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Why can't instances have their own apps?
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@realcaseyrollins Because F-Droid will ban them
@alex Perhaps. But I think the main distribution point for such an app would be the website, not F-Droid.
@realcaseyrollins Distributing apps is harder than building them
@realcaseyrollins Yeah but there are major obstacles to that for nontechnical users:
1. The app doesn't auto-update, so you'll have to remember to go back and manually install new versions. Got forbid the app contains a MAJOR SECURITY ISSUE and there's no way to send users a patch.
2. Most operating systems try to prevent the user from installing third-party apps, including Android and iOS. You have to dig into some settings and enable some checkbox. This alone is a barrier for most average users.
3. There are a variety of different distribution platforms, operating systems, and user configurations to take into account. What works on one device may not work on another. You need to give people the path of least resistance to download the app, and it's pretty challenging to carve that path for a diverse group of users.
1. The app doesn't auto-update, so you'll have to remember to go back and manually install new versions. Got forbid the app contains a MAJOR SECURITY ISSUE and there's no way to send users a patch.
2. Most operating systems try to prevent the user from installing third-party apps, including Android and iOS. You have to dig into some settings and enable some checkbox. This alone is a barrier for most average users.
3. There are a variety of different distribution platforms, operating systems, and user configurations to take into account. What works on one device may not work on another. You need to give people the path of least resistance to download the app, and it's pretty challenging to carve that path for a diverse group of users.
@alex @realcaseyrollins +100500
It's not possible to install 3rdparty apps on iOS without losing warranty.
Autoupdating is not usually straightforward. You still have to write the autoupdating code, put it somewhere and rely on some kind of service which will answer is there any update.
Not having your app in popular application market is means losing probably 90% of possible audience. Xash3D FWGS wouldn't have a two millions download if it wasn't Google Play. We tried, it didn't worked.
Getting published in alternative markets doesn't really change anything. Let's be honest, no one care about F-Droid except tech geeks. Did you heard that Amazon have their own Android apps market? No one, except those who own their book readers.
Also, markets have their own rules and they are often too strict. I don't know about the Apple AppStore because I didn't published anything there but Google Play is complete trash. Publishing something to Google Play may take the day of your free time just because you have to:
1) Generate screenshots for phones and tables and on different languages if possible. Missing it means that your app will not be shown in search results or it will not be first.
2) Write the description and translate it if possible otherwise you'll stuck with poorly made Google Translate.
3) Make sure your app is targetting Android 8 because Google really wants to drop the legacy Android versions and don't ask if you want to do the same.
4) Make sure your app have 64-bit compatibility. For most developers it's not a big problem but for Xash3D FWGS it was because the 3rdparty mods that are compiled only for 32-bit.
And that's not the end. They've recently added a new format of distributing apps which will allow Google to generate APKs on their side and remove unused assets or libraries. Sounds great? No. Because you have to show them your private certificate, the only way to identify developer. I hope Google secured them enough.
Does this really help Google to avoid poorly made applications filled with ads and probably violating somebody's copyrights to be published on their market? No.
It's not possible to install 3rdparty apps on iOS without losing warranty.
Autoupdating is not usually straightforward. You still have to write the autoupdating code, put it somewhere and rely on some kind of service which will answer is there any update.
Not having your app in popular application market is means losing probably 90% of possible audience. Xash3D FWGS wouldn't have a two millions download if it wasn't Google Play. We tried, it didn't worked.
Getting published in alternative markets doesn't really change anything. Let's be honest, no one care about F-Droid except tech geeks. Did you heard that Amazon have their own Android apps market? No one, except those who own their book readers.
Also, markets have their own rules and they are often too strict. I don't know about the Apple AppStore because I didn't published anything there but Google Play is complete trash. Publishing something to Google Play may take the day of your free time just because you have to:
1) Generate screenshots for phones and tables and on different languages if possible. Missing it means that your app will not be shown in search results or it will not be first.
2) Write the description and translate it if possible otherwise you'll stuck with poorly made Google Translate.
3) Make sure your app is targetting Android 8 because Google really wants to drop the legacy Android versions and don't ask if you want to do the same.
4) Make sure your app have 64-bit compatibility. For most developers it's not a big problem but for Xash3D FWGS it was because the 3rdparty mods that are compiled only for 32-bit.
And that's not the end. They've recently added a new format of distributing apps which will allow Google to generate APKs on their side and remove unused assets or libraries. Sounds great? No. Because you have to show them your private certificate, the only way to identify developer. I hope Google secured them enough.
Does this really help Google to avoid poorly made applications filled with ads and probably violating somebody's copyrights to be published on their market? No.
@a1batross @alex @realcaseyrollins you can sign your own apps for free now and there's guides for signing your own existing ipa files. Would you like a link to one?
@penny @alex @realcaseyrollins I'm not interested in iOS development but yes I've heard about using developer certificate to distribute apps.
@realcaseyrollins Some do.. I know of at least one instance that does anyway.