Database Info

How would you guys like a Bugtracker?

I'm currently working on a Bugtracker for the xda-developers (my own project - wasn't asked by anybody)
The idea behind it is to allow:
The Developers to see what bugs are outstanding
The user to submit their problems
The curious to see which ROM has less bugs
The n00bs to do research before asking questions (and have more places to spam)
I'm not planning to replace the forums, I just want to make an extra tool that can be used along side the forums - but is neater for bug reporting
Feel free to post your thoughts on if you like it (and so what should be included) or if you don't like it (and so what should replace it, if anything)
Thanks!

Hey, that's very nice.
But.. Are we talking about a new website? or just a new thread?

DaVince said:
Hey, that's very nice.
But.. Are we talking about a new website? or just a new thread?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Entirely new website.
It will be hosted on my http://www.vidmes.com webserver

i voted approving the bugtracker but i like the idea of all the information about universal development being centralized in one only location.
so, i think it would be interesting to keep it in this forum.

It's ok, we'll just have a sticky thread that has a link to TehPenguin's site.
I vote you go for it TehPenguin.

DaVince said:
It's ok, we'll just have a sticky thread that has a link to TehPenguin's site.
I vote you go for it TehPenguin.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well, I've done some tentative work on it - and its looking good (if a little bare - I'm a software developer, not a web designer )
I'm a little busy this week, so its going to be about 2 weeks before I announce the link for the Beta
In the mean time, I'd like suggestions as to what people want in it
(Also, I notice one negative vote - I'd like to see their argument....)
Thanks!

Great Idea
I think mandatory information should be
1) Device Vendor...ie Imate, XDA etc
2) Radio stack in use
3) OS Rom in use
4) Third party software installed ( I know this list can be big, I myself have well over 100 apps as std) but is important for diagnosing bugs. Perhaps we could get an AppMgr listing from each system, not too hard to obtain.
You could also go overboard a little and have a PDA page, browseable from our Uni's so nothing graphics intensive or fancy. A simple login dialogue ( Can we port XDA-Dev user accounts?) once the user has logged in, they fill in a basic form with the bug description, click on submit and we could pull the information in points 1 to 4 above off of the device with a script.
Just my 50pence worth.
Great idea m8, hope it gets somewhere.............let me know if I can help with anything.
Cheers,
Beast

yes! would be really helpful for cooks

beast0898 said:
I think mandatory information should be
1) Device Vendor...ie Imate, XDA etc
2) Radio stack in use
3) OS Rom in use
4) Third party software installed ( I know this list can be big, I myself have well over 100 apps as std) but is important for diagnosing bugs. Perhaps we could get an AppMgr listing from each system, not too hard to obtain.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
What I was planning to do with this is to have them describe a "Bug" in very generic terms as the Bug's description. Then they are required to add a comment (which other people may add) - this comment would have a "template" which would have things such as vendor, radio (I didn't actually think of this one), etc...
beast0898 said:
You could also go overboard a little and have a PDA page, browseable from our Uni's so nothing graphics intensive or fancy. A simple login dialogue ( Can we port XDA-Dev user accounts?) once the user has logged in, they fill in a basic form with the bug description, click on submit and we could pull the information in points 1 to 4 above off of the device with a script.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Some good ideas but....
I can't actually get info from the xda-developer's forums database - this may be a security risk on their behalf and would require far to much messing around to organise (as much as I would like to do it)
You will be able to view the page on your PDA's - its _very_ basic and I'll try to keep it xHTML complaint and do fanciness with CSS (though at the moment it does use some table hax)
Pulling info out of the PDA is virtually impossible (unless I build an app for the PDA's.... maybe later ) since the pda only tells me what browser version it is using
Either way - these are the things I like to see - Ideas!!!!
Keep them coming!

DaVince said:
It's ok, we'll just have a sticky thread that has a link to TehPenguin's site.
I vote you go for it TehPenguin.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I totally agree with DaVince, having a bug tracking website would be cool and having a link directly to the site via xda-developers is a good idea. Keeping everything centralised and available for use by everyone who uses xda-developers.
You have my vote! Would be a great tool...
gsmknight

