Pay Your Respects

[argedion]

This is just a simple post that is aimed at hopefully helping users understand the appropriate way to contact a developer and make your praises or your grievances.

Developers usually start with the hardware that they have. Most have an idea for a program that they think would be really useful for them and it kind of goes on from there

Some are Companies that try to make their apps universal. However there are so many hardware differences from phone to phone it makes it almost impossible.

Ok with all that said I have to say it really bothers me when I see people giving a dev hell because something didn't work the way it was supposed to or it didn't have a feature that the user thought it should. Most of these complaints are in app reviews. Not the place to be of any real benifit. If all you want to do is complain then please keep it off of the review list. There is a more appropriate way to get your complaints out.

First you can Email the dev. Most of them have emails or a way to contact them on their web site, that you can send your complaints to. Also don't expect that the dev actually has time to write you back, some just take the email and see what the most frequent problems are and start working on fixes for them or see what feature most people want and start working on it. Please also do not think that your complaints are going to be taken care of immediately again the dev can only do so much at one time.

Well I thank you all for your time. I hope that you will be willing to work with a dev into making their app the best it can be. After all most devs don't set out to make a crappy app. Support the dev's and they will support us.

I also want to say I am not a dev. I have played with a small bit of programming and know how hard it can be to get code to cooperate and do what it's supposed to do. So please just be respectful and remember you don't like it when people talk like crap to you so don't do it to others.

On another note. I'm not sure this was the best place to post this. However I was really not clear where something like this should go. This is for all phones and is not specific to any or anyone. Mod's Please feel free to move if necessary (of course you will anyways )

Again Thank you for your time.

 

[EarlyMon]

I think I'd like to leave this here for a while and then move to the Developer's forum, if that sits well with you.

 

[cmybliss]

Thanks for this. I am not a dev, but it really irks me when I see a bunch of negative comments due to an app not working on a particular phone. Most often, the dev will put a note in the description stating that it is not compatible with device x. I am very grateful to the people who make the apps that make my life mire convenient.

 

[jefboyardee]

I don’t know from developing, but this platform must be a freaking nightmare -- there’s no way to know if your app works on every droid and every version therein, not to mention every ROM nestled within...

 

[Granite1]

So please just be respectful and remember you don't like it when people talk like crap to you so don't do it to others.

This right here is what it's all about. Treat others as you would want to be treated.

Case and point was the "shoot me" homescreen grabber app.
Awesome free app that worked great. The dev was getting pounded by reviewers when Gingerbread rolled out. He removed it from the market. I'm not sure if the app is back up or not, most newer roms have the native screenshot cooked in, so I haven't looked for it in a while.

 

[argedion]

This right here is what it's all about. Treat others as you would want to be treated.

Case and point was the "shoot me" homescreen grabber app.
Awesome free app that worked great. The dev was getting pounded by reviewers when Gingerbread rolled out. He removed it from the market. I'm not sure if the app is back up or not, most newer roms have the native screenshot cooked in, so I haven't looked for it in a while.

If memory serves me correct he pulled all his apps. As far as I know he has not come back. A Tragedy of the android world a very "Preventable" tragedy of the android world.

We must grow as a community and we can only do that by working together. If we continue to fight against each other then we will never fully stand.

 

[mplevy]

Isn't there a way the Dev can flag the app as compatible or not compatible with certain devices? Keep in mind, my "multiple-device" experience has been with a phone and a tablet but I know that some apps will not allow me to request installation on one device or the other when I ask it to be pushed from the Market web site on my computer. That could be a HC/GB compatibility thing though.

If the Dev does not note compatibility issues in the description, those reviews should certainly be valid. It sounds like you're suggesting like what eBay is doing now, EBAY is asking people to not leave negative feedback, kind of a "if you don't have something nice to say, don't say it all". Doing that waters down the whole concept of a review system, people need to be aware of the good AND the bad. Sure, some may be stupid reviews or complaints but others may be completely valid.

In the case noted above (the screenshot app), that is certainly a tragedy that he left the community and it was something that may not have been preventable. When the upgrade to GB came out, the dev should have had time to test his app with the new version. However, the upgrade process also has no way to take into account the possibility of incompatible apps on the device, leaving it up to the individual to think about that kind of thing or the dev to get updates published before the OS is pushed. Yes, the users should consider the possibility of "broken" apps when they get an OS update, but it's also on the devs to get their apps updated when Google releases the code and development tools for the new version (usually at least a month before the first device gets it, no?).

 

[jefboyardee]

Case and point was the "shoot me" homescreen grabber app. Awesome free app that worked great.

 

[argedion]

Isn't there a way the Dev can flag the app as compatible or not compatible with certain devices? Keep in mind, my "multiple-device" experience has been with a phone and a tablet but I know that some apps will not allow me to request installation on one device or the other when I ask it to be pushed from the Market web site on my computer. That could be a HC/GB compatibility thing though.

If the Dev does not note compatibility issues in the description, those reviews should certainly be valid. It sounds like you're suggesting like what eBay is doing now, EBAY is asking people to not leave negative feedback, kind of a "if you don't have something nice to say, don't say it all". Doing that waters down the whole concept of a review system, people need to be aware of the good AND the bad. Sure, some may be stupid reviews or complaints but others may be completely valid.

