Why the apps having the worst users' reviews are shown as "Recommended Apps" ??? - Windows Phone 7 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting

Why the apps having the worst users' reviews are shown as "Recommended Apps" ???
Hello,
How are the "Recommended Apps" selected by the Marketplace?
I am tired to see all the apps having actually the worst users' reviews be selected by Micorosoft and promoted on the Marketplace.
For instance, this week I see as recommended the games "Castlevana Puzzles" (rated only 1 star over 5) and "Deer Hunter" (rated only 1.5 star over 5) !!! Most reviews of these games state that they are not very good.
So therefore, by WHOM are they recommended ? I wonder. Not by the users for sure.
In my opinion the most important opinion is the customers' one.
MS, please stop 'recommending' apps that the users said they don't like.
How to find on the Marketplace only the apps that the USERS RECOMMEND (not MS), that is to say the ones with 3, 4 or 5 stars?
Thank you

I believe it is based on the number of downloads, which is a completely different metric from the ratings.

Jim Coleman said:
I believe it is based on the number of downloads, which is a completely different metric from the ratings.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I don't think so. My app appeared on the featured list once for a while and it only has <100 downloads to this date!
It looks to be fairly random to me.

Blade0rz said:
I don't think so. My app appeared on the featured list once for a while and it only has <100 downloads to this date!
It looks to be fairly random to me.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That'd be nice. Maybe if devs know that even crappy apps will be randomly "featured" they'll have a little pride and reduce apps that aren't so shoddy.
It's also nice because apps that might otherwise not be seen will get some time in the spotlight. Could be a big deal for someone - I know it would be for me.
Back in the WMP9 days I made a few skins that people liked for their simplicity (they were designed to be "always on top"). After MS featured them on a skins site and they got a high rating they amounted to about half of my site traffic.
A little free attention from MS can make a huge difference for a smalltime dev.

Bleak Morn said:
That'd be nice. Maybe if devs know that even crappy apps will be randomly "featured" they'll have a little pride and reduce apps that aren't so shoddy.
It's also nice because apps that might otherwise not be seen will get some time in the spotlight. Could be a big deal for someone - I know it would be for me.
Back in the WMP9 days I made a few skins that people liked for their simplicity (they were designed to be "always on top"). After MS featured them on a skins site and they got a high rating they amounted to about half of my site traffic.
A little free attention from MS can make a huge difference for a smalltime dev.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I totally understand your point of view.
Nonetheless, I would probably like/prefere to have an "Apps recommended by users". I mean the apps with the best feedback from the ones that really tested the apps. Indeed, number of download means nothing.
Strange that the Marketplace does not include this. It seems natural to me.
It would be good because:
- it will encourage developers to make good apps and get a high ranking,
- it will allow users to discover and install apps that have a positive feedback. It does not mean that a lot of people aready installed it. Maybe only one or two people only installed the app, found it very good. Thanks to its high ranking, the app will be discovered by other people.
Also, I do not think that apps such as Deer Hunter or Castlevania need to be promoted like they currently are on the Marketplace: firstly, they are mediocre Xlive games. Secondly, better to promote independant small developers that Xlive games developed by Microsoft. Microsoft do not really need to promote their own game, especially when they are not so good.

arturobandini said:
I totally understand your point of view.
Nonetheless, I would probably like/prefere to have an "Apps recommended by users". I mean the apps with the best feedback from the ones that really tested the apps. Indeed, number of download means nothing.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Keep in mind, ratings can be gamed as well. One vote for 5-stars could result in a 5-star rating for a 1-star app.
A while back I had an issue with the Zune software - wanted to get a list of all of my songs based on whether or not they were ZunePass (DRM) songs, or MP3's I'd bought with my 10 monthly song credits. The idea was to use the credits on the songs I've listened to most but hadn't yet unlocked.
I was having getting the software to do what I want, so I asked how to do it in the Zune forums. When that didn't get the answer I wanted, I communicated with some Zune MVP's via Twitter. They connected me with one of the Zune application development leads at MS (also on Twitter) and I directed him to the article in the Zune forums where he helped me troubleshoot and fix the issue.
One of the things I like about MS is that when I poke around, they usually put me in touch with someone who can directly solve my problem (like the app dev lead).
In this case, he provided me with a simple work-around for the problem I was having, but if you need a new app feature it's nice to be able to tell the guy in charge directly.
Oh, and if you end up taking this approach I'd love it if you'd post the link to your Zune forums thread here so I can follow along since it's an issue I might encounter soon.

