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Am I the only one that basically gave up on the Appstore and Apps in general? It used to be exiting, but nowadays it's almost always complete annoying garbage.

Am I the only one that basically gave up on the Appstore and Apps in general? It used to be exiting, but nowadays it's almost always complete annoying garbage. E.g. recently I wanted to try an App to identify insects. There were a few that seemed nice and free. After I installed them they were full of ads and nagged me for a 7-day trial signup. And even after I did, the app didn't even work particularly well.

acomjean 3y ago
I haven't downloaded an app from the store in forever. Websites generally work on mobile so that is my chosen path these days. They're not as slick, but I can accomplish what I want.
- binkHN 3y ago
  I do this where I can, but, for the sites I use more often, I tend to get a far better experience with the app.
gochi 3y ago
I feel similarly about all digital stores from apps to games. There's zero curation anywhere. Everyone wants to be the "dump all your garbage here and let consumers pick while we get 10-30% cut". It's like wading through a sea of cheap rip offs and apps named like a terrible Amazon listing trying to hit as many keywords as possible. I would love an app store that commits to much higher standards on all fronts. I think the subscription format that the likes of Setapp use could be very useful here in that it would be shared among these apps that meet high standards.
- criddell 3y ago
  I don’t particularly have a problem with stores filed with junk (as long as it isn’t fraudulent) because I don’t really use the stores unless I know what I want. I don’t think I could trust in-store curators but that’s okay because I get good recommendations from friends and writers. Look for curation outside of the stores.
kotaKat 3y ago
Same thing on iOS. Every time I open the App Store the "Today" section is the same goddamn set of "popular apps", the same stupid-ass MTX "matching" game with the same goofy face, and the same old same old services and apps. What's pushing me to discover if every time I open it it's an ad begging me to install TikTok?
vctrnk 3y ago
Out of curiosity, did you needed some particular feature in such an app? I've found that Google Lens is pretty darn good at identifying plants, insects, fungi and whatnot (assuming your camera has a decent macro mode).
- jabroni_salad 3y ago
  The only problem with Lens is that it is "magic" and doesn't have a failure state beyond giving junk results should it fail. I don't think I would ever trust it for a "can I eat this" indicator on a mushroom with how many visual lookalikes there are out there. What if the contrast isn't good enough to catch colorations and the gills are not in sight? Merlin Bird ID is so good in comparison, probably the best in the "ID this thing" category of apps I have ever tried. Photos do a lot, but if you don't get a good ID it will ask some questions about the bird's behavior and your circumstances to narrow down your search.
  - tetromino_ 3y ago
    Even if you identified the mushroom species, sometimes that is not enough to know whether it is safe to eat. The same species can be edible (perhaps after some soaking) or dangerously poisonous depending on the geographic area where it grew.
  - DropInIn 3y ago
    Mushrooms are literally one for the categories of things that are "DO NOT EAT UNLESS YOU'RE 100% CONFIDENT AND KNOW THROUGH YOUR OWN KNOWLEDGE" types. (Caps used because it is a yelling thing) Seriously, just don't eat any mushroom that you can't personally identify with 100% confidence from your own knowledge and references, with some app saving its xyz not being considered a reference. Even experienced mycologists have sometimes made mistaken identifications so anyone else should be so cautious as to presume poison in all cases except the most certain. (Obviously store bought are an exception)
dylan604 3y ago
>Am I the only one that basically gave up on the Appstore and Apps in general? No, you're not alone, but I get the sense we're in a small group of users. Maybe there are more collected here on HN, but in the wild, most people will install an app without any consideration for possible reasons not to install.
jwells89 3y ago
I still download new apps on iOS and once in a blue moon on Android, but they're rarely discovered through the App Store/Play Store. Nearly all new installs are apps by indie devs that I saw someone mention in a Mastodon post or HN comment or something, because that's where the gold is. Midsize and up companies generally don't care enough about user experience to build great apps (instead, optimizing for "engagement" and leaning on A/B tests for design decisions), and obviously neither do shovelware devs of any size. The interesting stuff is almost always built by small operations run by passionate people.
- binkHN 3y ago
  Seconded, and I develop apps in my spare time. The stores tend to promote the apps that generate the most revenue; often times the best app for your needs is not the one that's making the most money.
robotnikman 3y ago
Yep, the early days of the Android and iOS app stores were great, and it was fun stumbling upon hidden gems and games.
taskforcegemini 3y ago
the experience is much better on f-droid

acomjean 3y ago

I haven't downloaded an app from the store in forever. Websites generally work on mobile so that is my chosen path these days. They're not as slick, but I can accomplish what I want.

