MaskerAid iOS App • Hacker News Board

Re: MaskerAid iOS App

#71

Post by scarface74 » Thu, Mar 17, 2022, 5:10 PM UTC

Grustaf wrote: post #70

scarface74 wrote: post #57

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It was a passion project. I’m sure he wasn’t expecting to make even as much money as he makes from being a cohost on a podcast that charges $5500/ad read * 3 ad reads. I wouldn’t be in a hurry to get it done either.

That's not the impression I got. To me it sounded like he was hoping to earn money from it. He said the same thing about his youtube channel, which also seemed very unlikely.

He’s been friends with most of the most successful indie developers in the iOS world - his cohost Marco - do you really think that Marco didn’t help set realistic expectations?

Re: MaskerAid iOS App

#72

Post by freedomben » Thu, Mar 17, 2022, 5:12 PM UTC

reaperducer wrote: post #39

Cthulhu_ wrote: post #31

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes and no; there are a few handfuls of apps that Made It in that they are only viable as apps, the ones that people will cycle through and open up multiple times a day. It is really hard to get to that point though. I mean the last ones I can think of that people installed were TikTok (similar appeal as Instagram, maybe Snapchat) and FaceApp (short lived gimmick).

I think the app gold rush is over. We've passed the time when every company "needs" an app. Even marketing managers can look at their phones and realize, "Why do I have all of these apps? I don't even know what half of these things are for anymore?" I recently moved, and my new building has separate apps for: Package notifications, dry cleaning pick up/drop off, paying rent, the speakers in the ceilings, building bul…

I agree. I hesitate to use myself as a data point because I'm very sensitive to privacy and security issues (and thus often refuse to use apps that don't have a web version), but it seems like there are a lot more web options than there used to be.

Apps definitely have a place for some use cases, but for most they just have so many downsides, especially invasive privacy violations. I think of running an app as similar to running some unknown/close source binary as root on my machine. Why give an app access to a whole bunch of APIs that can be used to mine me for data when it isn't needed?

Cross platform usability is also a big thing. Any apps that require typing are much better done on a laptop or desktop with a keyboard. Why should I be forced to use my tiny phone screen and super awkward mobile keyboard to fill out a form when I have a perfectly good laptop right next to me? Why should I have to run a specific operating system (apple or android) in order to be able to fill out the form?

Few people I know still get excited about apps. The curiosity and fascination is largely over. Unless there's a compelling reason, people don't want to install "another app"

Re: MaskerAid iOS App

#73

Post by freedomben » Thu, Mar 17, 2022, 5:13 PM UTC

rchaud wrote: post #44

reaperducer wrote: post #39

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think the app gold rush is over. We've passed the time when every company "needs" an app. Even marketing managers can look at their phones and realize, "Why do I have all of these apps? I don't even know what half of these things are for anymore?" I recently moved, and my new building has separate apps for: Package notifications, dry cleaning pick up/drop off, paying rent, the speakers in the ceilings, building bul…

Just curious, can your wife tell the difference between a native mobile app and an app that's mostly a webview?

Not GP, but no mine can't. She replaced the facebook app with Slim Social (which is basically FB in a web view) and barely noticed a difference between native and web view.

Re: MaskerAid iOS App

#74

Post by Grustaf » Thu, Mar 17, 2022, 5:21 PM UTC

rchaud wrote: post #69

Grustaf wrote: post #66

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The point is if you can avoid making an app, that's better. Obviously if it has to be an app, then make an app.

That too doesn't sound right. Every consumer app I use begs me to use their dedicated native app on mobile. Even though I'm a signed up user on the web site. The only reason they do this is because app-level surveillance and telemetry is unblockable, whereas the web allows me to block what I want.

Of course it's better for them if the CAN make you install it. Just like it's better for a company if they can convince you to sign up for something, or at least give them your email. But the point is that if you can expose your clients to your service without all that, then you should avoid introducing the hurdle, you don't want to scare anyone off.

So: make it possible to use the service without any hurdles, but _try_ to get them to agree to as much as possible.

