You built a free app, that works, with no API. I wouldn't be so hard on yourself, people feel entitled to stuff but at the end of the day, they didn't build the app!
Couple of mistakes maybe:
- Putting ads in (I'm guessing there were ads, based on the comments?) - this makes it feel like a cash grab
- Making the app at all, without an API. Your intentions were noble, but you are going to get this sort of negative feedback since apps that are simple a web view tend to fare worse. There's a lack of Snapzu apps for a reason, maybe?
Thanks for the reply, I'm certainly considering taking the ads out for the next build, at least until the UX is much improved.
I have tried to incorporate as much functionality as I can into the webview; a menu for tribes, login, and frontpage layouts. As well as introducing text zoom options, which I thought helped a lot. Maybe I'm just seeing the app in a kinder light because I made it...
oh. my. god. when I was trying to select a username, this was exactly the kind of thing I was trying to find in my mind, instead I gave up. I am severely disappointed in myself.
I think that as a rule of thumb you should never include ads on an app that is merely a platform for a service that isn't yours. If you built and published a game, reference tool, etc, by all means insert ads, but in this case it's kind of unfair to snapzu for you to be profiting off adviews while users visit their site. A donation option is fine for people who appreciate your app, but you shouldn't impose monetization.
It depends on the website, I've been trying to inject JavaScript to change the styling of certain elements but it's breaking the entire page every time. I'm still working on it though, I'll be trying to incorporate JSoup soon, hopefully that might be the workaround I need.
Point two is really the reason I haven't fully transitioned to Snapzu yet. 90%+ of the time I have access to the Internet it is through my phone, and Spanzu is a bit of a nightmare to use in a mobile browser (when it even works at all). This severely limits my ability to even use the site. I realize the admins are doing this for free and don't owe us or me anything, but I would very much appreciate at least an API so other people can work on better mobile solutions for the site.
Yay! I am patient, it's just something I sorta hoped for, I didn't know it was actually in the works. That's fantastic news and I'm really looking forward to it.
You built a free app, that works, with no API. I wouldn't be so hard on yourself, people feel entitled to stuff but at the end of the day, they didn't build the app!
Couple of mistakes maybe:
- Putting ads in (I'm guessing there were ads, based on the comments?) - this makes it feel like a cash grab
- Making the app at all, without an API. Your intentions were noble, but you are going to get this sort of negative feedback since apps that are simple a web view tend to fare worse. There's a lack of Snapzu apps for a reason, maybe?
Thanks for the reply, I'm certainly considering taking the ads out for the next build, at least until the UX is much improved.
I have tried to incorporate as much functionality as I can into the webview; a menu for tribes, login, and frontpage layouts. As well as introducing text zoom options, which I thought helped a lot. Maybe I'm just seeing the app in a kinder light because I made it...
I would suggest having a donation option, more people are likely to spend money that way - less likely to get annoyed with your app.
Wait for the API to arrive and you'll be a lot better off developing the app
Thanks for the suggestion, /u/cunt.
Couldn't resist ;)
oh. my. god. when I was trying to select a username, this was exactly the kind of thing I was trying to find in my mind, instead I gave up. I am severely disappointed in myself.
I think that as a rule of thumb you should never include ads on an app that is merely a platform for a service that isn't yours. If you built and published a game, reference tool, etc, by all means insert ads, but in this case it's kind of unfair to snapzu for you to be profiting off adviews while users visit their site. A donation option is fine for people who appreciate your app, but you shouldn't impose monetization.
Just one question because I never done android development. How easy/hard is it to inject user styles in a webview?
Roughly the same as in a regular browser.
It depends on the website, I've been trying to inject JavaScript to change the styling of certain elements but it's breaking the entire page every time. I'm still working on it though, I'll be trying to incorporate JSoup soon, hopefully that might be the workaround I need.
Point two is really the reason I haven't fully transitioned to Snapzu yet. 90%+ of the time I have access to the Internet it is through my phone, and Spanzu is a bit of a nightmare to use in a mobile browser (when it even works at all). This severely limits my ability to even use the site. I realize the admins are doing this for free and don't owe us or me anything, but I would very much appreciate at least an API so other people can work on better mobile solutions for the site.
The admins are currently working on the API. Be patient.
Yay! I am patient, it's just something I sorta hoped for, I didn't know it was actually in the works. That's fantastic news and I'm really looking forward to it.