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I bought Friendster for $30k – Here's what I'm doing with it

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Re: I bought Friendster for $30k – Here's what I'm doing with it

#301

Post by ventana »

KPGv2 wrote: post #290
ventana wrote: post #285

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not trying to defend App Store policies, but writing this just for those who are struggling with Guideline 4.2 trying to publish an app that is only intended for a small group of users. There is a less well-known option called "unlisted app distribution", similar to unlisted YouTube videos: the app is public and can be downloaded using the direct link, but it cannot be found in App Store search. The "small, or niche,…

> I struggled with Guideline 4.2 when I tried to publish an app showing the bell schedule and other local information for the neighborhood school. Why would you not just make this a webpage, and then the users could add it to home page as if it were an app? no Apple review necessary then. What does it being an app give you besides bureaucratic headaches?

The main driver for making it into an app and not just a web page was the need to send push notifications. Of course, I just needed it for myself: hey, it's time to stop working and start driving to school to pick up the kid – "notify me 30 minutes before the last period ends" given that the schedule is different every day; then I just shared it with other parents.

There is a web version (it's Flutter so it was easy to make one), but parents use the app much more often.

Re: I bought Friendster for $30k – Here's what I'm doing with it

#302

Post by KPGv2 »

Pretty cool implementation, except when I read

> a gentle nudge that real friendships are kept alive in person, not online

my skin crawled. I live a fulfilling, creative life. I'm married, have kids, the whole nine yards. My best friendships are with people I know almost entirely online, or haven't physically seen in years because we live on different continents.

I have little interest in most of the people I see regularly, because we're friends only because our kids are in the same classes.

Re: I bought Friendster for $30k – Here's what I'm doing with it

#304

Post by 0xbadcafebee »

krupan wrote: post #205
0xbadcafebee wrote: post #164

> this failed Apple App Store review because of Guideline 4.2 — Design — Minimum Functionality. They said “the usefulness of the app is limited because it seems to be intended for a small, or niche, set of users. Specifically, the app is intended for invited friends only.” This is why we need laws regulating mobile platforms. Apple shouldn't be able to dictate what you use your phone for, or what apps you can give to…

Have you heard of Android? Graphene OS? You do have freedom of choice here

That would immediately exclude 124 million Americans. Freedom of choice would be giving us the same choice we already have on PCs. We shouldn't keep allowing the mobile duopoly to control this vital and ubiquitous resource for their profit at our expense.

Re: I bought Friendster for $30k – Here's what I'm doing with it

#305

Post by Tepix »

ventana wrote: post #301
KPGv2 wrote: post #290

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I struggled with Guideline 4.2 when I tried to publish an app showing the bell schedule and other local information for the neighborhood school. Why would you not just make this a webpage, and then the users could add it to home page as if it were an app? no Apple review necessary then. What does it being an app give you besides bureaucratic headaches?

The main driver for making it into an app and not just a web page was the need to send push notifications. Of course, I just needed it for myself: hey, it's time to stop working and start driving to school to pick up the kid – "notify me 30 minutes before the last period ends" given that the schedule is different every day; then I just shared it with other parents. There is a web version (it's Flutter so it was easy…

If you add a web page (a PWA) to the home screen, it can do push messages on iOS since a couple of years.

Re: I bought Friendster for $30k – Here's what I'm doing with it

#306

Post by j45 »

0xbadcafebee wrote: post #164

> this failed Apple App Store review because of Guideline 4.2 — Design — Minimum Functionality. They said “the usefulness of the app is limited because it seems to be intended for a small, or niche, set of users. Specifically, the app is intended for invited friends only.” This is why we need laws regulating mobile platforms. Apple shouldn't be able to dictate what you use your phone for, or what apps you can give to…

Wording can go a long way - calling it early access, and saying invitations will allow you to invite your friends as the platform opens up can paint a similar picture in a different way.

Re: I bought Friendster for $30k – Here's what I'm doing with it

#308

Post by itake »

card_zero wrote: post #229
simondotau wrote: post #207

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I often get in trouble on HN for being more sympathetic than most towards Apple. But that reasoning by Apple is ridiculous. They allow apps which only function if you buy a specific $100k+ EV, or some niche audiophile amp. Usefulness doesn’t get much more limited than that.

What even is the idea, what would be the value in weeding out niche apps, if they did it consistently? To reduce the work involved in keeping everything in the garden lovely?

I think its just to mitigate spam apps. The window's app store is kinda garbage. Apple doesn't want to spend their QA resources on apps that only 10 people can use.

Re: I bought Friendster for $30k – Here's what I'm doing with it

#310

Post by jasonkester »

I really like the idea of a “facebook before it got bad “, with just people you actually know posting about what they’re up to.

But the “tap phones” thing wouldn’t work for me.

Most of my friends and family live halfway around the world from me. I visit the states every couple years, and make a point of seeing them when I can, but the reality is I live here and they live there (a dozen different theres in half a dozen countries)

Those are the people I want an app like this to keep up with. But they’re the people your app won’t even let me add as friends.

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