3 ms·

>>It's also not clear that the model of background apps requesting the user's attention works. How many iPhones have you seen with a red circle containing "23"

by yakult 11y ago

>>It's also not clear that the model of background apps requesting the user's attention works. How many iPhones have you seen with a red circle containing "23" on the home screen, indicating that 23 apps need updating...and it's been there for months? I would argue this is working as intended. The advantage of background notification rather than modal is that the user gets a choice. The user could very well decide that your EXTRA SUPER URGENT notification is, in fact, unimportant, and this right here is a perfect example. No, I don't care if your bullshit app that I've opened a grand total of twice needs a 200 MB update. If anything, there should be an option to force old notification circles to go away after two weeks or so except for legitimately important apps like email and messaging.

prawn 11y ago
Agree. I avoid updating apps that are working satisfactorily because many later add ads or other annoying functions.
- rpgmaker 11y ago
  Or remove functions, or change the UI needlessly and for the worse. I honestly don't know how people can update their apps without having a backup to go back to. I probably would not do it if I didn't have one of my backups around. The different app stores should offer the user a way of going back to a previous version (if you already had it installed) but it seems that none of them do so...
  - schrodinger 11y ago
    As an app developer, I understand the frustration but you've got to see the other side too. There's a huge cost to maintaining legacy server side API end points. I think the sibling commenter makes a great point about the difference between standalone apps and apps that are a client to a web service. It's also very frustrating when I see a crash keep happening in my error logs that I know is fixed in a later update :(
  - newscracker 11y ago
    Apple's "app thinning" feature implementation in iOS 9 makes it all the more difficult to "save a version of an app" because iTunes no longer syncs apps into the computer, like it used to before. Any app downloaded on to the device directly from the app store is a device specific thinned version. If you replace the device with a new one, you would have to just get all the latest versions of the apps from the app store. The only inconvenient solution, in my knowledge, is to always purchase and download apps and even update apps from iTunes on a computer. This would make iTunes download a "universal" (for lack of a better term) app file that would run on all compatible devices. Then sync the apps from iTunes to the devices. You lose the advantage of app thinning and use more storage (like in iOS 8 and previous versions), but you would have access to the specific version that you have used and want to keep using. I emphasized the word "implementation" above because it was not necessary for Apple to disable iTunes from syncing apps on to a computer with the thinned apps. Technically, there are many ways to store device specific copies of an app with the same name on the computer, which for some reason Apple has not even considered. [Apple never allowed downgrading of apps without resorting to iTunes, but that's a different and larger topic] Overall, the push to use the latest version of any app is really frustrating and will result in more backlash as people realize how much freedom they're losing.
- derefr 11y ago
  Mind you, there's a large difference between standalone apps (e.g. most casual games), and client-server apps. Standalone apps—sure, don't update, who cares. But I don't begrudge the developer of a client-server app, that wants to change their server's API and then push an update to the client that speaks to the new API. Or, more to the point, I don't begrudge them if six months later they shut the old API down and the app stops working until I update. It's a client-server app in an ecosystem where updates are supposed to be automatic; of course it needs to be up-to-date to work. Would you expect to play e.g. an MMO without installing the updates before connecting to the server?
  - deleted 11y ago
    [deleted]
  - newscracker 11y ago
    I have seen applications that check the version on launch, inform the user about an update being available and in some cases also prevent the app from running further if it's not updated. Technically this is just a matter of writing the application this way. Even though users may be inconvenienced and annoyed, if the application and its service have not been terrible and if you follow a proper "deprecate and then eliminate" process, most users wouldn't mind updating on a prompt that comes at launch time. More so if the "what's new", along with a "why update" is described on launch. Nothing stops a developer of a client-server application from developing this way.
jsz0 11y ago
Also automatic application updating (default on since iOS8) mostly solves the problem for people who aren't choosy about updates.

by yakult 11y ago

prawn 11y ago

Agree. I avoid updating apps that are working satisfactorily because many later add ads or other annoying functions.

rpgmaker 11y ago
Or remove functions, or change the UI needlessly and for the worse. I honestly don't know how people can update their apps without having a backup to go back to. I probably would not do it if I didn't have one of my backups around. The different app stores should offer the user a way of going back to a previous version (if you already had it installed) but it seems that none of them do so...
- schrodinger 11y ago
  As an app developer, I understand the frustration but you've got to see the other side too. There's a huge cost to maintaining legacy server side API end points. I think the sibling commenter makes a great point about the difference between standalone apps and apps that are a client to a web service. It's also very frustrating when I see a crash keep happening in my error logs that I know is fixed in a later update :(
- newscracker 11y ago
  Apple's "app thinning" feature implementation in iOS 9 makes it all the more difficult to "save a version of an app" because iTunes no longer syncs apps into the computer, like it used to before. Any app downloaded on to the device directly from the app store is a device specific thinned version. If you replace the device with a new one, you would have to just get all the latest versions of the apps from the app store. The only inconvenient solution, in my knowledge, is to always purchase and download apps and even update apps from iTunes on a computer. This would make iTunes download a "universal" (for lack of a better term) app file that would run on all compatible devices. Then sync the apps from iTunes to the devices. You lose the advantage of app thinning and use more storage (like in iOS 8 and previous versions), but you would have access to the specific version that you have used and want to keep using. I emphasized the word "implementation" above because it was not necessary for Apple to disable iTunes from syncing apps on to a computer with the thinned apps. Technically, there are many ways to store device specific copies of an app with the same name on the computer, which for some reason Apple has not even considered. [Apple never allowed downgrading of apps without resorting to iTunes, but that's a different and larger topic] Overall, the push to use the latest version of any app is really frustrating and will result in more backlash as people realize how much freedom they're losing.
derefr 11y ago
Mind you, there's a large difference between standalone apps (e.g. most casual games), and client-server apps. Standalone apps—sure, don't update, who cares. But I don't begrudge the developer of a client-server app, that wants to change their server's API and then push an update to the client that speaks to the new API. Or, more to the point, I don't begrudge them if six months later they shut the old API down and the app stops working until I update. It's a client-server app in an ecosystem where updates are supposed to be automatic; of course it needs to be up-to-date to work. Would you expect to play e.g. an MMO without installing the updates before connecting to the server?
- deleted 11y ago
  [deleted]
- newscracker 11y ago
  I have seen applications that check the version on launch, inform the user about an update being available and in some cases also prevent the app from running further if it's not updated. Technically this is just a matter of writing the application this way. Even though users may be inconvenienced and annoyed, if the application and its service have not been terrible and if you follow a proper "deprecate and then eliminate" process, most users wouldn't mind updating on a prompt that comes at launch time. More so if the "what's new", along with a "why update" is described on launch. Nothing stops a developer of a client-server application from developing this way.

jsz0 11y ago

Also automatic application updating (default on since iOS8) mostly solves the problem for people who aren't choosy about updates.