On Saturday, March 2, 2013 9:22:31 AM UTC-8, John Coryat wrote:
>
> Automatic refresh is a premium feature. Lame, I know, but it is one that 
> drives the users to go premium. There's a refresh button that a user can 
> use to update the imagery, but they have to: a) know what refresh means b) 
> recognize the button. That's already a stretch for a lot of them.


Ok. That refresh button wasn't mentioned in the comment response you cited. 
It seems, in that case, that mentioning the refresh button was the right 
response. You can choose what lengths you want to go to for making the 
refresh button more visible. I've got plenty I want people to notice 
myself.  A user just asked if we have a manual. Ironically, the "Contact 
HelpDesk" button that he used to ask the question is right below a button 
that says "MANUAL", same font, same size, same shape, same contrast. 

You can also decide what level of service the freebies deserve. If they 
don't deserve a refresh in every onResume, maybe they get one if it has 
been X minutes, or X hours, etc, since the last refresh. Or you can decide 
they don't deserve any except the one in onCreate. Whichever is your best 
cost/benefit keeping in mind the support costs from any confusion.  
 

> When the app rolls into the background, it doesn't consume any additional 
> resources, except if it's a premium user and then it constantly will suck 
> up bandwidth for both that user and our server. Perhaps we should detect 
> this and quietly end it. That might be the best answer.
>
 
Yes, you should in my opinion. I did something like that and it was a 
dramatic increase in battery life even with the GPS still running in screen 
off. 


> The point of this thread though is the lack of basic educational material 
> for the new Android user. Is there an app (yet?) that can give the user a 
> rundown of the basic operating concepts? I remember back when I first used 
> Windows (3.1), that basic training aid was the Solitaire program. It did 
> everything that Windows could do in an entertaining fashion. I think I 
> learned more about Windows using that gem than anything else. 
>

Sure, I also enjoy the musings about the Android decisions that I probably 
won't be able to influence. The boneheaded idea to ignore ForceOverFlow on 
4.x action bars is high on that list for me. 

But I also enjoy the pragmatic discussions of what we developers can do to 
make the best of these situations. 

When it comes to buttons that people don't find, I've even thought about 
context sensitive help using a PopupWindow to point them out at least once. 
May seem like overkill, but more users who don't give up is more money. And 
less users we have to tell to push a certain button is worth more money 
too. 

Nathan 
 

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