Where to talk about my app?

groovejumper

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Apr 3, 2012
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I wrote an app, I'd love to ask for folks to try it out, send feedback, etc. Where should I do that? (that's kind of a broad question, I know) - there's actually two questions in there:

1. Which forum on WPCentral is the right one to invite people to try it and give feedback?

2. Where else can I promote my app like this (i.e. informally, not spammy-like)

g.
 

groovejumper

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Oh - cool - didn't expect that - haven't even said anything about it yet :cool:

Here's my story - I've been a developer for many years (PC-based), but have wanted to get into mobile development for a while, on the side, just to learn about it.

I used iThings for a number of years but found Objective C to be, well, objectionable....

So, after getting a Lumia 900 in April, I figured it was time to get my feet wet, since I already code in the MS stack it wasn't a huge leap.

Had an idea, proved to be too big to start. Started trying to come up with something smaller and simpler.

For a while, I was using an app I found in the Marketplace to set timers, mostly for cooking, barbequeing, etc, but also for many other tasks where I found it helpful to set a time, go do something else, and have it alert me when the time was done.

Often I'd have multiple timers going at the same time, and the app I was using had 3 available. From time to time, I found that 3 wasn't enough, but I found ways to get done what I needed to, so no big deal.

Then that app developer did something low... I mean, reprehensible. In the free/ad-supported version, he put large buttons over the 2nd two timers that said "click here to buy the full version, and unlock more timers". So basically, he gave away 3 timers, then crippled the app to push sales. I totally understand wanting to monetize, but to me, that's NOT the way to do it.

So my idea was clear...

And the result is here - Timer M. It's not perfect, it's not a huge app, but it works for me...

I'd love to hear what you think. Any suggestions? Comments?

Also, I had some challenges when trying to get it certified, are any of you experienced in that area? I'd love to describe what happened and maybe get some advice on how to handle a couple of situations that came up with certification rules.

g.
 

mckhendry

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I'm a little confused at why I see this in the marketplace twice? There's a 1.3 version and a 1.4 version, yet they both have different Ids. I can't distinguish any differences between the two (via the marketplace web pages), other than one requires location services and one doesn't. I'm curious, is there a valid reason why these two should compete against each other?

BTW, I'm happy to review the v1.4 one. I'll let you know what I think.

-kw
 

groovejumper

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I'm a little confused at why I see this in the marketplace twice? There's a 1.3 version and a 1.4 version, yet they both have different Ids. I can't distinguish any differences between the two (via the marketplace web pages), other than one requires location services and one doesn't. I'm curious, is there a valid reason why these two should compete against each other?

BTW, I'm happy to review the v1.4 one. I'll let you know what I think.

-kw
Hey mckhendry,

Yes I know it's confusing - and I'm not quite sure what to do about it... It's kind of a long story of how this came about, but to skip all the craziness, it was due to submitting my app the day before the change from the old App Hub to the new Dev Center.

I then went through 6 weeks (!) of back-and-forthing over the system problems/etc. In the process it was suggested that I submit my app as a new app, which resulted in having (as you saw) two apps. The version difference happened due to problems with the Dev Center not doing uploads correctly, and a mysterious certification problem.

In any case, it turned out that there was in fact not a certification problem, and the correct version (1.3) was certified. The 1.4 version had a very minor change to address the "problem", but before I could remove it it ended up getting certified as well (the same day as the other one).

So now I have a dilemma, I could in theory remove the 2nd one, but then if I release an update the folks who've downloaded the 2nd app wouldn't get it.

Any suggestions?

Anyway, feel free to download & run either one. The 1.3 version is preferable though.

g.
 

Red Lemur

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Why not send an update to one version with a message in it explaining the need to move to the other (if they want updates), and make it easy for them by having a button which launches marketplace at the other version.

As it's a free app it's pretty painless for people to reinstall (and then remove the old) although make sure you test things well as you'll want the transition to be as painless as possible for your users (of the version to be removed).

Here's how to launch marketplace at a particular app (from e.g. a button within your app).
MarketplaceDetailTask Class (Microsoft.Phone.Tasks)

Make sure you set the ContentIdentifier to the appid of the other app (the one you are keeping) otherwise it will just launch marketplace showing the app they are currently using.

Good luck with it!

Ian
 

mckhendry

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Yeah, I'd unpublish one of them. The sooner the better. As far as which one to unpublish, I'd lean towards the older one which has less features. People that still have it on their phones will be ok, you just have less people searching for it and pulling it down. Maybe do one last update to the old one first though, which pops a message to the user informing them to download the other version.
 

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