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Delisted Overnight: A Cautionary Tale for Indie iOS Developers

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Re: Delisted Overnight: A Cautionary Tale for Indie iOS Developers

#111

Post by nokcha »

root_axis wrote: post #85
benmdi wrote: post #34

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yeah, I agree. I hope the legal system forces Apple to allow opt-in third party app stores. Would go a long way towards alleviating these kinds of situations.

Why should the legal system force Apple to do this? I get that it would prevent this type of scenario, but why should the the law care about this scenario at all?

Apple is arguably acting as a monopolist abusing its market position in violation of anti-trust laws. Apple takes a 30% cut on App Store purchases, potentially much higher than they would be able to if they didn't stifle competition. The Supreme Court recently ruled against Apple in Apple v. Pepper [1] on the question of whether purchasers of apps have standing to sue Apple. The case now goes back to the district court to decide the merits of the case.

[1] https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/18pdf/17-204_bq7d.pdf

Re: Delisted Overnight: A Cautionary Tale for Indie iOS Developers

#112

Post by rooster8 »

graeme wrote: post #73

Edit: I do not expect it can help resolve the issue much, but I went and left the app a rating as I have used it and find it quite good. I realized I had neglected to do so until now ————- I do not understand the people agreeing with Apple that search results are not guaranteed. App Store search does not nearly exist to serve developers; it exists to help users. This app was number one for years and has good reviews.…

Thank you! Your framing is something I wish I had included in the article: users are legitimately searching for a weight loss tracker. Surely this app should be somewhere among the top 400 results, right? I’ve got years of built up reputation as a developer who’s trying to make a good app for users.

I assure you, I won’t be pulling this app anytime soon. I didn’t intend to communicate that. It’s just that I have three small kids at home, so I don’t get much nights and weekends time for the app anymore. If I have to go back to full time work because of this, I’ll just shift into maintenance mode for the app (like making sure it’s compatible with new versions of iOS).

Re: Delisted Overnight: A Cautionary Tale for Indie iOS Developers

#113

Post by dangwu »

One of the things I did with Octal [1] a while back was experiment with different title/subtitle combinations, noting where my app landed in the search results for 'hacker news' for each variation. Then I picked the one that ranked the highest.

Example variations were:

Octal

Hacker News Client

-

Octal for Hacker News

Tech, programming, and startup news

-

Octal - Hacker News

Social tech news from Hacker News

[1] https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/id1308885491?mt=8

Re: Delisted Overnight: A Cautionary Tale for Indie iOS Developers

#114

Post by rooster8 »

microtherion wrote: post #87

As an Apple employee (not in any role related to the app store), and satisfied user of Happy Scale, I'm sorry to hear about the ranking loss. On the other hand, it's in the nature of machine learning systems such as search that sometimes, a simple update of the underlying model can lead to drastic changes in search results (say, for argument's sake, that there has been a recent influx of apps using the word "tracker"…

Great point.

Though I do wonder why many of the other apps that came up as a search result for "weight loss tracker" continue to do so, and mine was singled out. It's an important search term, because predictive text will suggest "weight loss tracker" when you start typing "weight." If tracker were being penalized as noise, then adjusting the predictive text would be a great way to handle the transition.

Re: Delisted Overnight: A Cautionary Tale for Indie iOS Developers

#116

Post by matt2000 »

jsty wrote: post #18
jwr wrote: post #12

This is why I think every app should be sold in a subscription model. The current users of this app are very happy with it, and yet they will suffer when the developer can't make enough new sales. It's like a Ponzi scheme: everything falls down if you can't enroll enough new users. That's not sustainable.

For apps you install on your own machine, I think the JetBrains perpetual license model is probably my favourite so far. After a certain period you can stop paying the subscription and keep using the old version. But if you want to keep up to date with features and bug fixes, you keep paying the subscription. It just seems to align incentives on both sides quite well.

The price goes down over the first 3 years as well. Not sure why they do that exactly, but for a long time user like myself I'm happy they do!

Re: Delisted Overnight: A Cautionary Tale for Indie iOS Developers

#117

Post by asveikau »

floatingatoll wrote: post #76
benmdi wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>It seems likely Apple has downrated the phrase "weight loss" altogether. What makes you say that?

