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Since Ads are universally hated, I have made a decision. The free version will not have ads no more and the Premium version will have a beautiful dark theme.

Since Ads are universally hated, I have made a decision. The free version will not have ads no more and the Premium version will have a beautiful dark theme. What do you guys think ?

forgotmypw 8y ago
I think it's a great idea!
beenBoutIT 8y ago
Smart move.
aswinmohanme 8y ago
I'll take it as a yes.
tazard 8y ago
It looks really great! Do you have plans to add commenting, or upvoting? Also, I just checked out your website from the about page, you should put up a simple "coming soon" page or something
- aswinmohanme 8y ago
  https://hacknews.launchaco.com/ https://hacknews.launchaco.com/ Had an old one lying around
  - tazard 8y ago
    Oh, sorry I was unclear. In the app you have a link to aswinmohan.me which is a namecheap/parkingcrew landing page.
Semaphor 8y ago
I think that's a great idea. dark themes are used a LOT on phones, so having the free version ad-free and functional but without a dark theme makes it an amazing demo. Make sure to do a write-up at some point on how it worked out ;)
paulcole 8y ago
Who says ads are universally hated? I like ads. I like seeing products I might be interested in and I like buying things. Edit: Who’s down voting this and why?
- deleted 8y ago
  [deleted]
- scarface74 8y ago
  I agree and disagree... I like podcast ads. Even for products and services that I don't care for, I find many of the products and business ideas interesting. I also like the ads in my podcast player - Overcast - the ads are usually for other podcasts in the same category of podcasts that I'm listening to. I don't like most ads in games and mobile apps. They are poorly targeted, intrusive, and take up too much screen real estate. I'll uninstall an ad based app that doesn't give you the option of doing an in app purchase to remove the ads. If an app isn't worth the $2 - $3 to remove the ads, it's probably a useless app to me anyway and gets deleted relatively quickly.
smib332 8y ago
You are telling me all this time I could have made money with a hackernews client supported by ads? How is this legal?
- hiccuphippo 8y ago
  You are providing added value over the regular HN experience?
- always_good 8y ago
  Don't mistake having a way for someone to give you money as "making money." Classic mistake.
- scarface74 8y ago
  Why wouldn't this "be legal"? Hacker News provides a publicly accessible API. Why would HN do that if they didn't want people to build functionality on top of it?
anderber 8y ago
That's a great idea. App looks awesome, I'll be paying to the premium version.
scarface74 8y ago
I disagree. You should get paid for your work - either through ads or an in app purchase to remove the ads. If someone is not willing to pay you money or look at ads, they aren't your customer. Developers - especially mobile developers - have to stop devaluing themselves.
- cryptoz 8y ago
  It is not devaluing to refuse to run ads. In fact I would say it is quite devaluing feeling forced to run ads and is empowering to choose not to.
  - scarface74 8y ago
    "Empowerment" has never paid a bill.
    - cryptoz 8y ago
      Yes it has. Its ridiculous to suggest that someone who has recently felt empowered will be unable to turn that energy into employment or income. Empowerement definitely pays bills, it does it all the time for people. Empowerement is often the first real tangible step someone has to getting an income.
- lrvick 8y ago
  Honestly this idea that you can still pump out fairly simple add-supported/paid apps as a path to paying your bills is crazy unless you are making the next flappy bird. By making it open source you could have a much easier time getting interviews at companies that will gladly pay a salary that far exceeds what you could make on one non-unicorn app.
  - scarface74 8y ago
    I would have a private Git repo on VSTS (free), put a link to the app on my resume and let them know that I would be more than willing to go through both my code and my project plan. It doesn't have to pay all of your bills but if at least made some beer money, it's better than nothing. Part of being a developer should be learning how to monetize.
lrvick 8y ago
Asking me to install Google play services on my phone, and setup a Google account, and set up a credit card for Google Play only to install an app no one can review for security issues is a non-starter. If this was open source and available on F-Droid I would gladly throw you a $5 tip if there was an easy place to donate.
- deleted 8y ago
  [deleted]
- scarface74 8y ago
  Well you aren't his potential customer. If he has a choice between the set of people who use the Google Play Store and the set of people who only use open source software on F-Droid, I think he is making the better choice...
  - deleted 8y ago
    [deleted]
  - TheForumTroll 8y ago
    Since you think he should use ads in the free version and he doesn't, maybe you shouldn't talk for him. Who says he won't put it on F-Droid?
    - scarface74 8y ago
      According to his page you have to pay for a no ads version. Also on the Google Play page it says "contains ads". So he's speaking for himself.
- reshie 8y ago
  unless people are purists it should not be a problem with yalp or similar. i doubt this app requires google services. the premium may be an issue.
aswinmohanme 8y ago
Just wanted to let you guys know that the ad free version is almost ready I'm stuck on removing thr native dependecies, so we can remove the unwanted permissions. Thanks for all the Support, Love and the eye opening comments.
aswinmohanme 8y ago
Everything is live