Related

[REQ] Yelp app

With the influx of US-TM HD2 owners coming up soon, one of the things I think they might ask for is a Yelp application. I'm guessing this because I wish I had one! It seems every other mobile OS besides Symbian has a native app, but we're stuck with using the mobile site! We don't want to be associated with those Nokia people do we?
If you aren't familiar with Yelp, it's a review site for pretty much any business you can think of - very popular for restaurants, bars, etc. I know people in the US use it a lot. Yelp has a UK/Canada presence as well, not sure how popular it is.
As mentioned, we can currently go to m.yelp.com and search, but it's not ideal since you have to type in your location, type in what you're looking for, and almost makes you not want to use it.
If you get the Yelp app for iPhone, webOS, Android, BB, etc., it'll use your phone's 'network triangulation' or GPS to automatically show you what's around you. Of course, once you have that, you can filter by category (restaurant, shopping, etc.), and sort by rating (and other various features.)
If you click on an item of interest, you can read the reviews, get details on the store (location, hours, etc.), and if the app is developed enough - write reviews, post pictures, and be a contributing member of the site.
Yelp has an API that seems pretty easy and robust, where requests are passed along like so
Code:
Sample Request:
[url]http://api.yelp.com/business_review_search?term=yelp&lat=37.788022&long=-122.399797&radius=10&limit=5&ywsid=XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX[/url]
And you get a crapload of data back, all nicely formatted and easy to handle.
More info here: http://www.yelp.com/developers
TBH, I would try and code it myself, but I'd only be able to create a backend, maybe (never coded for WM before.) The GUI is the most important part since a lot of the heavy lifting is done with the API (otherwise, we'd have to scrape and... ugh.)
I'm sure I'm not the only one that would be interested in such an app, and I'm willing to pay for it. I'll start a bounty of $20 for anyone interested in developing it! All I ask for release is a touch-friendly Yelp reader that transmits current location. Further yelp-contributing features can be developed later @devs discretion.
Maybe Aloqa could help?
Hi Mazzarin,
I am using Aloqa, by default it shows Cafes, Restaurants, "what's hot", Sights, Bars and Cubs, Movies, Wikipedia, Fashion and last.fm.
You can add other channels or create your own.
All the best,
Peter
Aloqa and Yelp
Aloqa has a Yelp channel as well... but...
I would LOVE to have Yelp... +1
I will also put in $10 bounty for this.
p_fr1968: Thanks for the heads up. I'm downloading it now veeerrry slowly. I looked up the app on Marketplace and it seems to have people that either love it or absolutely hate it so lets see!
taimoorhusain: I think I convinced a dev to do it, hopefully we'll see a release soon!
Only had a very quick look at this, shouldn't be too muh hassle writing an app for this, I'd have to dev it for windows then port it WM (as I'm new to the 3.5 cf so don't know what it can and more importantly can't do)
Tried aloqa... it works okay. Seems buggy, doesn't have kinetic scrolling, and only does GPS OR GSM location, not both. I'll write the devs with my thoughts and maybe they'll fix it up! But it DOES have Yelp!
djingonthenet - That would be cool if you could do it, but like I mentioned in the above post, a dev who already has a running app has stated he'll do it. More competition or something I guess?!
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=619329
^Next2Me is the app.
mazzarin said:
Tried aloqa... it works okay. Seems buggy, doesn't have kinetic scrolling, and only does GPS OR GSM location, not both. I'll write the devs with my thoughts and maybe they'll fix it up! But it DOES have Yelp!
djingonthenet - That would be cool if you could do it, but like I mentioned in the above post, a dev who already has a running app has stated he'll do it. More competition or something I guess?!
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=619329
^Next2Me is the app.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
well I'll have a look anyway, maybe knock up a basic version then see how it goes from there. is the next2me app just for USA locs or does it work in the UK as well?
At the moment, next2me uses google local so... pretty much everywhere.
Re: Aloqa, got a response back really quick:
Aloqa Feedback said:
We are working on a full featured version of Aloqa for WinMo that should have all the features you mention and more, including those available today exclusively on Aloqa for Android. We hope to launch it in 6 - 8 weeks, so please stay tuned!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
mazzarin said:
With the influx of US-TM HD2 owners coming up soon, one of the things I think they might ask for is a Yelp application. I'm guessing this because I wish I had one!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Did you ever find a Yelp one? I know you mentioned the developer of Next2Me incorporating it into that (nice) app; but it doesn't seem to have happened.
I find Aloqa's interface a bit scruffy. I noticed there's an app for Qype in the uk app store (Qype's like Yelp but better for Uk/Europe; bit sketchy for U.S.) but I still can't find anything for Yelp in the U.S. or otherwise
Does the Yelp iphone app let you leave your own reviews (like Qype does)? I had a quick look at the Yelp API but it looks like it's 'read-only'. I think that's half the fun being able to tell people when your restaurant food arrived cold!
James.
Never found one unfortunately. Not sure about the capabilities of the iPhone app, but I'd be happy to get read-only access still!
Yeah me too. Thanks for letting me know. Fingers crossed the big organisations start writing their apps for at least WP7.
I'll email the author of the winmo Qype app (Magic Guidebook) and see if he's willing to add in Yelp.
Awesome, let me know how it goes.