Re: MaskerAid iOS App

#75

Post by kennydude » Thu, Mar 17, 2022, 5:23 PM UTC

I love it. I'd love to also see something like this that can hide or change number plates of cars before posting online.

Re: MaskerAid iOS App

#76

Post by [deleted] » Thu, Mar 17, 2022, 5:44 PM UTC

samhw wrote: post #28

eddieroger wrote: post #4

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Heard the same, thought the same. Casey succumbed to the struggle I find myself dealing with all the time - he found a problem with a technological solve and solved it with technology, which is only something other technologists do or want. Like you said, Instagram has a facility to already put stickers on images for people who wish to censor their pics. If they're not using Instagram, maybe the other program can do…

As one of our VCs once wisely said to us: "The hardest thing is to get a consumer to install a new app. Deliver your solution any way other than its own app."

[deleted]

Re: MaskerAid iOS App

#77

Post by Grustaf » Thu, Mar 17, 2022, 5:46 PM UTC

scarface74 wrote: post #71

Grustaf wrote: post #70

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's not the impression I got. To me it sounded like he was hoping to earn money from it. He said the same thing about his youtube channel, which also seemed very unlikely.

He’s been friends with most of the most successful indie developers in the iOS world - his cohost Marco - do you really think that Marco didn’t help set realistic expectations?

Well clearly he didn't, or at least it didn't help. Did you hear Casey talk about the app? Very unrealistic. Plus Marco didn't even test the app before it was launched, so I don't think he's been very involved. To be honest their friendship looks very asymmetric.

Re: MaskerAid iOS App

#78

Post by perardi » Thu, Mar 17, 2022, 5:54 PM UTC

vxNsr wrote: post #38

eckza wrote: post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Personally, I've been waiting for an app like this for a long time. I don't use social media, but I have a group chat with a handful of close friends. Sometimes, I like to insert emojis into a photo for comedic effect. Now I can do this without fighting with iOS's horrible Markup editor. (Quite frankly, I'm surprised that this isn't part of iOS already.)

But it’s relatively easy to use iOS’s markup editor. The whole time he was explaining this app all I could think was… it’s so much easier to just use the markup editor. If you’re sharing to WhatsApp… just use their editor, it allows adding stickers and emojis natively, it doesn’t auto detect faces… but is that strictly necessary? For double points, if you don’t wanna share on WhatsApp you can still use their editor a…

I kind of hate-listen to ATP at this point, as the only one who lives in the real world is Siracusa…

…but this is actually not easy to do via the iOS markup editor. It defaults to a pencil tool that draws way too fine of a line to mask a face without a loooot of scribbling, and adding a shape is a lot of taps. And text, forget about it, that's a pain in the default iOS editor. (Instagram: way better at this.)

This is a weird niche of a tool—it's for people who are posting photos to the Instagram timeline where you can't use the built-in stickers feature, or sending a lot of photos via Messages. But for this tiny niche: sure, useful.

Re: MaskerAid iOS App

#79

Post by distartin » Thu, Mar 17, 2022, 5:55 PM UTC

prea wrote: post #6

Grustaf wrote: post #3

I heard him say on some podcast that he thinks there is a possibility for him to make real money on this, but I would say there isn't. Very few people care about this, and almost none of that already small group will have heard of the app. Plus I can't even see how this simplifies anything, if you're posting to instagram it's surely simpler to skip the extra step and just use instagram's built in editor, even if you…

> What's even the point of posting a photo of your child, with the face hidden? Seems very niche. Might be a cultural US thing, but this is something my wife does a lot and I see a lot of people doing. It's one of those things that might not make sense if you don't have kids.

I think it's not just US thing, I've seen parents did the same thing outside US. There's a market for this but urgency is probably low, fortunately this got viral

Re: MaskerAid iOS App

#80

Post by ziml77 » Thu, Mar 17, 2022, 5:56 PM UTC

I'm not sure why a bunch of commenters are dismissing the idea of hiding faces by placing emoji over them. That's already a thing. I see it a lot on photos that are shared online. It's a good alternatives to having to carefully frame or crop an image to hide objects and faces you don't want others to see.