Very interesting thread so far. I completely agree with the sentiment that continuing to develop and support an app on Android with all the differences in platforms and versions available is making a developer's life difficult. Especially with the complete lack of basic but essential functionality in the Android Market (no way to see comments in the console, no way respond to comments, STILL stuck with 325 character limit, 2 screenshot limit ... the list goes on and on).
Regarding the issue of getting low ratings on the Market because of all these variations: personally, I've given up on waiting for the Market team to address these issues and have, instead, used the only means I have to communicate with users - the app itself. With each update I show users a series of dialogs that: 1 - Provide a detailed account of what's new in each release with clear instructions on how to use the new features or what bugs were fixed (something that, as a user, annoys me that more developers don't do). This also saves me from wasting any of my precious 325 characters on what's new. 2 - Lists all negative comments on the market with a response from me for each so users know I take that feedback seriously and am aware of their issue. Yeah, you can respond to the the latest comment on the market with your own, but you can only leave one comment at any given time and that leaves others unaccounted for. Plus, many people leave comments and never bother updating or checking in again. This way it's in their face so to speak when they update and serves as a reminder to update their comments (assuming they haven't un-installed and moved on). 3 - Reminds users that there are so many variations of phones and Android versions that it's pretty much impossible for me test everything, that I have no way of responding to these market comments, and if they have any issues or questions they should email me and give me the chance to fix their issues before leaving comments. I find this to work very well. I don't have a single "Force Closed. Uninstalled" 1 star comment on my apps. In fact, quite the opposite, I get quite a few high ratings for providing good support. Remember, most users have no idea what we as developers have to deal with. All they know is whether your app works or not on their particular device and that the market is the quickest and easiest way to leave you feedback (especially if they're having issues). Ideally Google would have all these issues ironed out but that's obviously not realistic so it's up to you to educate them on the limitations you have to work with. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- TreKing - Chicago transit tracking app for Android-powered devices http://sites.google.com/site/rezmobileapps/treking
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