As a developer, how should I respond???

[BluePLanetMan]

Ok,

So, I try to make good useful applications. I try to help every customer. I go out of my way to do whatever one of my users needs. But this is the kind of **** that makes me nuts.

Today "Account" posted a 1 Star review of roboPrint. Not on the merit of the software, not because it looked bad, not because it did not work on his phone. He posted a 1 star review because the software is not really free, but really trialware. So I get slammed for offering the opportunity to use my software, completely free of restrictions and then having the nerve to ask a paltry $3.99 for it. Seriously? ONE STAR?

Here is the actual post:

"by Account (September 22, 2010)

Why call it "free" when after install its only a 3 day trial? Nice app...wud have purchased but hate tricks...what else is hidden?"

So, I can't offer Trialware using Google App Market, I can only offer Free or Paid. I guess I am screwed if I do, and screwed if I don't.

Of course, I really have no recourse now, I can't even respond to this moronic review, so now people who legitimately MIGHT WANT to use my software, MIGHT not because of this ****nuts post. If only I had an army of people to post real reviews about the software itself and not Googles dumbass market restrictions.

Well, rant done. Sorry, I still love the community.

-Jason

 

[Prof-KOS]

You're right, however you should probably make mention of the fact that it's trialware in the market page. At least then people can't say they weren't warned first. Some probably still will, but at least they will be wrong. The app is good though and I hope you do well with it.

 

[dmcman73]

Ok,

So, I try to make good useful applications. I try to help every customer. I go out of my way to do whatever one of my users needs. But this is the kind of **** that makes me nuts.

Today "Account" posted a 1 Star review of roboPrint. Not on the merit of the software, not because it looked bad, not because it did not work on his phone. He posted a 1 star review because the software is not really free, but really trialware. So I get slammed for offering the opportunity to use my software, completely free of restrictions and then having the nerve to ask a paltry $3.99 for it. Seriously? ONE STAR?

Here is the actual post:

"by Account (September 22, 2010)

Why call it "free" when after install its only a 3 day trial? Nice app...wud have purchased but hate tricks...what else is hidden?"

So, I can't offer Trialware using Google App Market, I can only offer Free or Paid. I guess I am screwed if I do, and screwed if I don't.

Of course, I really have no recourse now, I can't even respond to this moronic review, so now people who legitimately MIGHT WANT to use my software, MIGHT not because of this ****nuts post. If only I had an army of people to post real reviews about the software itself and not Googles dumbass market restrictions.

Well, rant done. Sorry, I still love the community.

-Jason

As a regular customer I can say that anytime I buy something from the market and I see a One star from someone I will always read it to see if the person has a legitimate gripe. If I see stuff like what this person wrote then I disregard the one star rating especially if the app has high reviews from other people. Now if the app had 2 or 1 stars from a boat load of people saying that it causes FC or lockups, then I stay far away from it.

I also agree with the previous poster in saying that you should make it known in your description field that it is only trial ware. Most developers will put something like this: ***THIS IS TRIAL WARE AND WILL EXPIRE IN X DAYS IF NOT PURCHASED*** at the very top. Then from there you see people in the market place yelling at posters who post the same review as this guy that they can't read and they take care of the problem for you...lol

 

[DenverRalphy]

IMHO, most users have learned to look beyond reviews that are just rants. If it were me, I'd just ignore comments/ratings that are just rants without merit.

That being said... The person making the comment does have a somewhat legitimate criticism (he/she just approached it poorly). It does tend to irritate people when a product advertised as Free actually isn't. It might be prudent of you to advertise it as Try Before You Buy on the market. Renaming it to "roboPrint Trial/Lite", or making it very clear in the Description, would probably go a long way.

 

[BluePLanetMan]

Well, here is my solution as I am sure many other developers have done. I am making two version. roboPrint (Trial) and roboPrint (Full). Both are the exact same version, except the trial will time out in 3 days (or whatever time we set for it). But zero restrictions on actual usage of features etc...

Its kinda funny.. roboPrint began as a Paid app, then I decided to make it Trial so people could get a feel for it while we developed it, and not have to pay (a lesson learned from dTor) and as a result, due to another Google Market problem, I cannot easily modify the naming convention of the software. Anyway, today or tomorrow I will post two new versions that will resolve this problem once and for all... well not totally.. I still expect wacky reviews that go unchallenged.. but such is life

 

[Funbunzsf]

Jason relax. Just know that you have a great product and a talented team.

Keep churning out good products and those negative comments will quickly drown out.

