you’re searching for another character.

If you think about it, the business model for this is quite interesting. Mainly, it’s cements Google Maps as a necessity. After all, it’s Google who places the Pokemén in their maps for you to find at various locations. And it just so happens that there are in-app purchases to be made as well!

As it’s currently all the rage, how can be anyone without it? What does that say about you if you’re not aboard? You want to be up-to-date with the latest trends, right?

So basically this is just an app to keep Google Maps indispensable. In the meantime, you get to have some fun and they get to make a little extra money.

But how long will it last? Let me ask you this – when was the last time you played Angry Birds? Do you still play for hours upon hours each day? I’m guessing not.

Now let’s look at Prisma. Everyone loves additions to their photo editing apps so they can enhance their photos. But Prisma seems to be a bit of a different beast.

It’s not a filter. But it’s an overlay using an algorithm that takes your chosen photo and enhances your photo in a specific artistic style.

My guess is that this will be around for a much longer time. It will remain a part of your photo editing toolbox.

As to its business model, I really don’t know. But as there are free apps out there, I will download them…

So, let’s get back together in about three months and see how well Pokémon Go is doing and how much you’re using Prisma. My bet is that Prisma will still be with you as will Pokémon Go. But Pokémon Go will be gathering dust, if it is still even on your mobile device, whereas you’ll still be using Prisma.

But as always, I could be wrong.

©2016 Frank Petrie