Stupid! – Garbage – Hate it!!!!!!! …
…. these are some of the few comments when publishing apps in the Android Market for free. This can be really frustrating for developers. Here are some of the worst example I have encountered in my life as an Android developer:
The “it does not work -> 1 star” fraction
Examples:
- “poor! doesnt work on my G1 keeps force closing! Uninstalled!”
- “Keeps forcing close fix it and it is horrible. Hate it!!!!!!!!! One star and I am uninstalling this stupid thing”
Guys, I can understand your anger, but please, just send the developer a mail, describe the error and the circumstances where it occurred in as much detail as possible, and give the developer a chance to learn about it and fix it!
The “my obscure feature is not present -> 1 star” fraction
Examples
- “No “dk” map [Ingen dk kort]”
- “Not in Russian [?? ?? ??????]”
Yes, you may want to have the app in Russian, Urdu, and Aramaic, but as a hobby developer one has limited resources. Please respect that many apps are developed on a very tight or even non-existent budget. Why not just be glad to have that many apps for free?
The “I hate your app -> 1 star” fraction
Examples
- “Stupid!”
- “Garbage”
- “Slow and no instructions”
These guys would probably even rate the app with 0 stars if that was possible. The comment “no instructions” was even wrong at the time of writing, since there was a manual accessible from the main menu.
*update*
The “Weird -> 1 star” fraction (proposed by Niels).
Example
- “Has swear word on end button if you don’t do well. Not something I want my kid playing.”
- “My mom is crying. Uninstalled”
- “Stupid and offincive to my pet rabbit bayleigh”.
Conclusions
If you download, rate, and comment apps, please be nice with your developers. Many of us are guys like you and me, only spending their free time to work on their apps. Please accept that you cannot get perfect solutions in no-time. Rather help us to improve our apps and appreciate that we deliver them for free!