In the case noted above (the screenshot app), that is certainly a tragedy that he left the community and it was something that may not have been preventable. When the upgrade to GB came out, the dev should have had time to test his app with the new version. However, the upgrade process also has no way to take into account the possibility of incompatible apps on the device, leaving it up to the individual to think about that kind of thing or the dev to get updates published before the OS is pushed. Yes, the users should consider the possibility of "broken" apps when they get an OS update, but it's also on the devs to get their apps updated when Google releases the code and development tools for the new version (usually at least a month before the first device gets it, no?).

First. A Dev may not be aware that the app is incompatible or if they are aware they may be working on a fix. Also a Description is not the place for the dev to tell you what the app is compatible with and what it is not.

A description is just that a description.
"This app calculates averages of your bowling leage" that is a description
But this is not
"This app is not compatible with, Spark, BEOS, LINUX, APPLE, WINDOWS 3.1, Windows 95, Windows 98, Windows Me, Windows 2000, Windows 2003, Windows XP, Windows 7, Windows 8, Windows 9, or future versions of these OS. Also note that this app is not Compatible with anything Older than yesterday and Not compatible with anything newer than an hour ago. It however will work great for something done this morning.

Anyway I hope you see the point.
For more information about the app the user is responsible to find out if the app is compatible with their stuff by going to the companies web site and reading more appropriate material such as change logs and known bugs and issues.

Constructive Criticism is not what I'm discussing in the thread. I am talking about those people who only complain about the app but never get in touch with the dev or never bothered to do any research to see if the app would work on their stuff. I have seen many of these bad reviews like:
"This is Crapware. Dev is stupid for putting this out there. It doesn't even work on Sony Ericson". Yet when I have visited the dev's site I see that in the original change logs or known bugs that it doesn't work on this phone or that tablet. If the dev doesn't have a site then at least email the dev and ask if its compatible with your device before purchasing.

However if you have done all this and the program is pure crap then I don't have a problem with you telling me its crap. However there is no need to bash or lash out at the dev. Simply stating something like:

The app didn't work for HTC EVO 4g I contacted the dev however received no response or got the we're working on something else get to that later. I would even say its appropriate if the dev is a complete jerk to you to inform the people however do it respectfully. I am not saying that you should not give a negative review I am saying you should not give a down right disrespectful review.
This is more appropriate:
The dev didn't seem to care that his app wasn't working on my phone. What a shame It seems like a really good concept for an app I sure hope some one else will do one like this
This is Not:
What a jerkface piece of crap the dev is. He hates us who use EVO he's a heartless jack@!~ who wouldn't know a piece of code if it bit him in the butt.
See the difference is that you can be negative with out getting negative. I mean really when I read a review like the second one I think the writer of that review is a jerk.

As far as the compatibility with new OS or Updates. Again that will be a device by device work. Lets take my above example app the Bowling Score Averager and lets say that it works great on Froyo for the Hero but not for GB on the Hero but it works great on the GB for The EVO which the dev has. He will not know it has an issue with the hero if he cant test it on it. Also keep in mind that some apps no longer receive support for what ever reason. Maybe the dev moved on to something else. Or maybe the app was incompatible with to many devices and they could not work out the bugs and just threw in the towel. All kinds of things could have happened.

Oh and the dev with the screenshot app had some other apps out there as well. But because of the negativity and the lack of donations he packed his stuff and left. Hard to keep doing it if your not getting funds. Regardless if you have great apps or not.

 

[sohguanh]

As you all know Android are supposed to run on multiple brand and model so it is almost impossible for us to test our apps against each brand and model. If we code faithfully to the Android SDK and the phone manufacturers built their device according to the SDK specifications, our apps should work as advertised. However in reality this is not the case as there will be odd cases where it just don't work on certain brand and model.

Also for small independent developers, we can ill-afford to have a lot of phones for testing. We can post for other people to be beta testers but if we intend to price it, there is a tendency for those testers to get hold of the previous .apk file and distribute freely isn't it?

Lastly, I am confirmed some other apps functionalities do can affect our own apps in performing our own functionalities but user may not be aware and pin point the problem at our app instead. And just like desktop PC world, most users are inclined to side on those big players apps and treat small independent developers apps as the culprit when problem crops up.

There are many more issues but I guess as long as I believe in myself my apps can serve some users ends, all others are just part and parcel of the harsh realities of life isn't it? I sleep good at night as my conscience is clear.

 

[ToastPwnz]

This, as well as people who troll developers, and people who pirate apps without considering that development might be the developer's main source of income annoy me the most.

Props to you for sticking up for them.

 

[Vito Cassisi]

As a developer I know exactly what you're talking about. I do my best to make everyone happy - I reply to every customer e-mail (even those that are in languages I cannot read), and I work with them to solve issues or implement the feature they want. Most of the time I give them access to private builds in my Dropbox.

The thing that irks me is when users go straight to the review section and rate the app 1-star, often with issues that cannot be addressed in software. It pains me to see my hard work get slandered without merit to their claim. I want to help them, but developers cannot contact people via reviews, so the chances of them getting their issue solved is pretty slim.

If customers are having issues that I cannot solve, I always offer them a full refund. If more users took the time to e-mail developers rather than rant and walk away, then the Market would be a much nicer place for both consumers and developers. Bugs get fixed a lot quicker when developers can contact people who are having issues, but when they have a vague review to work off... good luck.

I'm not sure if people realise how important star ratings are. If the rating becomes too low people will completely ignore it. It only takes one prick to rate an app 1-star on release, and the app is doomed from the start.