8 ms·

Threadless is shutting their iOS app down next week

47 points by dvydra 9y ago

DashRattlesnake 9y ago
So what's the backstory? The only thing the page says regarding the shutdown is: > We will be shutting down the Threadless iOS App on June 5, 2017.
- dvydra 9y ago
  I have no idea. I'm hoping by posting here I might find out too.
dafash 9y ago
Harper
dmerrick 9y ago
Threadless has an iOS app? I don't mean to be snarky, but I love Threadless and I had no idea, so maybe that's why they're shutting it down.
strict9 9y ago
Darn. Hope this isn't a reflection of their business health. Was hoping the trend of individualized and/or unique clothes would swing back in their favor. Can't remember the last time I wore a shirt that had a logo or graphic on it, but think the world be slightly more interesting if people were just a little more individual in what they wear. Love their business model, technology and collaboration for something tangible. Edit: they still have it nice and big on their home page. And the landing page seems a bit dated or neglected with the dislaimer "* iOS 7 only" https://www.threadless.com/app https://www.threadless.com/app
deleted 9y ago
[deleted]
kneel 9y ago
Threadless shirts are hands down the worst quality clothing I've ever bought online. Great designs, terrible quality. I didn't know shirts could be sewn up with so little material. Felt like I was wearing a light handkerchief. I instantly returned my shirt and had to cover shipping, sneaky bastards.
- notatoad 9y ago
  They used to print on American Eagle tees, when they started making their own shirts I stopped buying them - the quality seemed to be okay last time I bought one, but the fit was weird.
  - disillusioned 9y ago
    *American Apparel
    - notatoad 9y ago
      oops, thanks.
- da02 9y ago
  I guess they are living up to their name: less threads. Maybe they should branch out to other products and compete in other markets like Headcase (phone covers) and Stickermule.
  - jazoom 9y ago
    Fun fact: "less" means "without", not "fewer", which is what you meant when you said "less threads".
    - da02 9y ago
      Is that the company's definition? Or the standard English definition? I thought the standard English definition was "fewer". I never looked up the word, but just assumed from the context other people have used it during my lifetime. Either way, I think it is an example I am lousy at comedy and the English language :( Sidenote: "Nickell and DeHart invited users to post their designs on a dreamless thread (hence the name Threadless), and they would print the best designs on t-shirts." ( dreamless.org, a forum where users experimented with computers, code, and art) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Threadless#History_of_the_company https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Threadless#History_of_the_comp... (I'm not arguing. Just curious. I was like, "Was I using 'less' improperly all my lifetime? Well, it probably is not the first time I misused a common word.")
Overtonwindow 9y ago
They have an app‽ I've always used TeeFury for the quality.
bnycum 9y ago
Anyone know how they handled payments in the app? If it wasn't through Apple I wonder if Apple was coming after them to get their 30%.
- stouset 9y ago
  Apple only takes a cut from the sale of digital goods, not physical ones.
  - rubicon33 9y ago
    And even that can really fuck with a business. 30%.
    - amazingman 9y ago
      Only if it's applied to you after building your business model and releasing your product. If you're not factoring the platform cost into your product pricing, well, that can really fuck with a business.
    - wazanator 9y ago
      That's not uncommon, Valve takes on average a 30% cut on all store sales on Steam along with a cut from item selling on the community markets for skins. Like Apple they can get away with it thanks to the size of their user base and the fact that there is now even a subset of users who will not buy a game, even DRM free ones, unless it comes with a steam key.
    - stouset 9y ago
      Okay, but that has nothing to do with the original conversation we were having.
      - rubicon33 9y ago
        I don't see how it doesn't? This was a discussion about a company shutting down, and this particular sub-thread was regarding speculation that the shutdown was the result of Apple 'coming after them' for their 30%... Your comment that it was only for digital goods, while true, required further elaboration that even that can be hard on a business. This comment is directly related to the sub-thread's speculation on why Threadless shut down.
untog 9y ago
Doesn't feel that notable. The friction of a native app download vs just using the web means that an app is rarely the right answer for shopping. Makes sense to ditch the app and focus on web.