Apple takes a more long-term view of health self-care than “weight loss” alone can encompass, and so it wouldn’t surprise me if a phrase that is highly prone to fraud and snake oil outside the App Store was eventually punished. “Reach and maintain your target weight” with at least one screenshot showing an increase phase and a maintenance phase rather than decrease would be vastly more inclusive and health-forward th…

> Apple takes a more long-term view of health self-care than “weight loss” alone can encompass,

I suspect this is an unintentionally humorous phrasing. How many brands do we interact with without asking their owners for their "view of health self-care"? Fitness tracker features notwithstanding, I would most certainly not expect it from a phone vendor. I would expect them to let their customers decide how they will or won't care for themselves.

Now, your point that the term might have a lot of snake oil products using it... That is somewhat plausible.

Re: Delisted Overnight: A Cautionary Tale for Indie iOS Developers

#118

Post by floatingatoll »

asveikau wrote: post #117
floatingatoll wrote: post #76

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Apple takes a more long-term view of health self-care than “weight loss” alone can encompass, and so it wouldn’t surprise me if a phrase that is highly prone to fraud and snake oil outside the App Store was eventually punished. “Reach and maintain your target weight” with at least one screenshot showing an increase phase and a maintenance phase rather than decrease would be vastly more inclusive and health-forward th…

> Apple takes a more long-term view of health self-care than “weight loss” alone can encompass, I suspect this is an unintentionally humorous phrasing. How many brands do we interact with without asking their owners for their "view of health self-care"? Fitness tracker features notwithstanding, I would most certainly not expect it from a phone vendor. I would expect them to let their customers decide how they will or…

Nope, not sarcastic. Apple specifically notes that they designed their Watch product to have value to people after they reach their goals, not just during the trek towards the goal. I consider their statements to indicate that they apply the same considerations to "weight targets" – gain/loss, followed by maintenance – as they would to any other health target, such as those they measure with Activity rings today.

https://www.theverge.com/2018/1/24/16926350/apple-watch-seri...

“The idea that small behavior changes can actually add up to something great is a real core philosophy of the activity app,” says Blahnik [director of fitness and health at Apple]. “Partially because what we find is that’s going to correct everybody. If you’re a beginner, and you’re not very fit, small changes are what you need to do. But it turns out that if you’re really fit, small changes are all you have left. So, it ends up being something that actually works for everybody.”

Re: Delisted Overnight: A Cautionary Tale for Indie iOS Developers

#119

Post by asveikau »

floatingatoll wrote: post #118
asveikau wrote: post #117

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Apple takes a more long-term view of health self-care than “weight loss” alone can encompass, I suspect this is an unintentionally humorous phrasing. How many brands do we interact with without asking their owners for their "view of health self-care"? Fitness tracker features notwithstanding, I would most certainly not expect it from a phone vendor. I would expect them to let their customers decide how they will or…

Nope, not sarcastic. Apple specifically notes that they designed their Watch product to have value to people after they reach their goals, not just during the trek towards the goal. I consider their statements to indicate that they apply the same considerations to "weight targets" – gain/loss, followed by maintenance – as they would to any other health target, such as those they measure with Activity rings today. htt…

I did not mean you're being sarcastic. I mean you bought into the Apple PR a bit heavily and it's humorous.

I mean this in the most respectful way possible.

Re: Delisted Overnight: A Cautionary Tale for Indie iOS Developers

#120

Post by floatingatoll »

asveikau wrote: post #119
floatingatoll wrote: post #118

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Nope, not sarcastic. Apple specifically notes that they designed their Watch product to have value to people after they reach their goals, not just during the trek towards the goal. I consider their statements to indicate that they apply the same considerations to "weight targets" – gain/loss, followed by maintenance – as they would to any other health target, such as those they measure with Activity rings today. htt…

I did not mean you're being sarcastic. I mean you bought into the Apple PR a bit heavily and it's humorous. I mean this in the most respectful way possible.

SEO is all about reading the tea leaves. I'm expressing my personal belief and, as part of reading the SEO tea leaves, noting that there's indirect evidence that Apple agrees with my personal belief. While I appreciate your effort to somehow avoid disrespecting me while trivializing my beliefs, you have not succeeded. We'll need to agree to disagree as I don't think I can continue this discussion, sorry.
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