 

[Prof-KOS]

Jason,

I think that's a good solution. Until the inevitable overhaul the Market will eventually receive to allow developers to challenge unfair criticism/ratings as well as a host of other fixes your best bet is to ignore rants and comments like these and continue to impress those that will rate you highly.

 

[eye4ni]

As a customer, I read at least the first 10-15 reviews for an app, sometimes a lot more if it is paid, and see what others are saying. It pisses me off to no end when idiots give a one star rating because it is a trial, or they did not read the description to see that it was a subscription service.

Grooveshark is a good example. It is actually a pretty good app. Once in a while I will have a bug or a song skip, but overall, it functions about as good as any other android app out there. In order to use the app, you must be a Grooveshark VIP ($3/mo). It is in the app description in plain English that a VIP subscription is required to use the app, but sure enough, there are a flood of one star ratings with comments similar to:

-- "needs a paid subscription, rip-off, uninstalling." --

C'mon, really? Read the f'n description before you download it, and don't give negative ratings just because you are an idiot....

 

[bjordan]

As a customer, I read at least the first 10-15 reviews for an app, sometimes a lot more if it is paid, and see what others are saying. It pisses me off to no end when idiots give a one star rating because it is a trial, or they did not read the description to see that it was a subscription service.

Grooveshark is a good example. It is actually a pretty good app. Once in a while I will have a bug or a song skip, but overall, it functions about as good as any other android app out there. In order to use the app, you must be a Grooveshark VIP ($3/mo). It is in the app description in plain English that a VIP subscription is required to use the app, but sure enough, there are a flood of one star ratings with comments similar to:

-- "needs a paid subscription, rip-off, uninstalling." --

C'mon, really? Read the f'n description before you download it, and don't give negative ratings just because you are an idiot....

I agree 100%! reviews like that drive me nuts. Or 1 star reviews saying, "Should be cheaper" or "Should be free".

I agree with what everyone else says. I learn to kind of filter out the reviews as I'm looking over them.

It's definitely a far from perfect system and I understand your frustrations.

 

[jnadelman]

I think the problem is that very few "free" apps are trial versions. Most are either smaller versions of the real app (to get you hooked) or full versions with just a bunch of annoying adds.

 

[maildroiddev]

I think you smile and move on. I have seen hundreds of odd posts for MailDroid as well, but you should know that most people (as mentioned in this post) look at more than just one review. I agree you should say Trial Software, but at the same time I know the limited characters allowed that you have for a description! To be honest, the comments that I dislike the most are ones that are technically incorrect (people say 1 star since it does not support 'foo' when you as a developer know that 'foo' is not possible to do or not supported). The worst of these is the 'move to sd card option'. Google made the mistake of saying this is a great thing and everyone should do it, then decided to say in 'small print' that if you have a service or need to control certain things, then you can't do move to sd. Now, how do users know the difference

Anyway, just roll with the punches!

 

[wmtoandroid]

I would be more concerned about the many other one-star reviews for that app... it's averaging 2.88 on Appbrain

 

[BluePLanetMan]

I would be more concerned about the many other one-star reviews for that app... it's averaging 2.88 on Appbrain

I think if you try it you will find that they are not really deserved. Also, almost all of the low ratings came in when the software was released as beta, which I am not going to do anymore.

For example, I got a 1 star review because the software did not find the users printer on his local network. At the time, the software DID NOT support that function, so naturally it would not. But was functional in every other way. So, go figure...

 

[Jerry Hildenbrand]

I read reviews of apps all damn day long. Part of what we do here is seeing what everyone else thinks about the Market and it's content

That being said, I ignore any and all 1 star and 5 star reviews, and look for meaningful, constructive reviews. I know I'm not alone

 

[Sonicaholic]

I am still rather dismayed that developers have to put up with these sad and idiotic remarks, a try before you buy tag would have been a good idea yes but its only in hinesite that can be said.
I am also supprised you have not created a second account to remark on these sad and insulting comments I would highly suggest you do and have seen many developers take this course as a temporery solution to a well known market problem. I shall now go add the trial (if I have the internal space to download it) so I may debunk the said offending remark in your stead as we all know that your software is decent. That would be another catagory that maybe google should add is a trial period tab.
edit: comment posted! under sonic.

 

[anon(22913)]

Yeah man, being a new dev myself, just don't worry so much about it. Who cares? There's a lot of idiots out there. If it's a good app you're still going to get a few bad reviews from morons, that's just how it works.

So I suggest just chill.

 

[slthree]

Its kind of pathetic that you made this a thread. Dude, you have thin skin.

Devs have dealt with stuff like this for years and I've never seen one whine like this. You act like you didn't know what you were getting in to.