Really Disappointed by Marketplace

After all the great things I've heard about iPhone's marketplace, I was going to get one until AT&T did their little data plan switch.
Then I got the EVO, hoping because Android was a developing market and there were thousands and thousands of apps, it would compare to iPhone's.
Not even close. I'm scrolling through, trying to find cool apps, and most of them seem to be utility apps or some such stuff. Most of the reviews on these things seem to indicate the apps are buggy or the developer has stopped support.
Where are all the cool apps like iPhone has? Are they in the paid section? Even those seem to be buggy from what I'm reading in the User Comments sections. How come iPhone gets great voice to text support (I know people who use this function a lot) and Android doesn't? Corporations are putting out iPhone apps left and right and Android has practically nothing. And the ones they ARE putting out, again, seem buggy.
Seems like a great waste to me.
Someone please clue me in and show me what I've been missing.
The AppStore has an 18 month head start on the Android Market, not to mention there are like 5 times the number of iPod/iPhones then Android devices right now. So it makes since that developers have up to this point been putting a majority of their time and resources into the AppStore. But, with 160k+ Android activations a day and growing Android WILL take over iPhones at some point in the future and we'll really begin to see a ton of developer support as the platform continues to quickly grow.
Ya what he ^ said. Android will eventually be big enough where developers cannot ignore the potential customers. As long as google doesn't fragment the market too much, you should see the big developers start dual releasing software (similar to xbox and ps3).
great voice to text supprt, you know thats google's software tht does that on the iphone
I got a apple fanboy at work and he is always saying my market sucks and I ask him to show me some of his life changing apps, and he has nothing cool
norkoastal said:
Ya what he ^ said. Android will eventually be big enough where developers cannot ignore the potential customers. As long as google doesn't fragment the market too much, you should see the big developers start dual releasing software (similar to xbox and ps3).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
maybe is apple drops that part of EULA where an apple developer must be only dedicated to apple development or be dropped from the app store, much like our facebook app is far behind the apple one. the new team has to catch up
nbakid2000 said:
After all the great things I've heard about iPhone's marketplace, I was going to get one until AT&T did their little data plan switch.
Then I got the EVO, hoping because Android was a developing market and there were thousands and thousands of apps, it would compare to iPhone's.
Not even close. I'm scrolling through, trying to find cool apps, and most of them seem to be utility apps or some such stuff. Most of the reviews on these things seem to indicate the apps are buggy or the developer has stopped support.
Where are all the cool apps like iPhone has? Are they in the paid section? Even those seem to be buggy from what I'm reading in the User Comments sections. How come iPhone gets great voice to text support (I know people who use this function a lot) and Android doesn't? Corporations are putting out iPhone apps left and right and Android has practically nothing. And the ones they ARE putting out, again, seem buggy.
Seems like a great waste to me.
Someone please clue me in and show me what I've been missing.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
What are you looking for in the Market? What do you want an App to do for you? You cannot just get into to the Market to 'look for cool apps'. It will be very helpful if you narrow your search, that way you can get the help you want. The Android Market cannot be blamed for corporations that put out sub-par or buggy apps. Take your issues up with their developers.
If you depend solely on users comments to make your decision about an app, you might end up not trying any. Since Android phones have varied models and specifications there are bound to be different experiences from different users. Even for users with the same device, the App may appear a bit buggy because of the modifications they have made to their phones.
There are different communities of users that review Apps and offer feedback that may be useful. AppBrain is a good one to try. Good luck.
I try not to read too much into user comments because some of the people either dont know how to use the app or are trying to use a brand new app on an outdated android phone/os
BrianDigital; said:
I got a apple fanboy at work and he is always saying my market sucks and I ask him to show me some of his life changing apps, and he has nothing cool
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Cause there is nothing that cool lol. I've been using AppStore for 2 years going now and still use it with my iPad. To me, the only thing the AppStore does better are the games. That's expected because they have been out longer. I have yet to try any android games so I could be wrong. Most of appstore apps are gimmicks and a waste of space. They do have a good selection of very good programs, as does the android store. Android store also has more free programs that are better I've noticed. Even the great programs that cost money are cheap. The biggest thing is that you can refund within 24 hours on the android store.
This is a personal preference. I like good useful programs where I wont delete it 5 mins later. Now I think about it, most of the apps I used on the iphone and iPad now are from Cydia.
what is a "cool app" for you? once you can define it as a boolean string you'll be all set.
until then its not unlike the iphone store...tens of thousands of apps. of that a huge number are redundant and or outdated. a good chunk are crap or useless. that leaves a bunch of needles in the haystack.
1) try a site like appbrain.com or apps.androidtapp.com (they may provide better search options)
2) do some google searches for "top EVO apps" or "Best Android apps" etc. that helped me quite a bit.
what is cool to one person is irrelevant crap to another.
DraginMagik said:
what is a "cool app" for you? once you can define it as a boolean string you'll be all set.
what is cool to one person is irrelevant crap to another.
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Click to collapse
exactly. sounds like you just wanna **** around on your phone to me. I AM T-PAIN!!!!!!!!!
Well you can always check out the "cool app" thread in this same section that might help a little btw
brown14you said:
What are you looking for in the Market? What do you want an App to do for you? You cannot just get into to the Market to 'look for cool apps'. It will be very helpful if you narrow your search, that way you can get the help you want. The Android Market cannot be blamed for corporations that put out sub-par or buggy apps. Take your issues up with their developers.
If you depend solely on users comments to make your decision about an app, you might end up not trying any. Since Android phones have varied models and specifications there are bound to be different experiences from different users. Even for users with the same device, the App may appear a bit buggy because of the modifications they have made to their phones.
There are different communities of users that review Apps and offer feedback that may be useful. AppBrain is a good one to try. Good luck.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I never blamed Android for the lack of apps situation. Where did I do that? I said I was disappointed with the Marketplace. At no time did I say, "I'm upset with Android and Google for not having any cool apps."
What do I want in apps? I dunno. I've never owned an iPhone so I'm not sure exactly what's out there....except I've heard that EVERYTHING is out there.
A couple of things missing off the top of my head:
Kevin's Smith app
Redbox
Blockbuster
The rest, I guess, is just cool stuff...whatever that may be. How about some nice apps for alcoholic beverages? The ones I've found (from the user reviews) don't seem that great. Again, I haven't tried them but if most people say an app isn't very good, I tend to believe it.
How about an app for cooking recipes? How about a great music player (which I haven't found yet, but MixZing seems to be pretty decent)? How about an app that compares prices?
Shazam (a music program) is supposed to be on Android. It's not. It looks like they pulled it, even though their web site advertises it.
The thing is, I don't know what app I need until I see it. I've never experienced it, so I don't know what I'm missing. *shrug* I just know I must be missing SOMEthing, based on everything I've ever heard or read about Apple's store.
On the subject of voice to text...what's a good app for that? Why can I not get something up to par with what iPhone has? Or can I?
There is a redbox app. Google shopper would be good for prices i think. Blockbuster is about to go out of business anyway lol. Shazam is definitely there because i just searched and it showed up. vlingo voice is a good voice to text even though android has that pretty much built in already. The music player that comes with the evo is good enough for me so idk about the others. Whats the kevin smith app?
I'd like to know where the free Redbox app came from. It wasn't there on my device a while ago. I just downloaded it.
