Ask Slashdot: What Makes You Uninstall Apps? 243
jones_supa writes "One of the most important measuring sticks for the success of any software is how long a user keeps it installed after first trying it. Intel has an article about some of the most common reasons users abandon software. Quoting: 'Apps that don’t offer anything helpful or unique tend to be the ones that are uninstalled the most frequently. People cycle through apps incredibly quickly to find the one that best fits their needs. ... A lot of apps have a naturally limited lifecycle; i.e., apps that are centered around a movie release or an app that tracks a pregnancy, or an app that celebrates a holiday. In addition, apps with limited functionality, for example, “lite” games that only go so far, are uninstalled once the user has mastered all the levels.' Some of the common factors they list include: lengthy forms, asking for ratings, collecting unnecessary data, user unfriendliness, unnecessary notifications and, of course, bugs. Additionally, if people have paid even a small price for the app, they are more committed to keep it installed. So, what makes you uninstall a piece of software?"
They spy on you! (Score:5, Interesting)
Many apps ask for far more permissions than needed.
I was once testing a 3270 emulator app to access a mainframe system over a vpn.
The emulator app refused to run unless you give it full access to your email.
When I called the vendor to ask why, they said it was so that users could automatically send support requests by email.
I can write my own email, thanks.
Uninstalled, and the vendor lost out on a multi-thousand dollar purchase.
My List. (Score:5, Interesting)
#2 Freer software comes out that can fulfill the utility.
#3 ParanoidAndroid and AdAway are not capable of taming the program the way I'd like.
Wish there were a way to archive data... (Score:4, Interesting)
I do wish it were easier to archive apps on iOS. On Android, I can use Titanium Backup, save a game off, and uninstall it. If I want to play it again, I can grab the APK from the TB archive, or if on a different device, install the game, restore the game save data.
On iOS, backups are all or nothing (although some games store their save game data in the Documents folder that one can back up in iTunes.) Next to a jailbreak and AppBackup, there isn't any real way to archive off a larger game like Chaos Rings when done with it.
Of course, the things that will cause me to toss a game:
1: If I see it trying to open up scads of behavioral tracking, analytic, and other spyware sites.
2: If it is worthless. Most games on iOS look good, but demand tons of "smurfberries" (or whatever currency you have to pay for) in order to advance. Want a decent plot in Zombie Farm, brains are a buck a piece. Want a good eatery in Zombie Cafe? Pony up for the toxins. Want decent armor in a MMO? Time to pay up. Want a better boomstick in Army of Darkness? Time for an IAP.
3: If it isn't maintained. Even an app that is fairly feature complete needs an update just to keep up with the latest OS looks.
4: If it is just a shell around a crappy, SEO-encumbered web page, like the Cracked app on Android.
5: If it requires activation or another account with them to work. For example, the Pixelmags apps on iOS. They need to just deal with Apple, not require one to have an account with them in order to read stuff.
Trying to be everything (Score:4, Interesting)
Re:They pop up and notify me they are running. (Score:5, Interesting)
Re:They pop up and notify me they are running. (Score:4, Interesting)
The concept on Android of listing app permissions is a good one - although it needs to be MUCH more detailed...
Considering that way too many of them seem to want access to damned near everything...
I would go further: not just the listing but the control needs to be more detailed. For EACH app, I should be able to set which system services the app is allowed to access. That would only take a few bytes of storage or memory per app... hardly an onerous requirement.
Interfering with base system functions (Score:5, Interesting)
AOL was notorious for this years ago when the install process would replace most Windows DLLs with AOL-flavored ones. IT departments at work were pretty busy fixing computers.
Today you can't install anything on work computers unless you are an engineer involved in software development. As of WIN7 they have locked down the computers. You can't even save data to the c: drive, you have to use a thumbdrive.
I have a WinXP Netbook at home that I installed iTunes on. Over time the browsers stopped opening at all. IE, Mozilla, Firefox, Safari, none of them worked. I traced it to some iPod apps running in the background even though iTunes wasn't open. After I removed iTunes it worked a lot better.
Comment removed (Score:5, Interesting)
Re:They pop up and notify me they are running. (Score:5, Interesting)
I have "Ad Network Detector". I run that on all downloaded applications. Anything that tracks my location, collects device or mobile network information, needs my list of contacts, has popup advertising and hotkeys that jump to a web page gets thrown out. I'd also throw out "TapJoy", "Mobclix", Mobo and Game Hub if it were possible to remove them.
As a developer, fully paid vs in-app purchase ... (Score:5, Interesting)
I pretty much avoid apps with any kind of in-app purchasing. If you think your app is worth the price of all the extra bits, well then allow me to buy the whole thing. I'm not interested in being nickeled and dimed to death for extra levels, abilities or features.
I have two app, the full paid http://www.perpenso.com/calc/calc3.html [perpenso.com] app with various calculators built into a single app and a lite app where scientific (including fractions and complex numbers) is built-in but other modes such as statistics, business and hex are in-app purchases. The fully paid includes everything and there is no advertising and it is offered at a bundled price point, about 60% of the price of all the in-app purchases combined, equivalent to 3 of the available 5 in-apps. There are plenty of users who only purchase 1 or 2 of the in-apps.
The problem as a developer is that some users only discover the lite app. I mention the fully paid app in the lite app's description and that it may offer a cost savings, yet there are a noticeable number of users who purchase all 5 individual in-app purchases. I don't think all of these users are trying to be supportive, that most just did not notice the fully paid bundled app.