TehPenguin said:
What I was planning to do with this is to have them describe a "Bug" in very generic terms as the Bug's description. Then they are required to add a comment (which other people may add) - this comment would have a "template" which would have things such as vendor, radio (I didn't actually think of this one), etc...
Some good ideas but....
I can't actually get info from the xda-developer's forums database - this may be a security risk on their behalf and would require far to much messing around to organise (as much as I would like to do it)
You will be able to view the page on your PDA's - its _very_ basic and I'll try to keep it xHTML complaint and do fanciness with CSS (though at the moment it does use some table hax)
Pulling info out of the PDA is virtually impossible (unless I build an app for the PDA's.... maybe later ) since the pda only tells me what browser version it is using
Either way - these are the things I like to see - Ideas!!!!
Keep them coming!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hi TehPenguin,
Surely we can run a JScript or Vbs through the PPC Browser to get the required data from the Reg, only a couple of RegReads!
Just another thought............... I prefer accurate information, the reg is less likely to make mistakes than a user!! (No offence intended to anyone)
L8r,
Beast

Bugtracker
Hi,
Would be great to have this.
Looking forward
Leo

Why not use one of the many bugtrackers already out there? I prefer Flyspray (http://www.flyspray.org/) since it's as mighty as Mantis, but more Web 2.0 ... and you should be able to browse it on your PPC, although I don't think anybody really wants this ...
Cheers,
-mARKUS
P.S.: As for getting registry stuff through the PPC ... I doubt you can read out the registry by a JavaScript running on the page itself. Also there are many geeks out there who use Resco so they could easily export a .reg-file and attach it to the report.

mbirth said:
Why not use one of the many bugtrackers already out there? I prefer Flyspray (http://www.flyspray.org/) since it's as mighty as Mantis, but more Web 2.0 ... and you should be able to browse it on your PPC, although I don't think anybody really wants this ...
Cheers,
-mARKUS
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I've had a look at at a number of bug reporting systems - the problem with them is that I'd have to end up customising it quite a bit anyway. For instance, they are typically designed for one program, possibly with options to support different parts\plug-ins for these programs. My design involves having multiple "Devices" each with multiple "ROMs", which may be deprecated, and each of these ROMs have multiple bugs - thats a couple more levels of complexity than the average bug tracker can handle.
Although they are more "Web 2.0" the Javasript\other fanciness would make it difficult to view on a PDA. Personally I prefer the old style Web 1.0 and a PHP back end
The other advantage of me making it is that you guys can have, almost, anything you want - and it should be done as soon as I have time, seeing as I know the code intimately.
And the point I really like - I love coding
mbirth said:
P.S.: As for getting registry stuff through the PPC ... I doubt you can read out the registry by a JavaScript running on the page itself. Also there are many geeks out there who use Resco so they could easily export a .reg-file and attach it to the report.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Exporting a reg file is the only possibility. Due to "security" problems, no script can actually see the registry of the device (or your PC for that matter), except what is in the "User Agent" key.
I'll put it on the "TODO" list to make a .NET program that automatically dumps your settings and creates a bug report
Given time, this can become quite beautiful. And time is now something that I will have - since I'm on holidays for the next few weeks!! (Yay for no more exams!!)

The alpha version is almost finished
I'll put a link up onto WM-Gurus for the final testing stage of the Alpha and see how it goes
Once the Alpha is complete (ie not too buggy) I'll put the link for the Beta here
Enjoy!

this is really a great idea.
i hope all goes well...
thanks to all!

Okay,
ALPHA VERSION IS NOW AVAILABLE!!!!
You can see it by going to: http://xdabugs.vidmes.com
Feel free to register or use the following users:
Username "test" password "testing" (Access level - registered user)
Username "dev" password "dev" (Access level - developer)
Username "admin" password "password" (Access level - administrator)
PLEASE NOTE: At the end of the Alpha stage, ALL DATA WILL BE CLEARED FROM THE DATABASE!
What I need people to do:
Look for bugs
Write the Help\FAQ sections
Ask me questions so I can write the Help\FAQ sections
See what else is needed
Enjoy!!

