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Android Apps – An End User Perspective
Before we get into the meat of this post, I do realize this has nothing to do with what Political Realities was founded on. This post will contain no news or politics, but it is a subject my twin brother and I have discussed at length. Maybe you will have some thoughts on it as well.
I suppose I could be described as a technology junkie. No, I’m not a programmer and wouldn’t know one end of a line of code from another, but I do enjoy technology. I have a computer that I can use with some proficiency. A Samsung Galaxy tablet goes with me whenever I go to church to play my bass guitar, as it contains the lead sheets I need for our music. And like most people in America, I have a smart phone, powered by Google’s Android OS. It is also a Samsung Galaxy, the S5 model.
Because I use my tablet and phone almost every day, I am constantly on the lookout for useful apps. I care nothing for most of the games and only have two installed on my phone. However, if I find an app that I believe could be useful, I will almost always install it and see how it works. Those that I am using now include Clipper Plus, an app that keeps certain snippets of information handy to paste into the clipboard, to keep me from having to type them in every time I need them. I also have a memo app that I can keep notes on. Amazing Flashlight is also useful, in more ways than I can mention. There is also Handcent SMS, which is the main method of communication between my family, especially during the day when making a phone call is not possible or feasible. Obviously, I can not list every app I use, but there is something I want to highlight.
One of the first apps I installed on my first Android phone was an app to help me monitor the weather in our area. Given the fact that we live in Oklahoma, smack in the middle of Tornado Alley, I like to be able to see what Mother Nature is going to be throwing at us. The first app I tried was Weatherbug and when I realized how great it worked, I had no problem paying the $1.99 to remove the ads and get the Elite version. I used it for two or three years with no problems. Then it came time for me to upgrade to the Galaxy S5 and I realized that Weatherbug Elite, the weather app I had paid for, was no longer available in the Google Play Store. The only version available was an “updated” version that had no way to remove the ads.
Not only has Weatherbug been “updated” to a version that will always show ads, certain sections of the app have been changed, to the point of being unusable for me. The radar no longer worked properly, refusing to stay at the zoom level I wanted. The widgets were completely jacked up and the entire app was slower than Christmas. Naturally, I went looking for another weather app. All the while, the reviews on Google Play were in the tank and nary a word was heard from the developer of what used to be the best weather app for Android, at least in my opinion.
Another app that I paid for, along with many other end users, was GO SMS. I used the app every day, as did many other users of Android. Then, without explanation, the developers “updated” the app. That’s what they called it, but it was anything except an update, in the perspective of most users. The options that once only existed in the paid version, ie. the reasons why so many people were willing to purchase the app in the first place, were gone. The options were now minimal, at best. Again, the reviews went into the tank, but the developers gave no explanation for their actions. Another useful app, now almost completely useless for the people who had paid for the service it provided.
Hence, the reason I am writing this post. Why do developers of software feel the need to mess with the end users of their product like this? I understand they have to stay on top of new trends and keep their software updated accordingly. These kinds of “updates” are something else entirely. They have completely changed their product, not for the better, and called it an update. The software can no longer be used for the purposes so many users paid for. I get that it is their software and they can do with it as they wish, but why punish the end users by taking away the versions that so many people obviously used and enjoyed? If that were not the case, then why were so many people willing to purchase those versions? It is also obvious that many of these end users are more than a little unhappy with the end result. All you have to do is read the many, many reviews to figure that out.
So, a word to any software developer who may possibly read these rantings. If you have an app that many people are using, try to resist the urge to completely change it, to the point of being useless for the end users that have paid their money for the opportunity to use it. Just because the trends suggest a minimal user interface with few or no options is the new fad in software development does not mean that everyone who uses your product wants to go in that direction. If you feel you just have to follow the trends, you might consider doing what the developers of Chomp SMS did. They created Textra SMS, an app that follows that trend, without destroying the original app that so many people use.
Thereby ends my rant. If you happen to be one of the many happy users of Weatherbug Elite and would like to know where you can get the apk file to install and use on your Android phone or tablet, let me know. I can point you in the right direction.
Source: http://www.ldjackson.net/android-apps-an-end-user-perspective/
