Shhh! We can't tell you about all Minnesota-made apps

In writing today about iPhone apps connected to Minnesota, I found that one reason it's so hard to gauge how many they number is because no one really tracks where they originate. As I noted, even Dan Grigsby, whose apps-centered resource Mobile Orchard places him in the best position to know the Twin Cities scene, was unaware of some locally created apps I found.

There's also a veil of secrecy over some app development, especially among agencies that create apps for corporations that don't have the staff or technical know-how to do it themselves. One Twin Cities agency asked me not to cover an app it created because the internationally known company for which it did the work apparently doesn't want that fact publicized. In the iTunes Store, the corporation is listed as the developer, even though it hired out the work. Some apps-creating agencies are so skittish about nondisclosure that one Twin Cities developer insisted that I not include its app for a national company -- even though the iTunes Store identifies the developer.

None of this is relevant to users, of course, as far as the apps' functions. But as a Minnesota resident, if I have a choice between, say, a flashlight app created by a Minneapolis company, such as DoApp's myLite Flashlight over the many other choices, I'll go with the local option -- all other things being equal.