Non-market .apk file database proposal

Hello everyone. I've a sort of proposal for the developers here, but before I get into that let me first briefly introduce myself:
I'm a communication designer for print, user interface, and illustration that completely advocates everything Android. I've been lurking the Dream development forums here for quite some time, trying to keep up-to-date with the latest ROMs, apps, etc., etc and I fully appreciate everything that goes on here and the endeavors that you devs put yourself through. Amazing stuff, really.
One thing I've noticed is that there are a slew of third-party / beta apps all over these boards, and other places on the internet as well. More often than not, I find myself scouring the cloud just to find a link for these non-market apps, and I usually get referred to them via some obscure site through another site. Despite getting the .apk file or ROM in the end, the process can get to be a bit tedious; especially for incoming users and those new to the Android platform.
My proposal is this: A website with a simple and clean user interface that has direct and succinct navigation with the purpose of consolidating and listing third-party / beta non-market applications into an easy access database. This website database would link these applications and have them be easily downloaded and installed via the Android browser, without having to mount the device.
I've actually come up with a fully-functional concept site, did the branding and everything for it, and also registered a short domain name for quick access while on your G1 or whatever Android device.
Navigate to: http://anda.pk to see what I had in mind, and how the overall layout/concept of the site would work.
I uploaded several .apk files I had backed up as examples for you to see how the database section would function. I also took into account the resolution of most Android phones and made the .apk application database section fit perfectly in the Android browser when in portrait mode right when you the load the site to ensure the best possible user experience when installing these third party apps. When you scroll to the right, you'll see info on what the site is about, and in the footer there are links to the FAQ, the about section, contact, etc.
I had also noted in the about link in the footer that the applications hosted on the download section are in no way accredited to the site, and that credit goes to their rightful developers. My being a communication designer has had the idea of peer collaboration engrained, and as such I give credit it where credit is due.
That said, I hope you guys here and the developers collaborate with me on on this site, possibly help contribute apks, and agree to them being hosted. If anything, I do hope you just embrace the concept, which originally was just going to be a reference for myself and my friends whom I've turned away from the iPhone, S60, and WinMo in favor of Android. I figured since I know the Android community is only going to get bigger, this website concept of mine could be a decent resource to have bookmarked.
Appreciate you reading this wall of text! Do hope to hear some feedback, so let me know what you guys think. Thanks!
Cheers.

I think this is a fabulous idea...automated version control would go over very well -- i.e. yum update
you should post up bits that you need help with and have folks contact you.
also..I love the logo!
question: do you propose a rating system or a review prior to listing type of approach or something new to keep this resource trustworthy?

Been following this on SA and twitter and it's a great idea.
Having the devs here on board would be a fantastic way to get something solid on the go. It's the kind of thing that can really help android become more hackable and useable for the average user...and it just make things easier for the rest of us.

Sounds good to me.
thelilliandivide said:
the applications hosted on the download section are in no way accredited to the site
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Credit and accreditation are different things. To be accredited is to be given credentials or official approval. I think you meant "credited".

Sounds like a GREAT idea.
My opinion: The color scheme hurts. Love the logo.

i like the logo and the idea. I think the site should be more mobile friendly, or even better, an application for android that can work like the official market. I could help with that part if an application is going to be built.

camalot said:
i like the logo and the idea. I think the site should be more mobile friendly, or even better, an application for android that can work like the official market. I could help with that part if an application is going to be built.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
i second that.. it should also have update checks if possible

I was going to complain that I didn't like your site layout, but in portrait mode you only see the left side which lists the apps. I like it.
One thing you might have to be leary of is dealing with apps that are considered warez unless your going to spend the time to verify every app that is uploaded or there has to a method in place.
As well there should be some kind of version control in place. You know what works on 1.1 and what works on 1.5. Obviously almost everybody within the next few weeks/months should be on 1.5, but will all the older apps run on 1.5 or does it really matter or does anybody care? The downloader will care.

CBowley said:
Sounds like a GREAT idea.
My opinion: The color scheme hurts. Love the logo.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Seconded. The text is much too light. A darker charcoal shade would be much better.
If the site gets an apk wrapper (a la FBook) version checking would be rather easy. Set up the directory tree something like this /downloads/WiFiTether/1.2.3.apk and just have the apk compare filenames. If the file names don't match, it needs to install the update.
EDIT: Now following your progress on twitter.

Some solid input. I'll play around with the color scheme and make some changes later this evening once I get back from class. And I actually do plan on making a mobile wrapper eventually, but as it stands as far as the concept layout goes, the site is best used when in portrait mode for easiest functionality. The rest of the site is to be considered supplemental. I do however, have a lot of things I eventually want to integrate; application tags, search, possibility of user uploaded apk files, etc. But for right now, I'm trying to keep the general site as simple as possible to make the workload on my end less stressful (graduating in 2 weeks).
bahnburner said:
If the site gets an apk wrapper (a la FBook) version checking would be rather easy. Set up the directory tree something like this /downloads/WiFiTether/1.2.3.apk and just have the apk compare filenames. If the file names don't match, it needs to install the update.
EDIT: Now following your progress on twitter.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Did not know how that version checker worked. Thanks. I'll re-work the apk directory scheme akin to that later tonight for when I do eventually get the wrapper up.