Shazam is now showing up for me and I've done multiple searches over the past day for this thing. It's downloading as well.
The Kevin Smith app is found here: http://www.denvog.com/iphone/KevinSmith/index.html
nbakid2000 said:
I'd like to know where the free Redbox app came from. It wasn't there on my device a while ago. I just downloaded it.
Shazam is now showing up for me and I've done multiple searches over the past day for this thing. It's downloading as well.
The Kevin Smith app is found here: http://www.denvog.com/iphone/KevinSmith/index.html
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
shazam has been there since last year or longer because i bought the hero when it came out last october and had shazam. just give it time. the "cool" apps will show up
Not sure what you mean by voice to text app
Maybe I am misunderstanding what you are asking. Voice to text is part of the android 2.1 operating system. When you hit the microphone it will put text into whatever you are using such as an e-mail or a text message. There is no need for an app for it as it is built into the operating system
Voice to text? Already supported out of the box.
However, you can get Vlingo from the marketplace. It costs quite a bit, but if you're a dedicated voice user, it can be good for you.
You have to look around. Google is your friend.
What do you want? Cool games?
Hungry Shark, Raging Thunder II, Exzeus Arcade, Slimeball Speedway, Tiki Towers, Caligo Chaser, and Gameboid are just some I can think of off the top of my head. Gameboid will multiply those games because of ROMS.
A PSx emulator is in the works by the same developer.
Google's apps themselves impressed a lot of people that I showed my phone to.
Google Sky Map, Google Goggles, Google Earth, Google Maps, etc.
Other free apps that are top knotch:
Pandora, Facebook, Twitter, Shazam, Barcode Scanner, LED Light, Handcent SMS, TV.com (awesome cbs shows right there!).
Ringdroid (make ringtones ON YOUR PHONE), QIK video chat, Fring (for skype).
There are also apps where you can download backgrounds and ringtones from a wide variety.
So... just look around. Google helps.
And lastly, a lot of developers are looking into developing for Android. With all the new Android phones and Android users, things are working out well for its marketplace. For example, with the release of the HTC Evo... former palm pre, blackberry, and winmo users came. Hardly any people moved from android to android in that case.
Pretty much all of those apps you listed I have installed on my Evo via the Market.
patelkedar91 started a great list but here's a list of my favorite apps
acv - comic viewing app if you have downloaded comics(reads cbr files!)
doubletwist - media app that plays music and video, also has a matching desktop client for syncing your android phone, much like itunes to the iphone
epicurious - recipe app
fxcamera - camera app that has some awesome built in effects
layar - augmented reality app that shows points of interest through the camera
urbanspoon - can't decide on where to eat? just set preferences and shake to get a restaurant
Photoshop.com Mobile - basic photo editing app
transdroid - app to control torrent clients from your phone, including adding torrents
zombie, run! - one of the funnest apps on my phone, uses gps location to simulate a zombie apocalypse. shows zombies as red dots and you have to avoid them and make it to a location you set, makes biking to school a lot more interesting
there's a lot more, keep looking and lurk these forums like crazy. good "cool" apps are recommended here a lot
I don't even understand the point of this post. You didn't have an iPhone, but just 'hear' that it had it lots of cool apps. Then come to Android just looking for random 'cool' apps but can't articulate what you are looking for. Sure, the iPhone had 65 different fart apps, so it has an advantage there.
I had the iPhone 3G, then 3GS, then went to the Droid and now the EVO. I don't have a ton of apps, but I use quite a few. When I moved to the Droid in November, there were only two apps that I had with the iPhone that weren't available on the Android Market; SlingPlayer and Alarm.com. Both of those have since been released on the Market too.
Shazam has been available the whole time except for some reason that it disappeared a week or so ago. Music player? Well, Android has one built in and the EVO has HTC's version. On the Market, there is Mixzing and DoubleTwist. Blockbuster? Who friggin cares. Blockbuster will be out of business before long and Netflix is better anyway. The Netflix app is coming soon to Android.
I will admit that the games were a bit better on the iPhone, but outside of that I don't miss anything about the iPhone or the App Store.

