I made a mobile app for my significant other and she won't use it • Hacker News Board

Re: I made a mobile app for my significant other and she won't use it

#81

Post by yorwba » Sat, Apr 10, 2021, 11:22 PM UTC

vuciv1 wrote: post #61

flohofwoe wrote: post #39

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why would you care about applications that you wouldn't use or even know that they exist though? Do you also care about web pages you don't know about? The store just wouldn't put such "non-conforming" apps at the top of search results.

This is how I feel. Regardless of whether or not my app has images or not, nobody is going to come across it. I don't think I've ever just gone "App Window Shopping" Maybe other people do, though. I don't know.

I do app window shopping, but only on F-Droid. I rarely install any of the apps I see, but occasionally I stumble across an open-source tool I didn't know I wanted. E.g. recently I found Pocket Paint, a neat little drawing app. https://f-droid.org/packages/org.catrobat.paintroid/ I mostly use it for quickly annotating screenshots, which it's much better suited for than my previous solution of just using the stock image viewer's editing capabilities. Especially Pocket Paint's layer support is quite handy for quickly hiding/showing annotations.

Re: I made a mobile app for my significant other and she won't use it

#82

Post by pydry » Sat, Apr 10, 2021, 11:23 PM UTC

I said to my girlfriend the other week that somebody should make an app that does this. I'm excited to try it out.

Re: I made a mobile app for my significant other and she won't use it

#83

Post by osrec » Sat, Apr 10, 2021, 11:23 PM UTC

Hammershaft wrote: post #69

serf wrote: post #35

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> As a user, I'm very happy the stores impose stringent rules. Presumably you're speaking from the Apple side of things, because the Play Store is a fragmented wasteland of low-effort/sometimes-malicious shovelware that barely functions. To me that means that the hoops Google makes one jump through for app publishing are accomplishing next to nothing with regards to app quality.

> the Play Store is a fragmented wasteland of low-effort shovelware Wait how does this differ from the appstore?

Agree - both app stores seem to have their fair share of junky apps.

Re: I made a mobile app for my significant other and she won't use it

#84

Post by NiceWayToDoIT » Sat, Apr 10, 2021, 11:25 PM UTC

vuciv1 wrote: post #68

NiceWayToDoIT wrote: post #54

In my mind this is an example of solving a problem that does not exist. Why just not simply say "we watching 2 movies a week, once you choose and I'll choose next, and so on..."? p.s. Credits and kudos for learning new things !

I hear you. It is not a huge deal in my life, just a minor inconvenience I used as an opportunity to learn

Although on the second thought, maybe you could expand it make it as match making dating up, that matches people beside interests ... I do not know is there already something similar.

Re: I made a mobile app for my significant other and she won't use it

#85

Post by tyingq » Sat, Apr 10, 2021, 11:26 PM UTC

Looks like a great idea. I'd have probably just made a webapp though, and skipped all the walled garden hurdles you mention. I did see the "web version coming soon" blurb.

Is there something about this that works significantly better as native?

Re: I made a mobile app for my significant other and she won't use it

#86

Post by gnicholas » Sat, Apr 10, 2021, 11:28 PM UTC

askafriend wrote: post #19

dvt wrote: post #11

> Eat my butt, Apple. Eat my butt, Google. Just let me publish my frickin app, you already emptied my pockets. I feel this. A few years ago, I made a joke app[1] which got a bit famous on campus back when I was in school, and the process of getting it on the Play store was literally harder than writing the darn thing. Nowadays, it even got removed from the Play store for some reason. I couldn't imagine running an app…

As a user, I'm very happy the stores impose stringent rules. "And there are all these stupid requirements. I need at least X screenshots, and they have to be this exact resolution blah blah blah. On top of that, it took so long to get approved. My ADHD brain really suffered waiting for the gratification." I would hate to browse a store where the products didn't have at least X screenshots with at least X resolution,…

Also, the screenshots and such aren't required if you just want to use TestFlight to share with a few friends. Of course, each build only lasts 90 days, so that could get tedious in the long run.

Re: I made a mobile app for my significant other and she won't use it

#87

Post by alper111 » Sat, Apr 10, 2021, 11:29 PM UTC

Hmm... Such a strong password requirement for a casual app. No google signup integration. clicks on the user and see the submission "Check username availability ..." ookay. Thx.

Re: I made a mobile app for my significant other and she won't use it

#88

Post by vuciv1 » Sat, Apr 10, 2021, 11:30 PM UTC

pydry wrote: post #82

I said to my girlfriend the other week that somebody should make an app that does this. I'm excited to try it out.

I hope you enjoy :)

Re: I made a mobile app for my significant other and she won't use it

#89

Post by zikzak » Sat, Apr 10, 2021, 11:31 PM UTC

avereveard wrote: post #60

askafriend wrote: post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

As a user, I'm very happy the stores impose stringent rules. "And there are all these stupid requirements. I need at least X screenshots, and they have to be this exact resolution blah blah blah. On top of that, it took so long to get approved. My ADHD brain really suffered waiting for the gratification." I would hate to browse a store where the products didn't have at least X screenshots with at least X resolution,…

How do I unlock that mythical high quality app experience? 99% of the stuff is crap adware and copypasted apps, letting some indie in it is not going to significantly move the average.

Not sure if joking but I search for apps on /r/androidapps.

Re: I made a mobile app for my significant other and she won't use it

#90

Post by vuciv1 » Sat, Apr 10, 2021, 11:31 PM UTC

TeMPOraL wrote: post #73

vuciv1 wrote: post #57

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I have a bit more to learn :)

Start from the assumption that you do not need any data from your users, and do not need to form an explicit relationship with them (like by having them create an account), and work from there. Treat it as a challenge - how to make your idea work under such constraints?

Noted. I'm definitely going to do this for anything else I build.

Thanks for the new perspective.