thelilliandivide said:
Did not know how that version checker worked. Thanks. I'll re-work the apk directory scheme akin to that later tonight for when I do eventually get the wrapper up.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That's not necessarily how most version checks work, but that's the simplest method I could think of, and probably one of the easiest to implement.

alapapa said:
I think this is a fabulous idea...automated version control would go over very well -- i.e. yum update
you should post up bits that you need help with and have folks contact you.
also..I love the logo!
question: do you propose a rating system or a review prior to listing type of approach or something new to keep this resource trustworthy?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks! And I feel I might need some help in the future as far as implementing the features that I want to get working. But I'm not quite sure I understand your question. Are you referring to how I choose which applications get posted onto the site?

i'm a graphic designer and web designer, i'll throw in a helping hand if you want, pm me or whatever.
(think about an android based layout to bring it to the phone like Cough*cydia*cough

very cool and much needed
Xda-dev is great, but there is alot of stuff thats not on the market and they have shown to bow down to the tmobs pressure(ie: tether app) so another place to get apps would be great, and your weppage is beautiful and looks like it would be very finger friendly on the g1, but there is a basic model in linux of repositories(which is about what ur doing) and a simple app to d/l them maybe somebody could just make a market.apk with a modded addy, depending on how much is known about the market and its inner workings... it would be nice to do it as it has been always done....but as I stated above your webdesign is very nice and would work well in the native browser(im heading there now on my g1)
bhang

not a bad idea. I think this is great for all verified apps that are pulled from market...

I really like this idea. Go for it.
Just one (stupid) remark about the logo... it's like it has a big nose and a :-| expression... sorry

apetit said:
I really like this idea. Go for it.
Just one (stupid) remark about the logo... it's like it has a big nose and a :-| expression... sorry
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Haha, I just noticed that actually. Now it's all I see. But yeah, I'm hoping to have a few more apps to upload by the end of next week. Revisions to the site are imminent once I get out of this last class.

I love the idea. One bookmark to check up on all the good non-market apps will be much easier than having several bookmarked threads.
Some applications may benefit from having tags such as [beta], [stable], [experimental], [contains-ads], etc.
As others have mentioned once/if user uploads are implemented an app approval system will be crucial to keep the spam at bay. I can see this really taking off.

im a supporter

zgmf-x322a said:
im a supporter
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
+1 this sounds like a great idea, there was something like this for apps for the dash,mda & sda.

Collabertive Effort Community Update Application

Hi all,
I have a concept for a single update application that would be driven from the AndroidSPIN release database so all developers could use it for ROM, Themes, Applications and anything releases to devices.
If you wouldn't mind taking a couple of minutes to read this post, I would greatly appreciate it.
http://www.androidspin.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=260&t=226
I'd really love to get a group together to collaborate and either help design this and/or write an application and back end to do it.
Let me know what you think.
Thanks
Simon

Sounds like an awesome idea, I'd love to help any way I can, but I dont fit in any of the needed positions for the post. Looking forward to see what develops though

Fantastic idea!
I only ever use XDA so god knows what I'm missing out on elsewhere and to be honest after searching the word android on google and trawling through one crap site after another becomes tiresome so hence the 'XDA only' policy.
Sorry I can't offer any programming skills but you have my support on this project whole heartedly, not that it counts for much I know buh MeH!
Hope you can get this off the ground.

As I mentioned to Simon already, I was thinking about building an update application for my ROM. I love the idea of having an on-phone ROM database, update capability, something that can easily be used by any developer in the community.
Some initial thoughts on functionality:
- Browse ROMs
- Download ROMs to SD Card
- Monitor specific ROMs for updates
- Monitor currently running ROM for updates
I'm willing to lend a hand on the Android side of things, but this will be a large undertaking and we will also need some people to contribute to the UI, server side of things, etc.

I do iPhone UI design for applications now (I don't have an iPhone, but most of my contracts and clients are iPhone based), but let me know and I can whip up anything you guys need UI related.
Send me a PM and I can get the ball rolling on how the functionality can be laid out as well.

Even tho I know I wouldnt be able to help out with this. I know I would love to test this out if you needed it.
Its a great idea!!!

