The 'app store' is the adulterated form of the Linux package repository. No shock that when you remove community management, accountability, openness, verifiability and add in monetization things get shittier.
Amazon has no idea how to run an app store
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Re: Amazon has no idea how to run an app store
#12In fairness, it seems this is true for Apple (broken review process) and Google (malware infestation). Oddly, I haven't heard one horror story about the Windows Phone app store.
What is broken about Apple's review process? Sure it's stringent, but is that not a good thing?
You can google and read about lots of frustrated developers trying to get their app into the App Store. Nebulous responses from Apple, no response from Apple, rediculous response from Apple. It's all out there.
Re: Amazon has no idea how to run an app store
#13It's really remarkable how much Amazon's reputation has been self-destructing in the last year or so.
Even 6 months ago when I told people I thought Amazon was an all-around shitty company (having worked there) and shouldn't be mentioned in the same breath as Google, FB, etc., people looked at me like I was insane.
Somehow the stock keeps going up... I don't have any material insider info but just on a hunch I doubt that will remain true forever.
Re: Amazon has no idea how to run an app store
#14This is my take on it here: http://ocean-of-storms.com/tsatsatzu/explaining-amazons-indi...
This bit from your blog post is a great summary:
"There’s no public tracker for tickets. Features and suggestions go off into the void, and you’re left guessing if they are ever going to happen. Releases come infrequently and unannounced. There’s no product roadmap. No indication of what’s coming up. Nothing to create a development plan against. There’s no bidirectional collaboration with the community. The closest any developer gets to the team is during skill certification. And, even then, names are hidden and you only get anonymous mails from the “Alexa Skills Team”."
Re: Amazon has no idea how to run an app store
#15In fairness, it seems this is true for Apple (broken review process) and Google (malware infestation). Oddly, I haven't heard one horror story about the Windows Phone app store.
I was going to say the same, as we have been reading about the problems in Mac App Store lately on HN.
Re: Amazon has no idea how to run an app store
#16It's really remarkable how much Amazon's reputation has been self-destructing in the last year or so. Even 6 months ago when I told people I thought Amazon was an all-around shitty company (having worked there) and shouldn't be mentioned in the same breath as Google, FB, etc., people looked at me like I was insane. Somehow the stock keeps going up... I don't have any material insider info but just on a hunch I doubt…
Their consumer electronics are getting more popular, which is making people aware of Amazon quality. Right now there's a Fire TV in front of me:
- If you can get something for free because it's included in Prime, it still offers the ability to spend money on it, right beside the 'watch now for free'. If you're not paying attention, you can pay for something you already own.
- Its killer feature is voice recognition. Say 'game of thrones' and it will play Game of Thrones. It also has apps. The killer feature doesn't actually work in apps though: if you say 'game of thrones' in Netflix, it kicks you out of the app and sends you back to the home screen.
There was a post a little while ago about people wrecking their lives while working at Amazon. I could understand, but not support, someone doing that at say Apple or Tesla. But Amazon?
Re: Amazon has no idea how to run an app store
#17The post-approval switcheroo is similar to the Office/SharePoint app stores - really all the 'app' is is a delegation of permission. If your app can change and operate within the permission you're initially granted during 'installation,' you can really do anything you'd like in the actual application itself. A rather large hole.
Re: Amazon has no idea how to run an app store
#18This is perhaps the key bit of silliness: "And this is where we run into the first bit of craziness. Amazon decided that they should model the Alexa app store after the iPhone app store. So there is a certification process to get your app into the store. But think about the difference: you are not uploading a binary file to the Alexa app store, you are simply registering an URL. So Amazon has no real control over you…
Amazon has just as much reason as Apple (or any platform provider) to want to restrict the types of apps that get published.
As for the effectiveness of that control, there's little practical difference between "simply registering an URL" and uploading a binary; both can load external content or be modified (in terms of what the user actually sees/experiences) almost entirely after the initial review. There will always be apps that try to abuse that possibility, and they usually get reported or re-evaluated, but it's probably a very small number of apps that will do that.
The point is to simply filter out a larger number of spammy, malicious, or otherwise offensive apps at the onset rather than spending more resources constantly monitoring everything after the fact. That said, it's unfortunate when the review process is as flawed as it seems to be in this case (poor communication, inconsistent policies, etc).
Re: Amazon has no idea how to run an app store
#19The 'app store' is the adulterated form of the Linux package repository. No shock that when you remove community management, accountability, openness, verifiability and add in monetization things get shittier.
I think that's how app stores began - do you remember 'Click N Run' in 2002? http://i133.photobucket.com/albums/q41/mp3tunes/cnr-linspire...
Re: Amazon has no idea how to run an app store
#20I think the whole approval process is just a ToS legal scheme of "we did our part, so we can go after you and blame you if something happened." I don't know if will ever scan your URL for any intelligent malicious misuse but it may. If someone can explain exactly how "skill" works with Alexa... sounds like some kind of Pipe / IFTT kind of service.