- cheneytsai 9y ago
  Time to build a Progressive Web App? ;)
  - Zeppin 9y ago
    If Apple supports progreasive web-apps this decade I'll eat my hat. It does nothing for their business and cuts off their revenue streams. It's simply a bad idea for them. I'd be curious to see what WASM means for progressive web apps on Android, however. There Google does benefit but it does weeken their platform by making competing hardware like Samsung's Tenzen or the near-death Windows Phone far more viable. So the question becomes, is Google invested in Android specifically or simply the existence of mobile that they can profit from?
- deleted 9y ago
  [deleted]
beager 9y ago
If you have a decent number of iOS users, why pull the app? Why not just let it spin out into deep space, and stop supporting it with updates? That's an honest question, by the way.
- iamaelephant 9y ago
  They may have a decent number of downloads, but none of us knows how many users they have. I don't know how long the app has been on the store, but it only has 53 ratings which indicates very little engagement.
  - yeukhon 9y ago
    There is almost no incentive to rate app. They can't reward user and why should someone leave a comment? This is why I like what Amazon does with comment.... but if most of these are real users I think the app did a good job.
- tuxracer 9y ago
  Because you lose control over your product for those percentage of users. What happens when you want to run an A/B test and a huge chunk or your users is on a platform you can no longer create tests for? What if the A/B test is wildly successful now you can't even ship those changes to a chunk of your users?
diziet 9y ago
The app has had about 200k all time downloads~
bluthru 9y ago
I wonder if Apple Pay for the web has something to do with this.
jorblumesea 9y ago
I really think having a dedicated native app is a huge hassle for most businesses today. The web has come a long way and is no longer plagued by the perf issues of old. I'd imagine having to support both, sync up features and styles would get extremely difficult both logistically and financially. Far easier to just have a responsive site and be done with it. Probably save a bit of money on the payroll side too, frontend engineers are usually cheaper.
- pritambarhate 9y ago
  The problem is most of the companies think that what they are doing is too important for the user not to use the app. They think that Push Notifications are the holy grail to keep people engaged and bring the users back. It will be good if Google allows developers to list pure progressive apps in the AppStore. Since for many non-technical users, PlayStore is how one is supposed to install apps, decision makers think it's important to have the apps.
  - cheneytsai 9y ago
    It's a good point about listing progressive apps in the AppStore, and I think Microsoft has done a great job at taking the lead here. I imagine a world where users don't have worry about the tech behind the UX they're experiencing, they go to the AppStore, a 3rd party site, a URL simply to find "experiences". I also wonder if we can move from the Store-Driven model on phones to something more transient perhaps that leverages the URL and natural links of them (since obv. don't want to be typing urls). Thought experience: What if your homescreen icons were managed by the OS (and can be Apps, PWAs, etc.) ordered by last accessed. You can then overide and "pin/install" the experiences you want.
  - wtvanhest 9y ago
    One thing I can't firgure out is why reddit is pushing me to use their app when the site is better. I dont even understand why they want to.
    - suprfnk 9y ago
dhendy 9y ago
Hi. I lead the Digital team at Threadless and we're shutting down the app because doing so allows us to spend developmental energy making the experience of our main app better for everyone. It served the purpose at the time, but as our focus shifted more into the Artist Shops platform over the last two years, maintaining and updating the native app proved to not be the best use of time or resources for the team. The web and phones have come a long way since we launched it, and we feel that pulling it now is better than letting customers use something that we're not giving our full attention to.
garganzol 9y ago
The more RAM devices have, the more widespread web apps will be. A lot of niches, originally covered only by native apps, lost their luster for native development. Web does it all nowadays. See things like Basecamp, Tidal - their apps are web based and they work just fine on recent devices. By a pure coincidence, those apps have an outstanding quality. So web stack is a thing nowadays.
resist_futility 9y ago
Same day as WWDC keynote? Coincidence?