I know a teeny bit of Java, and I'm working on becoming an Android developer, so if anything needs doing on the Android side of things, I'm willing to contribute.
Although I may not know as much as some others, I'm definitely a fast learner. I have a few books on Android development I'm reading through right now.

michinohatoresu said:
I know a teeny bit of Java, and I'm working on becoming an Android developer, so if anything needs doing on the Android side of things, I'm willing to contribute.
Although I may not know as much as some others, I'm definitely a fast learner. I have a few books on Android development I'm reading through right now.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well, we can reuse a lot of code from Cyanogen updater.

akirah said:
Well, we can reuse a lot of code from Cyanogen updater.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well, of course.
If anything else needs doing, however, I volunteer what spare time I have.

akirah said:
Well, we can reuse a lot of code from Cyanogen updater.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Could be easily done, would require quite a lot of laborious work ripping out all the stuff you wouldn't need though.
I would take a look at this but unfortunately I have another Android project on at the moment which is taking all my development spare time.
@SimonNWalker What sort of backend having you got going? REST? SOAP?

Ups wrong theread

not that it matters (since i kept the source 100% open)....
you have my blessing to tear the cmupdater to shreds if it will give us a unified solution to all our ROM cravings
firefart has done a good job of keeping the code pretty clean so there shouldnt be too many issues with grabbing it
and the new code for the screenshots for themes could probably be used to the advantage of this project with ease

I'm not really interested in a rom updater, but a market replacement with an "upgrade all" feature (à la apt-get / yum) drawing from multiple repositories would be most exciting.

The Cyanogen updater could be used, it just needs some modifications. Stuff like sub-sections and update all
Would probably need a new method to keep track of the updates aswell, I don't think json would be sufficient for a lot of applications and updates. Unless somebody could make some kind of script to automate the process when it gets uploaded.

willmav5000 said:
Would probably need a new method to keep track of the updates aswell, I don't think json would be sufficient for a lot of applications and updates. Unless somebody could make some kind of script to automate the process when it gets uploaded.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The only other method I would consider, besides JSON, is an advanced and well thought out web-based form that the developer is forced to complete upon uploading a ROM. This would place more burden on the server, but should be relatively easy to attach the provided ROM information to the rom database.
Think: Check boxes for firmware compatibilities, check boxes for device compatibilities, version number, change log, etc.

Maybe something a little like this?

Wow this would be/ is gonna be awsome!
I would suggest also that you can backup your sd card settings (and maybe also sms...) to an ftp server (or some other server you can install on your pc) from this app...
like (incremential) backup>partition>wipe>install update>boot>getbackupback
problem is to get the server adress back after wipe. maybe stored in web database and encrypted with phone imei number? or uploaded as google
whatever...
or just not wiping that single adress
just saying ^^

willmav5000 said:
Would probably need a new method to keep track of the updates aswell, I don't think json would be sufficient for a lot of applications and updates. Unless somebody could make some kind of script to automate the process when it gets uploaded.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
JSON is just a file format. The CM Updater works via a static JSON file that gets updated manually. The way I'd design this (which is what I asked a couple of posts back) is a dynamic web service (probably REST based) which delivered JSON dynamically. Wouldn't be too difficult at all.
As SimonWalker said he's using PHP + MySQL I'm guessing that's already being done.
@garok89: CM Updater is completely open-source therefore blessings are not needed to use the source. Really don't understand all the "credit" crap here on XDA.

senab said:
@garok89: CM Updater is completely open-source therefore blessings are not needed to use the source. Really don't understand all the "credit" crap here on XDA.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I know it is open and I don't need to give my blessing for people to use the source. I did so because a lot of people don't feel comfortable using other peoples code without permission, regardless of whether or not its 100% open source.
And as for the 'credit crap'... I don't see you asking for your name to be removed from the 'about' section of the app
I am not asking for any credit
Anyway, lets not get off topic...

Guys, before this becomes Android Open Alliance, the sequel (you all remember how that went), I think we better set up a way to work together first and then toss in the speculative stuff later.
How about starting simple; set up a wave?