[WIDGET] Todo List Widget - a simple task list with ICS and HC scroll support

MOOGLY
A simple but powerful to do list widget designed to be customized. Now with auto-hiding buttons!
Features:
★ Multiple independent, scrollable widgets
★ Quick, dialog based entry
★ Tick to delete or mark complete
★ Widgets are optimized for Honeycomb
★ Predefined themes or total customization
★ RTL support
★ Custom image backgrounds
This widget was inspired by To Do List from HTC Sense - for some reason, they were the only ones to get it right.
Lite Market link - restricted to 8 entries and only one widget
https://market.android.com/details?id=fahrbot.apps.moogly.lite&feature=search_result
Screens:
Must have
- More better themes
- Notifications and alarms
- Sorting
Could use
- Image background transparency
- Save custom themes
Would be nice
- Button themes
- Fullscreen note character board
Very cool! I love you guys apps
I knew you would mate Spread the word!
Nothing at all? I was hoping for a little feedback...
Sure... app rocks, looking forward to the image backgrounds!
ftgg99 said:
Nothing at all? I was hoping for a little feedback...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I just downloaded and installed the free version and it looks really nice. However, I do feel that there is room for improvement in the functionality.
1. Scrollable please! I want to use the widget in a 2x4 space, but I have lots of things I want to put on it. Making the widget scrollable will allow me to use a smaller widget size instead of putting it in the 4x4 space I use now (I gave it its own screen). Ill pay for the app if you implement this.
2. Mark as done in one click! As of now, you click once to open a menu that shows your tasks, then you click a second time to mark a task done, then you click a third time to close the menu (EDIT This is totally wrong. Its only 2 clicks, but I think the point stands) Placing a check box or some other kind of button next to each task that marks it as done would streamline this process.
3. Option to display "notes" on the widget. Again, something that would remove "clicks" from the process of seeing notes. Maybe make a global default for displaying notes in all tasks, then be able to edit each tasks individual "note display options" independently of the default. Also, if a task has "hidden notes", maybe place an asterisk at the end to denote that is has hidden notes. As for tasks that display their notes on the widget, the notes should have their own font size, style, and color options, and ideally (for me) should be indented.
These are all just suggestions. I hope some of them get you thinking of ways to improve your app. I'm definitely looking forward to seeing what you come up with!
Great ideas... but may be difficult to implement. Lets see what ftgg says.
I say I'll look into it when I've had some sleep...
fafrehugen said:
Great ideas... but may be difficult to implement. Lets see what ftgg says.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm probably the farthest thing you can find from an Android Dev, but I am sure that all of those things are common in other apps. There just isnt one with all of those features that I can find with all of the additional features of this app.
ftgg99 said:
I say I'll look into it when I've had some sleep...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Cool.
The amount of r&d I do depends on the number of people that buy the app. Everyone thinks its the other way round, but for a company time is money, so I have to see an app succeed first, before committing additional resources...
So when people just use lite versions, never leave ratings or comments but still demand features many studios lose interest.
ftgg99 said:
The amount of r&d I do depends on the number of people that buy the app. Everyone thinks its the other way round, but for a company time is money, so I have to see an app succeed first, before committing additional resources...
So when people just use lite versions, never leave ratings or comments but still demand features many studios lose interest.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If this comment is directed towards me, I certainly wasn't demanding anything. I was just trying to help you improve your product.
If you think people will buy your app before it has the features they are looking for, you might want to reconsider. I rated your app a 3 because it doesn't have what I'm looking for. I'm not going to give you a 5, let alone spend money, on something that isn't what I want. I hope that makes some sense.
Just installed the free version. Looks good, and I will buy if I continue to use it.
EXQEX9 said:
If this comment is directed towards me, I certainly wasn't demanding anything. I was just trying to help you improve your product.
If you think people will buy your app before it has the features they are looking for, you might want to reconsider. I rated your app a 3 because it doesn't have what I'm looking for. I'm not going to give you a 5, let alone spend money, on something that isn't what I want. I hope that makes some sense.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
How nice... however, I am a professional developer with over 20 apps. Im pretty sure i know what im doing in this business.
The 3 star rating is just a sign of ignorance, because two of the three features you want implemented are not possible under android at all. In fact, i know of only one other to do list app anywhere near as good as the current early (0.2) release of Moogly. And its still rubbish.