47 points by dvydra 9y ago

So what's the backstory? The only thing the page says regarding the shutdown is: > We will be shutting down the Threadless iOS App on June 5, 2017.

dvydra 9y ago
I have no idea. I'm hoping by posting here I might find out too.

dafash 9y ago

Harper

dmerrick 9y ago

Threadless has an iOS app? I don't mean to be snarky, but I love Threadless and I had no idea, so maybe that's why they're shutting it down.

strict9 9y ago

Darn. Hope this isn't a reflection of their business health. Was hoping the trend of individualized and/or unique clothes would swing back in their favor. Can't remember the last time I wore a shirt that had a logo or graphic on it, but think the world be slightly more interesting if people were just a little more individual in what they wear. Love their business model, technology and collaboration for something tangible. Edit: they still have it nice and big on their home page. And the landing page seems a bit dated or neglected with the dislaimer "* iOS 7 only" https://www.threadless.com/app https://www.threadless.com/app

deleted 9y ago

[deleted]

kneel 9y ago

Threadless shirts are hands down the worst quality clothing I've ever bought online. Great designs, terrible quality. I didn't know shirts could be sewn up with so little material. Felt like I was wearing a light handkerchief. I instantly returned my shirt and had to cover shipping, sneaky bastards.

notatoad 9y ago
They used to print on American Eagle tees, when they started making their own shirts I stopped buying them - the quality seemed to be okay last time I bought one, but the fit was weird.
- disillusioned 9y ago
  *American Apparel
  - notatoad 9y ago
    oops, thanks.
da02 9y ago
I guess they are living up to their name: less threads. Maybe they should branch out to other products and compete in other markets like Headcase (phone covers) and Stickermule.
- jazoom 9y ago
  Fun fact: "less" means "without", not "fewer", which is what you meant when you said "less threads".
  - da02 9y ago
    Is that the company's definition? Or the standard English definition? I thought the standard English definition was "fewer". I never looked up the word, but just assumed from the context other people have used it during my lifetime. Either way, I think it is an example I am lousy at comedy and the English language :( Sidenote: "Nickell and DeHart invited users to post their designs on a dreamless thread (hence the name Threadless), and they would print the best designs on t-shirts." ( dreamless.org, a forum where users experimented with computers, code, and art) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Threadless#History_of_the_company https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Threadless#History_of_the_comp... (I'm not arguing. Just curious. I was like, "Was I using 'less' improperly all my lifetime? Well, it probably is not the first time I misused a common word.")

Overtonwindow 9y ago

They have an app‽ I've always used TeeFury for the quality.

bnycum 9y ago

Anyone know how they handled payments in the app? If it wasn't through Apple I wonder if Apple was coming after them to get their 30%.

stouset 9y ago
Apple only takes a cut from the sale of digital goods, not physical ones.
- rubicon33 9y ago
  And even that can really fuck with a business. 30%.
  - amazingman 9y ago
    Only if it's applied to you after building your business model and releasing your product. If you're not factoring the platform cost into your product pricing, well, that can really fuck with a business.
  - wazanator 9y ago
    That's not uncommon, Valve takes on average a 30% cut on all store sales on Steam along with a cut from item selling on the community markets for skins. Like Apple they can get away with it thanks to the size of their user base and the fact that there is now even a subset of users who will not buy a game, even DRM free ones, unless it comes with a steam key.
  - stouset 9y ago
    Okay, but that has nothing to do with the original conversation we were having.
    - rubicon33 9y ago
      I don't see how it doesn't? This was a discussion about a company shutting down, and this particular sub-thread was regarding speculation that the shutdown was the result of Apple 'coming after them' for their 30%... Your comment that it was only for digital goods, while true, required further elaboration that even that can be hard on a business. This comment is directly related to the sub-thread's speculation on why Threadless shut down.

