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The Snapzu Android app - I'm sorry

Hi all,

I'm being the Zusnap for Snapzu android app, and I'd like to take this opportunity to explain my reasons behind creating the app, and to apologise to the many of you who are disappointed with it, me, or both.

Firstly, when the shit hit the fan over at the place that shall not be named I began to look for alternatives, first I found Voat, then I found Snapzu, and whilst Snapzu has some rough edges I really liked the community feel it gave off. So this is where I've set up my new go-to happy place.

I've always been more of a lurker than a contributor (like I suspect most of these type of website visitors are), and I wanted to be able to enjoy the experience on my mobile. So naturally I looked for an app, but none were to be found. So, as a budding app developer I thought this was a great (but challenging) opportunity.

I managed to get my app "working" and hastily sent it to the Play Store. It barely worked, but that same night I submitted my first update which helped a little. There have been a total of 10 releases of the app on the Play Store since Friday, each bringing updates that I hoped would improve the usability.

A lot of you seem extremely disappointed in Zusnap, and I am extremely sorry for that, I really am. I did not create this app to upset anyone, or to 'scam' anyone. I sincerely made this app to provide an easier experience on mobile that using your browser. With the latest update (version 1.5) I have added text zoom controls to the action bar. I now feel that the app is in a position to provide me with a better viewing experience than through a mobile browser, and I am happy to be using it daily to view Snapzu. This does not mean the updates with stop, I fully intend to continue with app updates to provide a better experience.

Again, I am very sorry that I've upset so many of you, that was not my intention at all. If the community feel that I have done the wrong thing in releasing this app I will remove it from the Play Store and only use it personally.

Snapzu, I'm sorry.

EDIT I forgot to mention: There is no API available for Snapzu, so implementing features is incredibly difficult. However I will continue pushing updates and improving the app as best as I can.

8 years ago by internethermit with 5 comments

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  • jmcs
    +4

    I tried to send you an e-mail in reply to your developer's reply, but the e-mail bounced back, anyway I'll post it here:

    I know Snapzu still doesn't have an API, but I think having an advertisement in a glorified bookmark it's not really fair. If you remove the ad and put a clarification on the description I'll bump my evaluation from 1 to 3 stars. Otherwise I'll let my evaluation stand until you have an improved version.

    I appreciate that your are trying to create a better experience but right now the description is a bit deceiving, and the advertisement definitely detract more from the experience than the app adds.

    • internethermit (edited 8 years ago)
      +4

      Thanks for the feedback, it's certainly something I've considered, and I may well remove the ads in the next update.

      I'm sorry the email bounced back, you can email xeeleestudios@gmail.com if you would like. I will check the email address on Google Play now to make sure it's the same.

      EDIT: There was a missing 's' oops.

  • double2
    +3

    Awesome for you to speak up! It adds a lot of credibility to the future of your app - which pleases me greatly, as someone has to make it eventually!

    I'm just a little disappointed it has to exist at all. Making the standard site responsive should have been a high priority from the get go. The fact I need to zoom in on my phone to open notifications is a bit shitty! Personally, if you have the time and the nouse, I would ask the admins if you could just make a custom css for m.snapzu.com - yes, you won't get money but you will get a great addition to your portfolio if the site takes off. And if it doesn't, you wouldn't have made that much money anyway!

  • newuser
    +1

    It is so great that you reached out to the community regarding your app. I did like it at first, it made the links bigger and more readable but I only got that far with using it. Like what /jmcs mentioned, the ad is really distracting to the experience. It's very easy to accidentally click on it when scrolling.

    I hope you can find a way to fix the user experience, I'd love to give it another try!