Giving the app a low rating despite it performing exactly as described will only lead to generally lower ratings and less time spent on development. But thats our lot - getting flamed by noobs with $500 phones who shy away from spending $1.48 on something they will use on a daily basis.
Haha, i know exactly how you feel mate - people just dont understand
You are one of the few devs that actually engages with the users, and some are always just ungrateful. I have been trying to do some modifications to it, but as you told me before its not possible!
He gave it 3 star because it didnt have what he wanted, but the app never claimed to have more than what is in the description. The only good reviews are the ones that give 5 stars and say "Works as advertised".
@ftgg99 - Just out of interest which of those suggestions are not possible in Android? Just asking as I'm still getting to grips with what you can and can't do in apps and widgets on Android. Is it possible to mark as done directly in the widget? Also, I have been using GTasks and integrating it into Pure Grid Calendar so all my stuff is in one place, however I fancied a change so am trying out beOrganized at present (but getting really pissed off having realised that the Voice entry function only works when you have wifi/data available - wtf!). Anyway, I'd like to give your app a try so will feed back. Tasks is a big thing for me on my phone and something I use equally as much as my calendar, and having tried most things out there I have to agree that none of them are a perfect solution. So good luck with your app, if I like the lite version I will happily pay your humble price
BTW, would you consider adding in alarm/notification reminder for tasks like in GTasks - find that very handy...
Dunc001 said:
@ftgg99 - Just out of interest which of those suggestions are not possible in Android? Just asking as I'm still getting to grips with what you can and can't do in apps and widgets on Android. Is it possible to mark as done directly in the widget? Also, I have been using GTasks and integrating it into Pure Grid Calendar so all my stuff is in one place, however I fancied a change so am trying out beOrganized at present (but getting really pissed off having realised that the Voice entry function only works when you have wifi/data available - wtf!). Anyway, I'd like to give your app a try so will feed back. Tasks is a big thing for me on my phone and something I use equally as much as my calendar, and having tried most things out there I have to agree that none of them are a perfect solution. So good luck with your app, if I like the lite version I will happily pay your humble price
BTW, would you consider adding in alarm/notification reminder for tasks like in GTasks - find that very handy...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Regarding the not possible thing - i was pretty red-eye after coding all night and after a second thought i must admit that i was wrong. All of them are possible. Im a noob.
Originally i just made this for myself after finding nothing adequate on the market, and i never use any other features - why bother with notifications for example when the widget is one one of only three screens i stare at all day anyway?
Now of course ill have to take people's suggestions into account so the minimalism i enjoy will have to take a backseat
The alarm, notification thing is on the todo list already. Will be implemented next week for sure.
You see, that's what happens. You make something perfect and everyone wants to change it
If you need a crash dummy just PM me, I don't break easily
ftgg99 said:
How nice... however, I am a professional developer with over 20 apps. Im pretty sure i know what im doing in this business.
The 3 star rating is just a sign of ignorance, because two of the three features you want implemented are not possible under android at all. In fact, i know of only one other to do list app anywhere near as good as the current early (0.2) release of Moogly. And its still rubbish.
Giving the app a low rating despite it performing exactly as described will only lead to generally lower ratings and less time spent on development. But thats our lot - getting flamed by noobs with $500 phones who shy away from spending $1.48 on something they will use on a daily basis.
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Click to collapse
First off I want to say that the only reason I'm still in this thread is because I think there has been some kind of misunderstanding. I'm not one to argue online, but on the other hand, I don't like people thinking I'm flaming them when I'm trying to praise them.
I respect you're time spent as a dev, but I've been a consumer for longer than you've been a dev and I know that I will not buy a product based on future potential. Yes, even if it's $1.48. As a dev, you should know how those small sums can add up to be quite a bit over time.
Your app is the closest thing I have found to date to what I'm looking for in a todo widget. That having been said, I can't use it because it is missing some, of what are to me, key features. That having been said, I can't rate this app perfectly. The rating system, to me, does not reflect how well an app does what it advertises, but how useful/fun the app is overall and compared to other apps.
In my comment (EDIT: the one i made in the market), I did say that the app had serious potential. That's the highest praise I can give at the moment, but I think it's great praise.
I would appreciate you retracting the ignorant/noob comment, as you realized that the features are implementable.
Thank you if you've read this and thought about it objectively. Good luck with the app. I hope it's a success.
Great app, it would be perfect with Google Tasks sync