Since Ads are universally hated, I have made a decision. The free version will not have ads no more and the Premium version will have a beautiful dark theme. What do you guys think ?

forgotmypw 8y ago

I think it's a great idea!

beenBoutIT 8y ago

Smart move.

aswinmohanme 8y ago

I'll take it as a yes.

tazard 8y ago

It looks really great! Do you have plans to add commenting, or upvoting? Also, I just checked out your website from the about page, you should put up a simple "coming soon" page or something

aswinmohanme 8y ago
https://hacknews.launchaco.com/ https://hacknews.launchaco.com/ Had an old one lying around
- tazard 8y ago
  Oh, sorry I was unclear. In the app you have a link to aswinmohan.me which is a namecheap/parkingcrew landing page.

Semaphor 8y ago

I think that's a great idea. dark themes are used a LOT on phones, so having the free version ad-free and functional but without a dark theme makes it an amazing demo. Make sure to do a write-up at some point on how it worked out ;)

paulcole 8y ago

Who says ads are universally hated? I like ads. I like seeing products I might be interested in and I like buying things. Edit: Who’s down voting this and why?

deleted 8y ago
[deleted]
scarface74 8y ago
I agree and disagree... I like podcast ads. Even for products and services that I don't care for, I find many of the products and business ideas interesting. I also like the ads in my podcast player - Overcast - the ads are usually for other podcasts in the same category of podcasts that I'm listening to. I don't like most ads in games and mobile apps. They are poorly targeted, intrusive, and take up too much screen real estate. I'll uninstall an ad based app that doesn't give you the option of doing an in app purchase to remove the ads. If an app isn't worth the $2 - $3 to remove the ads, it's probably a useless app to me anyway and gets deleted relatively quickly.

smib332 8y ago

You are telling me all this time I could have made money with a hackernews client supported by ads? How is this legal?

hiccuphippo 8y ago
You are providing added value over the regular HN experience?
always_good 8y ago
Don't mistake having a way for someone to give you money as "making money." Classic mistake.
scarface74 8y ago
Why wouldn't this "be legal"? Hacker News provides a publicly accessible API. Why would HN do that if they didn't want people to build functionality on top of it?

anderber 8y ago

That's a great idea. App looks awesome, I'll be paying to the premium version.

scarface74 8y ago

I disagree. You should get paid for your work - either through ads or an in app purchase to remove the ads. If someone is not willing to pay you money or look at ads, they aren't your customer. Developers - especially mobile developers - have to stop devaluing themselves.

cryptoz 8y ago
It is not devaluing to refuse to run ads. In fact I would say it is quite devaluing feeling forced to run ads and is empowering to choose not to.
- scarface74 8y ago
  "Empowerment" has never paid a bill.
  - cryptoz 8y ago
    Yes it has. Its ridiculous to suggest that someone who has recently felt empowered will be unable to turn that energy into employment or income. Empowerement definitely pays bills, it does it all the time for people. Empowerement is often the first real tangible step someone has to getting an income.
lrvick 8y ago
Honestly this idea that you can still pump out fairly simple add-supported/paid apps as a path to paying your bills is crazy unless you are making the next flappy bird. By making it open source you could have a much easier time getting interviews at companies that will gladly pay a salary that far exceeds what you could make on one non-unicorn app.
- scarface74 8y ago
  I would have a private Git repo on VSTS (free), put a link to the app on my resume and let them know that I would be more than willing to go through both my code and my project plan. It doesn't have to pay all of your bills but if at least made some beer money, it's better than nothing. Part of being a developer should be learning how to monetize.

lrvick 8y ago

Asking me to install Google play services on my phone, and setup a Google account, and set up a credit card for Google Play only to install an app no one can review for security issues is a non-starter. If this was open source and available on F-Droid I would gladly throw you a $5 tip if there was an easy place to donate.

deleted 8y ago
[deleted]
scarface74 8y ago
Well you aren't his potential customer. If he has a choice between the set of people who use the Google Play Store and the set of people who only use open source software on F-Droid, I think he is making the better choice...
- deleted 8y ago
  [deleted]
- TheForumTroll 8y ago
  Since you think he should use ads in the free version and he doesn't, maybe you shouldn't talk for him. Who says he won't put it on F-Droid?
  - scarface74 8y ago
    According to his page you have to pay for a no ads version. Also on the Google Play page it says "contains ads". So he's speaking for himself.
reshie 8y ago
unless people are purists it should not be a problem with yalp or similar. i doubt this app requires google services. the premium may be an issue.

aswinmohanme 8y ago

Just wanted to let you guys know that the ad free version is almost ready I'm stuck on removing thr native dependecies, so we can remove the unwanted permissions. Thanks for all the Support, Love and the eye opening comments.

aswinmohanme 8y ago

Everything is live