I have thought along similar lines. I think it should just be option a. Don't confuse the user with options. In fact don't even allow user to reply back directly.
On Sep 18, 2010 1:19 PM, "Brad Gies" <[email protected]> wrote: This is a bit long winded (sorry, but I need to explain what I'm doing before I can ask the question). Just wondering if I could get a few (hopefully few hundred) opinions on this : I developed an Exception Handler for my first Android app (released the first month the market opened), which logs all uncaught exceptions to my server, and since then I have gradually refined it and improved. I'm now using it in my 4th public Android app and a few private apps, and I find it extremely helpful to find bugs that don't happen to me when I'm testing. One thing I added that is proving to be extremely useful is an AlertDialog when the exception occurs asking the user if it is OK to contact him/her if I need more information to be able to fix the problem, and a box for them to enter their email address if they agree. I don't have good numbers for you on the acceptance rate because most of my public apps already have the users email address and for the private apps the company enforces their compliance (or supplies the emails for me to use). BUT... it looks like about 20% of users do enter their email address if asked, and that is more than enough to be very useful. I think I can increase the percentage of users that do supply their emails addresses, and that is what my question is about :). (I will ask it soon) First, It has occurred to me that my Exception Logger might be even more successful for me if other developers were also using it because users might have seen it before and trust it when they first see it in my apps. That obviously would only happen if quite a few developers were using it. Anyway... sorry it's already getting long, and I AM trying to keep it from becoming a book. I have repackaged my Exception Logger and will release it in the next couple of days for other developers to use (the price is the good one - FREE). I will host the thing on my server (FYI it's a Cloud based server so we can increase capacity if needed) and any developers using it will be able to log in and view the exceptions their app has generated, and sort by time/date, user, and other fields. NOW.. the question: I think the Exception Logger would be more successful getting the users to agree to be contacted IF their email addresses were kept confidential. Actually, I don't think there is much doubt that would be the case. BUT, there is a tradeoff. Obviously, most developers would prefer to see the email addresses so they can manage the contacts a bit more effectively without using my website to do it, BUT if the email addresses are not confidential, fewer users will give them. So here are what I think are the options: a) keep the email addresses confidential, but developers can send the user an email using my website, include both a reply address which goes to my website and then forwards the email to the developer, and also the developers email address so the user could respond directly to the developer if they choose. I'm sure this would have by far the highest success rate for getting contact info .... but means devs have to use my website to send the first email at least. b) give the user a choice of keeping the email address confidential or just giving it to the developer. This should also have a fairly high acceptance rate by the user, but complicates the process for them because they would actually have to read the instructions to figure out how it works, and quite possibly a few users would think they asked for their email addresses to be confidential, when they actually checked the other option, and would be upset if they found out later. It's also a bit more work for me, for maybe very little benefit. c) Don't bother keeping the email addresses confidential. All my own apps work this way, and it is useful, but I'm sure either of the other two options would have a better success rate of obtaining the email addresses, and therefore would be better for most devs to get information about problems in their apps. I don't try the a) or b) options for myself because obviously I could see the email addresses in my log files if I wanted to look, and it would be a little deceitful to tell the user their email would be confidential in that case, even if I did use them properly ... BUT, I can do that for other developers without stretching the truth at all, so I think it's worth the effort if other devs want to use it. So, please let me know what your opinions are. I'm also hoping to get some idea of how many developers might want to use this. I've already done almost all the work, so it will be released even if nobody wants to use it. It freaks me out a little to open up my server to an unknown amount of use, but I am well setup to increase server capacity quickly if needed, and I don't think the cost of doing this will be too horrible (I hope). ... Sincerely, Brad Gies ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Bistro Bot - Bistro Blurb http://bgies.com http://bistroblurb.com http://ihottonight.com http://forcethetruth.com ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Everything in moderation, including abstinence Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed people can change the world. Indeed. It is the only thing that ever has - Margaret Mead -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Android Developers" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected]<android-developers%[email protected]> For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/android-developers?hl=en -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Android Developers" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/android-developers?hl=en