Looking for a good 'Word' Game

Guys,
I'm looking for a good 'Word' game for the TF.
Not one like Scrabble or where you have to re-arrange a group of letters to form as many words as you can.
No, what I'm trying to find is one where you are first presented with a collection of letters in a large block and you then have to tap on each letter to form a word. You are then given a score for either the length of the word or the type of letters used.
As you tap away and a word is formed, the remaining letters above drop down the screen to replace the ones you have used and are then replaced with new ones from the top... if you get my drift.
I don't like timer's as I like to take my time, pause if I want or come back to a previously saved game.
It's a bit of an ask but can anyone recommend such a game?
You're describing the Dropwords game almost exactly (it does have a timer).
There are free and paid versions on the Android market:
https://market.android.com/details?id=com.eekgames.worddrop&hl=en
Regards,
Eric
Perfect Eric... Nice one.
When you said it had a timer I very nearly gave up on it as I don't like timers, I like to take my time and save so I can come back later.
However, because you took the effort to post I should take the effort in trying it out.
I'm very pleased I did because on loading I immediately noticed you can select a variety of speeds for the timer..... including a 'non-timer'.
Also, you can save the game and return later.
Perfect Eric..... perfect.
Good suggestion....it's a lot of fun...but it's not optimized for tablets...it would be even better then.
@Beards,
You're welcome. It's one of my favorites.
You actually helped me out - I never bothered to check out the timer options.
Thanks!
@rpavich,
It may not be optimized for tablets, but it works great full-screen on my Transformer.
Some time ago, I was also looking for a similar game (on a different OS). So much so that I made my own, which seems to fit your criteria. The name is Wordsler and is available in the Android Market (I don't have 8 posts here, and apparently not allowed to place a direct link yet).
It's got a non-timer mode, a 2 minute timer mode, and an online mode (where everyone gets the same sets of letters within a 24 hour period).
This is just a spare-time hobby, and I'm not great with graphics, so it's nothing fancy or shiny, but I think the gameplay works quite well.
Silkswift said:
Some time ago, I was also looking for a similar game (on a different OS). So much so that I made my own, which seems to fit your criteria. The name is Wordsler and is available in the Android Market (I don't have 8 posts here, and apparently not allowed to place a direct link yet).
It's got a non-timer mode, a 2 minute timer mode, and an online mode (where everyone gets the same sets of letters within a 24 hour period).
This is just a spare-time hobby, and I'm not great with graphics, so it's nothing fancy or shiny, but I think the gameplay works quite well.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
For anyone else, here's a direct link to the game Silkswift mentions.
I had a quick look at the two pictures shown of the game on The Market. It wasn't much to go on but I downloaded and installed.
Unfortunately as soon as I went to run Wordsler it then asked me to download two sets of libraries.
Nothing is mentioned on either The Market or your developers Web Site of these libraries being required so to anyone not knowing what these are or what they do, I think most people will then do as I did which was to close the App down and uninstall.
If Wordsler is going to need additional files to run you do need to let the downloader know in advance and explain why they are needed and what happens when they are run.
HI Beards,thanks for checking it out. My apologies for not mentioning the additional libraries here. The description in the market does mention them at the beginning (with a few stars for emphasis), but it probably could use a better explanation. The extra libraries are part of the android-qt project (port of Qt apps to android).
Silkswift said:
HI Beards,thanks for checking it out. My apologies for not mentioning the additional libraries here. The description in the market does mention them at the beginning (with a few stars for emphasis), but it probably could use a better explanation. The extra libraries are part of the android-qt project (port of Qt apps to android).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes, going back to The Market I see you have now added the information on the libraries required. You also now mention it may be better to install over Wifi.
This is a good call and another reason why you needed to mention the additional libraries in The Market link.
It would also be good if you stated the actual size of the additional download. That way the installer knows full well what to expect, which in turn makes for a happier user of the software.
Although I don't think it is what I am looking for (I prefer a much larger rectangular block of letters with actions similar to that of Dropwords).
However, I'll give it a try for you. Will report back later... have a very busy day ahead.
Silkswift said:
HI Beards,thanks for checking it out. My apologies for not mentioning the additional libraries here. The description in the market does mention them at the beginning (with a few stars for emphasis), but it probably could use a better explanation. The extra libraries are part of the android-qt project (port of Qt apps to android).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Good game dude, i'll rate it on my computer since we can yet on market. Like said previous, you have a lot of extra sceen, so bigger blocks would be great. It would also be nice to have "Validate" button up with the words, and maybe a "Clear all" for quickly deselecting all, but that doesn't really matter. Thanks for the free DL!
Sent from my Transformer TF101 using xda premium

How to market your android games and apps part 1

Ok you put time and effort into your games or apps but still cant seem to get downloads. You might even see a game or app similar to yours but for some reason they are charting but your not. There are over 100,000 developers and over a million apps on googleplay. What are they doing that your not?
1) Website- I see a lot of developers that have a single blog page for all their apps. Look at the format of google play and match your website as close as you can to what google play has. Why? Customers are use to a certain format and like things that look familiar . Think like a customer when building a website and put the same effort as you were in programming your apps.
2)Social Networking-Make a twitter and facebook account. Any app release you have or updates post them.You can even interact with customers and get feedback directly from them. Use this as a tool to learn from real people and adjust your game or app based on feedback.
3)Make Niche Apps- There is no way indie developers can match the power of big companies. Rather than try to take on gameloft or EA focus on niche apps. Small apps like car locators or how to cook books. Small apps like these have been know to get more downloads vs making a game going against a bigger company. Small focused apps or simple games with great graphics can draw people to your app.
4)Post in Forums- Post your game or app in several forums. Be careful as many forums are not really indie friendly. Most forums have a section where you can post games or apps away from where regular forum users cant see. Also you might run into jealous developers who have nothing better to do then degrade your game. Post in several forums to bring in users but remember this is only a small part of your marketing efforts. This forums is very developer friendly though.
5)Rate Me Button- In your apps your should have a rate me button and a googleplay button that points to only your apps in google play. You can also have a button to your website to give the customer a more personal touch.
6) Paid vs. Free- I would suggest you make 4 to 5 free apps before making a paid app. Most customers do not want to pay and only enjoy free apps. You can make a paid version but be warned if you make a paid version users might
1) uninstall the free version
2)buy the paid version
3)refund the paid version but keep the apk on thier device
4) Now they have the paid version for free.
I will make another how to market your android apps part 2 soon. Till then good luck with your games and apps.
These are helpful tips seeing as me and a friend just released our first app a month ago, thanks!
yoshihat said:
These are helpful tips seeing as me and a friend just released our first app a month ago, thanks!
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Click to collapse
Your welcome hope your friends apps does well

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