untog 9y ago

Doesn't feel that notable. The friction of a native app download vs just using the web means that an app is rarely the right answer for shopping. Makes sense to ditch the app and focus on web.

cheneytsai 9y ago
Time to build a Progressive Web App? ;)
- Zeppin 9y ago
  If Apple supports progreasive web-apps this decade I'll eat my hat. It does nothing for their business and cuts off their revenue streams. It's simply a bad idea for them. I'd be curious to see what WASM means for progressive web apps on Android, however. There Google does benefit but it does weeken their platform by making competing hardware like Samsung's Tenzen or the near-death Windows Phone far more viable. So the question becomes, is Google invested in Android specifically or simply the existence of mobile that they can profit from?
deleted 9y ago
[deleted]

beager 9y ago

If you have a decent number of iOS users, why pull the app? Why not just let it spin out into deep space, and stop supporting it with updates? That's an honest question, by the way.

iamaelephant 9y ago
They may have a decent number of downloads, but none of us knows how many users they have. I don't know how long the app has been on the store, but it only has 53 ratings which indicates very little engagement.
- yeukhon 9y ago
  There is almost no incentive to rate app. They can't reward user and why should someone leave a comment? This is why I like what Amazon does with comment.... but if most of these are real users I think the app did a good job.
tuxracer 9y ago
Because you lose control over your product for those percentage of users. What happens when you want to run an A/B test and a huge chunk or your users is on a platform you can no longer create tests for? What if the A/B test is wildly successful now you can't even ship those changes to a chunk of your users?

diziet 9y ago

The app has had about 200k all time downloads~

bluthru 9y ago

I wonder if Apple Pay for the web has something to do with this.

jorblumesea 9y ago

I really think having a dedicated native app is a huge hassle for most businesses today. The web has come a long way and is no longer plagued by the perf issues of old. I'd imagine having to support both, sync up features and styles would get extremely difficult both logistically and financially. Far easier to just have a responsive site and be done with it. Probably save a bit of money on the payroll side too, frontend engineers are usually cheaper.

pritambarhate 9y ago
The problem is most of the companies think that what they are doing is too important for the user not to use the app. They think that Push Notifications are the holy grail to keep people engaged and bring the users back. It will be good if Google allows developers to list pure progressive apps in the AppStore. Since for many non-technical users, PlayStore is how one is supposed to install apps, decision makers think it's important to have the apps.
- cheneytsai 9y ago
  It's a good point about listing progressive apps in the AppStore, and I think Microsoft has done a great job at taking the lead here. I imagine a world where users don't have worry about the tech behind the UX they're experiencing, they go to the AppStore, a 3rd party site, a URL simply to find "experiences". I also wonder if we can move from the Store-Driven model on phones to something more transient perhaps that leverages the URL and natural links of them (since obv. don't want to be typing urls). Thought experience: What if your homescreen icons were managed by the OS (and can be Apps, PWAs, etc.) ordered by last accessed. You can then overide and "pin/install" the experiences you want.
- wtvanhest 9y ago
  One thing I can't firgure out is why reddit is pushing me to use their app when the site is better. I dont even understand why they want to.
  - suprfnk 9y ago

dhendy 9y ago

Hi. I lead the Digital team at Threadless and we're shutting down the app because doing so allows us to spend developmental energy making the experience of our main app better for everyone. It served the purpose at the time, but as our focus shifted more into the Artist Shops platform over the last two years, maintaining and updating the native app proved to not be the best use of time or resources for the team. The web and phones have come a long way since we launched it, and we feel that pulling it now is better than letting customers use something that we're not giving our full attention to.

garganzol 9y ago

The more RAM devices have, the more widespread web apps will be. A lot of niches, originally covered only by native apps, lost their luster for native development. Web does it all nowadays. See things like Basecamp, Tidal - their apps are web based and they work just fine on recent devices. By a pure coincidence, those apps have an outstanding quality. So web stack is a thing nowadays.

resist_futility 9y ago

Same day as WWDC keynote? Coincidence?