5 ms·

A server being down is not a bug -- the app should expect 500 is a possibility and deal with it. In this case, why does Dark Sky need to geocode? My Lat/Long i

• ansimionescu 12y ago
  "location search" Are you sure you've read the article?
  • loumf 12y ago
    I did, but my point still stands. 500 is in the expected result set. Put up an error that says Apple's server is down. If you need a feature to work in the presence of down servers, you need to make your own fallback or perhaps cache some of the results locally.
    • cloudwalking 12y ago
      Or implement a second provider to fall back on.
      • redthrowaway 12y ago
        What are the chances Apple allows an app using a competing service into the app store?
        • ebbv 12y ago
          100%. They don't make any money off of you using their geolocation. They provide it as a service to encourage development of iOS apps, not as a money maker.
        • deleted 12y ago
          [deleted]
• josephlord 12y ago
  A service being unavailable for several days without any available status updates for affected customers is a pretty big failure. I upvoted you because you make a good point about the fact that apps should handle network/service failures appropriately such that ideally it isn't a crisis but that doesn't make it an acceptable level of service.
• mmcclure 12y ago
  Even though I think this is kind of a snarky comment (and they said lat/long worked, the issue was with searches), I do agree with the underlying premise. As other folks in this thread have said, just letting people know Apple is having a problem is not an acceptable solution...Location search would still be broken, and they would still be sad. Anyway, again, I agree with the underlying premise. It seems like overkill to need to have a fallback geocoding service, but I've use Geocod.io in the past and it seemed pretty cool. I have to say though, for a single application it seems like implementing 2 of every external service you use is a ridiculous thing to expect.
  • palakchokshi 12y ago
    You bring up an excellent point against all the folks on here saying Dark Skies should just have had a fallback geocoding service in place. By that logic every application that uses a third party service should code in a primary and a fallback. That is unrealistic!!
    • smsm42 12y ago
      Why is it unrealistic? For most common services, more than one alternative API provider exists. Why not think about "what would happen if that service I do not control goes down?" and have a plan B ready for that? That's like saying deploying a service on more than one machine in different data centers in case one of them goes down is unrealistic. We've long past that and long recognized that it is not only realistic but necessary once you're on certain scale.
      • palakchokshi 12y ago
        The argument is for a smaller business not for a business at a certain scale. You can argue that at a certain scale you can build out your own solutions and not rely on third party APIs, at a certain scale you can purchase the absolute premium platinum support package so you can be sure your email is answered within minutes. At a certain scale you can do a whole lot of things but this is about when you're not at that certain scale. so let's think about context here.
• deleted 12y ago
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