binkHN 3y ago
I do this where I can, but, for the sites I use more often, I tend to get a far better experience with the app.

gochi 3y ago

I feel similarly about all digital stores from apps to games. There's zero curation anywhere. Everyone wants to be the "dump all your garbage here and let consumers pick while we get 10-30% cut". It's like wading through a sea of cheap rip offs and apps named like a terrible Amazon listing trying to hit as many keywords as possible. I would love an app store that commits to much higher standards on all fronts. I think the subscription format that the likes of Setapp use could be very useful here in that it would be shared among these apps that meet high standards.

criddell 3y ago
I don’t particularly have a problem with stores filed with junk (as long as it isn’t fraudulent) because I don’t really use the stores unless I know what I want. I don’t think I could trust in-store curators but that’s okay because I get good recommendations from friends and writers. Look for curation outside of the stores.

kotaKat 3y ago

Same thing on iOS. Every time I open the App Store the "Today" section is the same goddamn set of "popular apps", the same stupid-ass MTX "matching" game with the same goofy face, and the same old same old services and apps. What's pushing me to discover if every time I open it it's an ad begging me to install TikTok?

vctrnk 3y ago

Out of curiosity, did you needed some particular feature in such an app? I've found that Google Lens is pretty darn good at identifying plants, insects, fungi and whatnot (assuming your camera has a decent macro mode).

jabroni_salad 3y ago
The only problem with Lens is that it is "magic" and doesn't have a failure state beyond giving junk results should it fail. I don't think I would ever trust it for a "can I eat this" indicator on a mushroom with how many visual lookalikes there are out there. What if the contrast isn't good enough to catch colorations and the gills are not in sight? Merlin Bird ID is so good in comparison, probably the best in the "ID this thing" category of apps I have ever tried. Photos do a lot, but if you don't get a good ID it will ask some questions about the bird's behavior and your circumstances to narrow down your search.
- tetromino_ 3y ago
  Even if you identified the mushroom species, sometimes that is not enough to know whether it is safe to eat. The same species can be edible (perhaps after some soaking) or dangerously poisonous depending on the geographic area where it grew.
- DropInIn 3y ago
  Mushrooms are literally one for the categories of things that are "DO NOT EAT UNLESS YOU'RE 100% CONFIDENT AND KNOW THROUGH YOUR OWN KNOWLEDGE" types. (Caps used because it is a yelling thing) Seriously, just don't eat any mushroom that you can't personally identify with 100% confidence from your own knowledge and references, with some app saving its xyz not being considered a reference. Even experienced mycologists have sometimes made mistaken identifications so anyone else should be so cautious as to presume poison in all cases except the most certain. (Obviously store bought are an exception)

dylan604 3y ago

>Am I the only one that basically gave up on the Appstore and Apps in general? No, you're not alone, but I get the sense we're in a small group of users. Maybe there are more collected here on HN, but in the wild, most people will install an app without any consideration for possible reasons not to install.

jwells89 3y ago

I still download new apps on iOS and once in a blue moon on Android, but they're rarely discovered through the App Store/Play Store. Nearly all new installs are apps by indie devs that I saw someone mention in a Mastodon post or HN comment or something, because that's where the gold is. Midsize and up companies generally don't care enough about user experience to build great apps (instead, optimizing for "engagement" and leaning on A/B tests for design decisions), and obviously neither do shovelware devs of any size. The interesting stuff is almost always built by small operations run by passionate people.

binkHN 3y ago
Seconded, and I develop apps in my spare time. The stores tend to promote the apps that generate the most revenue; often times the best app for your needs is not the one that's making the most money.

robotnikman 3y ago

Yep, the early days of the Android and iOS app stores were great, and it was fun stumbling upon hidden gems and games.

taskforcegemini 3y ago

the experience is much better on f-droid