Tips about a good customer support

No matter if the app is free or paid, as a developer you want to offer a good support to the end users. Why? Because as long as they are happy they will continue to use your app and they will recommend it to others. So it is in your best interest to do your best and resolve issues that customers are reporting, implement requested features and solve as many bugs as possible.
To that end, you must ensure you provide easy to access means of communication between you as a developer and the end users. There are many ways you can achieve that and I will list a few I am using and the more you can provide the better so we can put together a list:
Create an email address or use one you already have (I prefer the former) and provide links on Google Play and inside the app. It is nice if you add an accessible menu item that says (Suggestions/Bug report/Support/Etc) that will start an intent chooser for sending emails to this email address
Use forums (XDA ) and post your app and frequently visit and answer suggestions/questions. There are a lot of helpful users there that will test the app and discover bugs, suggest new features and it is very good if you can keep the thread hot so you keep the interest up. Users like feedback and makes them feel important (which they are) so try to answer as many posts as possible even though you don't have a solution to the problem yet
Get social! Social networking is very helpful these days both for spreading the word about your app but also for customer support. Create profiles for the app on all major social networks (Facebook, Google +, Twitter, etc) and try to get as many users as possible. Post as many updates as possible and keep the users informed about changes to the app, answer to their comments and implement suggestions
Prioritization - build yourself a TODO list with priorities: for each update try to solve major bugs first that are heavily reported or that are causing big problems. Always find some room for improvements and user suggestions. Then fix small bugs and try to improve UI.
Localization is an important part of today's apps. Try to support as many languages as possible making easy for the users to understand the app and to better communicate their findings
Use the publish console to check for crash reports. Many users use this feature and send crash reports along with the stack trace and it is very helpful to keep track of major crashes and identify the root cause
Please reply with more tips so we can create a big list for everyone

Email is the number 1 way people ( from my experience ) contact the developer to ask questions, recommendations, etc. What I did in addition to all the things in the op was create a cheap 5 page website with Godaddy website tonight its like $100 bucks a year or something. They also auto optimize your site for mobile viewing!Then made a contact us page, were users can choose a reason for contacting us. This works really well and you can set up an auto responder to send them a message letting them know you got the email.
I always try to answer emails immediately (during business hours) but always within 24 hours. Having a great customer service program even if your a solo dev like I am will translate into 5 star ratings based solely on customer service!
Have a lax customer service program and you will see the negative 1 or 2 star ratings pop up again based solely on customer service. It shouldn't take anyone more than say 48 hours to re connect with someone and at least start the process of answering their concern.
You can see the contact us page here
Good policy will turn into good reviews and good downloads!
:good:

I've put a feedback page in all my apps.
You don't even need to create a new email address. Just use your personal email address and create an alias. That way it looks formal on the outside but messages go to same inbox as your personal one, only have to check one inbox everyday.

HMMMMMM!
FIRST OF ALLL EMAIL AND AFTER THAT XDA POSTS.........:victory:

email or the message box is very important. But it's also important to reply to their questions promptly.

Free Customer Service SDK
Replying promptly to customers is essentially the first step towards good customer service. If you are an iOS app developer, looking to impress your customers with excellent customer support, try out Freshdesk's Mobihelp SDK ( [freshdesk.com/mobihelp) you can snap-in to your app and start communicating with your customers from right within your app. I'm sure it will be of great help in your customer service efforts!

Thanks for the tips! Just a question: I have got one Crash report in google play console very early, but since then nothing. I have put email in the game and on the play store. But nobody used it. I do not have many installs, but I wonder what is the usual percentage of people who actually report bugs?

kulisgames said:
Thanks for the tips! Just a question: I have got one Crash report in google play console very early, but since then nothing. I have put email in the game and on the play store. But nobody used it. I do not have many installs, but I wonder what is the usual percentage of people who actually report bugs?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
In my experience, if the app is something people desperately need (e.g. utility) or want (e.g. game) but it isn't working quite as they expected, they will be vocal. Not hearing anything from users is usually a warning sign that nobody was too excited about the app in the first place, or that not that many people downloaded the app in the first place.

If I see a crash on Google Play I assume that the same crash occured for 10 others who didn't bother reporting it. So I try to fix it ASAP.
You could use Google Analytics to report crashes without user prompt.
Regardless of the above, it sounds like you have a general marketing challange which is much more critical than that crash report, so you should investigate marketing and promotions in general.
kulisgames said:
Thanks for the tips! Just a question: I have got one Crash report in google play console very early, but since then nothing. I have put email in the game and on the play store. But nobody used it. I do not have many installs, but I wonder what is the usual percentage of people who actually report bugs?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse

Bad reviews on google play
slackydroid said:
No matter if the app is free or paid, as a developer you want to offer a good support to the end users. Why? Because as long as they are happy they will continue to use your app and they will recommend it to others. So it is in your best interest to do your best and resolve issues that customers are reporting, implement requested features and solve as many bugs as possible.
To that end, you must ensure you provide easy to access means of communication between you as a developer and the end users. There are many ways you can achieve that and I will list a few I am using and the more you can provide the better so we can put together a list:
Create an email address or use one you already have (I prefer the former) and provide links on Google Play and inside the app. It is nice if you add an accessible menu item that says (Suggestions/Bug report/Support/Etc) that will start an intent chooser for sending emails to this email address
Use forums (XDA ) and post your app and frequently visit and answer suggestions/questions. There are a lot of helpful users there that will test the app and discover bugs, suggest new features and it is very good if you can keep the thread hot so you keep the interest up. Users like feedback and makes them feel important (which they are) so try to answer as many posts as possible even though you don't have a solution to the problem yet
Get social! Social networking is very helpful these days both for spreading the word about your app but also for customer support. Create profiles for the app on all major social networks (Facebook, Google +, Twitter, etc) and try to get as many users as possible. Post as many updates as possible and keep the users informed about changes to the app, answer to their comments and implement suggestions
Prioritization - build yourself a TODO list with priorities: for each update try to solve major bugs first that are heavily reported or that are causing big problems. Always find some room for improvements and user suggestions. Then fix small bugs and try to improve UI.
Localization is an important part of today's apps. Try to support as many languages as possible making easy for the users to understand the app and to better communicate their findings
Use the publish console to check for crash reports. Many users use this feature and send crash reports along with the stack trace and it is very helpful to keep track of major crashes and identify the root cause
Please reply with more tips so we can create a big list for everyone
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hi,
how can we deal with bad reviews on google play, reviews that comes from pepole that didn't understand the meaning of the app?
Thanks.

If you're looking for app support best practices, contact a big startup like Buffer or Squarespace and see how they respond to your question. Notice the friendly tone of voice, the detailed answers they try to give you, and the call for action at the end of every support ticket - whether it's to try and recreate the event that caused the bug or read a FAQ section. Do that a dozen times and you'll learn more about 'proper' support than any how-to article can teach you.

dimnikolov said:
If you're looking for app support best practices, contact a big startup like Buffer or Squarespace and see how they respond to your question. Notice the friendly tone of voice, the detailed answers they try to give you, and the call for action at the end of every support ticket - whether it's to try and recreate the event that caused the bug or read a FAQ section. Do that a dozen times and you'll learn more about 'proper' support than any how-to article can teach you.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yep makes sense in my experience - personalise as much as possible and reflect the tone of voice of your app. Users will really appreciate it. Stay social.

Why not have some kind of in-app help?
Having a suggestions/feedback menu item seems to be the common thread here to provide good customer support.
But wondering - why not some kind of in app help itself? Sort of a Whatsapp inside the app? I feel email being a separate channel breaks the context - help within the app itself and in context would be so much easier for the end user.
Thoughts?

I know it is an old thread but there are SDKs that help you integrate a support chat right within the app. I have seen zomato use one of these.

Thank you for a list!

[APP][2.3+][GPLv3] APKGrabber: Re-Release of APKUpdater

APKGrabber
APKGrabber is a fork of APKUpdater. Big thanks and of course all credits go to rumboalla.
I try to develop new features and maintain the software to stay available on latest android devices, but don't expect weekly updates.
For feature requests, issue tracking, new releases and all dev related stuff see my Github page.
License
Copyright © 2017 Rumboalla. Licensed under the GNU General Public License v3.
Readapted 2019 by hemker.
Contributors
hemker
Version Information
Status: Stable
GitHub: latest
APKMirror: latest
Izzy F-Droid: latest
Created 2019-03-04
Last Updated 2019-03-22

Thank You looking forward to a great app.

Thanks for owning the maintenance & upgrade of this beautiful app.
However, I have few issues related to APKGrabber
- Whenever, i click Ignore button, in a few seconds, I see a FC.
This is on Asus Zenfone Max pro m1, stock android, non-rooted, bootloader locked, non-twrped phone
Log option do not work all the time. i see an empty screen while i click on log from the right 3 vertical dots
- I would like to visit APKmirror instead of downloading from it.
Is it possible to provide an option to copy the link ( I mean click to download / Long hold to copy the link kind of option)

hbr_in said:
Thanks for owning the maintenance & upgrade of this beautiful app.
- I would like to visit APKmirror instead of downloading from it.
Is it possible to provide an option to copy the link ( I mean click to download / Long hold to copy the link kind of option)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I think if both methods ('old APKUpdater'; visit APKMirror and new APKGrabber; direct download) could be available as option in App preferences, that would be great and serve both needs.
//t

tjsuominen said:
I think if both methods ('old APKUpdater'; visit APKMirror and new APKGrabber; direct download) could be available as option in App preferences, that would be great and serve both needs.
//t
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Please add all dev related stuff to the GitHub issue tracker.
Btw, new release is out fixing/adding that stuff, see link above.
Best
Dennis

Latest v1.1.3 says it is still v1.1.2 when installed and the update notification shows up.

