There are many good applications that have come onto the market place, but since then have had only minor updates since their first release. This is an issue for me, when a developer lets their invention just slip away.
As a consumer, I have invested in their product like many other mobile photographers. We praised their invention in words and samples of our work on FaceBook and other social media for days and weeks, certainly increasing the sales of the application for the developer.
Varies websites specialising in mobile art have written reviews and sponsored GiveAways, further promoting the product, including published tutorials so that the user may take advantage of the applications full potential.
So when a developer neglects their own product, even when giving it minor updates or making it available for a new iOS system, they have in my views, abandoned their product and broken trust with the consumer who purchased the product.
I can list a very large number of applications that have gone this route, but this posting is not to shame any of the developers, only to bring to their attention and you the reader, that the investment and trust we have placed in their product has been broken.
At the same time, I concede that there are also a good number of applications that can go no further, because in the first place, it was developed with a limited usage in mind to the mobile photographer.
I understand that the profit margin needs to be also addressed with the longevity of an application. It can cost too much to develop an application further, but then I also ask, what about additional sales garnered by those who did not own the item before or what about any new user of a mobile device. Besides, whenever there is a major update, not only do mobile reviewers and mobile artists mention the update on social media, just as when the item was first released.
A couple of developers have even decided to release a fully redesigned and brand new version of their old application and charge a full price. This means owners of the previous version need to pay the full price if they wish to update to the newer version. But why not permit users who already own the older version be permitted to update to the completely new application through an in-app purchase at a discount in the old app.
I know that in-app purchases are mostly frowned upon by users, but that is not a subject at discussion here and now. I was simply suggesting that when a totally new application of the previous version is released, original users should be offered the new version at a discount then having to pay for it at a full price and this should be done through a special in-app link in the old version.
Of course it is all a gamble for the developer, even for an item that is still in develop and one that has not been released to the public. So what is the answer to this problem and do users share in the responsibility for an application not to be further developed.
My response is “Yes.” We consumers bear some of the responsibility for the lack of an application not being developed further and here is why.
How many of you have actually taken the time to write a review on iTunes, let alone write the developer. If a user were to take a more pro-active roll and engage the developer into a discussion with suggestions for improvements, I feel we would see more developers change their tune. They would start to give their applications attention and further develop advancements, which only results in a prolongation shelf-life of the application.
We also need to remember that when users write a review on iTunes or the developer, to keep it professional and not rant because you are not happy because something may not be working. Constructive criticism in which the issues are clearly defined and explained, will be more receptively accepted and dealt with in correcting any issues.
Remember that developers need us just as much as we need them and by understanding this, forming a partnership with them, will only benefit all of us in the end. What are your thought on this subject.
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