If I had done as you suggest and only offered the fully paid bundled version I may have lost many of the smaller sales. I'd be interested in hearing any suggestions. In the future I plan to again use this 2 app strategy of fully paid bundle priced and completely a-la-carte via in-app purchases. The difficulty seem to be in making potential users aware of both versions so that they can select the best fit.
I don't think there is a one-size-fits-all single app solution. Am I missing something?
Re:They pop up and notify me they are running. (Score:5, Interesting)
Android app permissions seems very weird. The most innocuous app will claim that it wants permission for some very dangerous things. Ie, "Firefox" wants access for Near Field Communication, ability to delete contents of my storage, and ability remove accounts. Google Search update wants the ability to directly call phone numbers or send SMS messages (for search???), and add/modify calendar entries (from search??), and pairing with Bluetooth devices (for search??).
Now maybe some of this is just having overly broad categories, but some of these things do appear to be new as the existing application doesn't claim to need the same permissions as the updated versions do.
The problem is that the choices are to accept whatever the stupid app wants or to forbid it entirely. There is no middle ground of allowing the app but forbidding access to things I want to restrict. I can do this with location info (there's a global option to restrict it for all apps) but that's the exception and not the rule.
So I've been uninstalling stuff more often than not. I don't need this stuff, I think the whole concept of apps is ridiculous in the first place. Occasionally useful but not worth the reduction in privacy and security.
What about a new app? (Score:4, Interesting)
That's putting it a bit too strongly. I just put out my first app a few days ago, and I've already gotten useful user feedback and requests for new features. Plus, small developers don't have the equipment budget [techcrunch.com] to test the way larger companies do. (12 to 50 devices on a regular basis, with periodic tests on more.) Especially on a new app, there's going to be a period where things have to shake out.
Or do you simply avoid any app that hasn't been around a while?
Re:They pop up and notify me they are running. (Score:2, Interesting)
Given that women are a majority of new tech hires in the US, this is still a valid question.
It's 2013, not 1993.
Slashdot isn't a tech site any more. It's all marketing driven.
It's 2013, not 1993.
You think your userbase is incapable of checking (Score:5, Interesting)
the Market for updates?
I use (and paid for) a calendar app that updates often. NEVER nags me. When I have a moment, I'll look to see if there are any updates to my apps. I'll read what the changes are, see if people are having problems with the update, THEN decide for myself if I want to download/install the newer version.
Am I many versions behind? Hell yeah. But I'm a happy camper. And I LOOK for this dev's new apps when I've got the time. Because I know his apps won't bug me.
That fucking camera app, $5 and a huge user base, best one out there. Until it got to be every. time. I. opened. it. it wanted to know if I wanted some new ding-dong "buddy" (an Obama picture,or a swastika) and I missed SO MANY PHOTOS because of that. Cameras should be instant-on, no fucking "let's stop and show you our new BUDDY, go download it now since you're fully paid". / "Not today? Maybe you'd like to try some of our other apps?!" —I wrote the devs an email and uninstalled, and will NEVER use anything they code again. What a crackhead move! Now I'm back on freakin stock camera/camcorder, but at least I can get a picture.
Those "surveys" are wrong. The users can check for updates on their own. (Oh, and user reviews? I tweet them and link to the Market. Please don't pull a YouTube and nag people to sign up for G+ to rate.)
Google Search competes with Siri; try App Ops (Score:5, Interesting)
"Firefox" wants access for Near Field Communication, ability to delete contents of my storage, and ability remove accounts. Google Search update wants the ability to directly call phone numbers or send SMS messages (for search???), and add/modify calendar entries (from search??)
Firefox wants NFC for NFC sharing [slashdot.org]. Google Search is also the device's voice command prompt; it gains new privileges as Google adds new features to compete with Siri. It probably wants dialing so that when you say "OK Google, call Staisy", you'll get connected. probably wants calendar writing so that when you say "OK Google, remind me of a meeting with Milo at 3:30 on Thursday", you'll get it on your calendar. I'm not sure about Bluetooth though.
The problem is that the choices are to accept whatever the stupid app wants or to forbid it entirely. There is no middle ground of allowing the app but forbidding access to things I want to restrict.
Android 4.3 introduces App Ops, which you can download from Google Play Store. It lets you disable individual permissions for individual applications. It's hidden by default because it would cause too many existing apps to force-stop with a SecurityException.
Re:As a developer, fully paid vs in-app purchase . (Score:5, Interesting)
Your application looks interesting. Do you plan on bringing it to Android any time soon, or is it worth $220 for an iPod touch?
I am currently working on redoing the iOS user interface a bit and implementing a few user suggestions. After that I do plan on an Android version.
... I'm platform agnostic. Personally I tend to look for apps on iOS first but I definitely appreciate Android and have a few Android apps that literally are not allowed by Apple under iOS, "Wifi Analyzer" for example. That said the iPod touch is a pretty cool little device if you don't need cellular, gps, etc. I hope you have a lot more in mind beyond a calculator app though. :-) One thing that makes me a little reluctant about the touch is that the iPhone and iPad just got refreshed and moved to a new CPU, the touch is still using the previous generation CPU. There has been no announcement but I can't help but wonder when the touch will get refreshed and updated to the current CPU.
Regarding an iPod touch