Thanks, fixed it now. Just download again.

Hi,
Artem here from APKMirror. I'm glad someone revived APK Updater, so kudos on that!
However, the setting you added to directly download from the site now turns the app into a leech which uses up our bandwidth without giving so much as an ad or page view in return. We had an understanding with the previous author about this, and because of them we actively helped him with the fast API and did not block his app. This direct download addition to APKGrabber now, however, goes against all of that.
Please remove it, as it's against our terms of service.
Thank you for understanding.

Archon810 said:
Hi,
Artem here from APKMirror. I'm glad someone revived APK Updater, so kudos on that!
However, the setting you added to directly download from the site now turns the app into a leech which uses up our bandwidth without giving so much as an ad or page view in return. We had an understanding with the previous author about this, and because of them we actively helped him with the fast API and did not block his app. This direct download addition to APKGrabber now, however, goes against all of that.
Please remove it, as it's against our terms of service.
Thank you for understanding.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hey,
sorry, didn't know about any agreements. New release is out, bringing back the old behavior. Furthermore, i deleted all previous artifacts containing that stuff.
@Archon810 is anybody actively maintaining the API? I would like to get in touch to propose some questions about it. That would help making APKGrabber an up-to-date, stable app.
Best
Dennis

dhemker said:
Hey,
sorry, didn't know about any agreements. New release is out, bringing back the old behavior. Furthermore, i deleted all previous artifacts containing that stuff.
@Archon810 is anybody actively maintaining the API? I would like to get in touch to propose some questions about it. That would help making APKGrabber an up-to-date, stable app.
Best
Dennis
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hey Dennis,
Thanks for the swift action. We have been hosting APK Updater on APKMirror (last release is https://www.apkmirror.com/apk/rumbo...lease/apkupdater-1-5-11-android-apk-download/), and I'm open to now hosting APKGrabber too, as it's getting updates. Would you like that?
Would you like to chat further about the API? PM me and we can connect on Telegram.

Nice to see a friendly community
Just want put it out there because there are bound to be some people who decide to take the ****... what happens if people don't bother updating to the version that removes the direct download feature?
I'm hoping some action can be taken without penalising the developer, having detrimental effects on APKMirror and the average user

hshah said:
Nice to see a friendly community
Just want put it out there because there are bound to be some people who decide to take the ****... what happens if people don't bother updating to the version that removes the direct download feature?
I'm hoping some action can be taken without penalising the developer, having detrimental effects on APKMirror and the average user
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If there aren't to many probably nothing will happen otherwise direct linking will probably just be blocked.
Edit: I love the new ignore button right in the updates window.

SuperSandro2000 said:
If there aren't to many probably nothing will happen otherwise direct linking will probably just be blocked.
Edit: I love the new ignore button right in the updates window.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Cool, was just putting it out there because more often than not its just a handful of people that tends to ruin it for others.

hshah said:
Cool, was just putting it out there because more often than not its just a handful of people that tends to ruin it for others.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah so far so good thank you for the updates. Continued fine tuning version detection would good.
When it would auto download from apkmirror we didn't see where it would download them too.

Is your app setup for the Google Feedback for when it crashes? I just sent a log of it crashing.

Can you please add play store link of the app to be updated?
Thank you.

Glad to see this project revived.
Though it still seems to struggle when in background on Pie - actually, I can't remember wether APKUpdater could even achieve a successful background scheduled search - it will start but won't ever finish.
Getting to its UI will show it still hasn't been able to fetch the installed apps' list & actually start the search. (VPN used + WiFi only setting ticked if relevant)
Also, APKGrabber updates never are found after just opening the app but only when a manual search is launched regardless of the auto option being active.
Also, if I may, I'd like to submit a couple of ideas :
- For when notifications are set to show up only when updates are available (or maybe even in other cases), I think it would be nice if the notification could get dismissed as the users gets to the available updates page.
- Available themes are ok but now not one seems coherent with the app's icon anymore. Replacing them with a tweakable theme engine would be better suited to each user's taste.

Great to see APKUpdater revived! It was a long awaited news!
Are you planning to increase API target to Oreo at least? This is one of the few apps on my phone that still targets Nougat

FYI, APKGrabber is available on F-Droid via the IzzyOnDroid Repo.

The app is now live at https://www.apkmirror.com/apk/hemker/apkgrabber/ too.