[Q] App Review - General Marketing & SEO

I have an Android app on the market for college students called Degree Planner. When people do leave reviews, they are almost always positive. My problem is I get a lot of uninstalls. Lately I am getting more uninstalls per day than installs. Since no one is leaving negative feedback I cannot improve whatever it is they do not like. I have tried for months to improve anything I can think of, but still it has not fixed this issue. I was wondering if someone would not mind looking over it and giving me some criticism on improvements.

Emrys_90 said:
I have an Android app on the market for college students called Degree Planner. When people do leave reviews, they are almost always positive. My problem is I get a lot of uninstalls. Lately I am getting more uninstalls per day than installs. Since no one is leaving negative feedback I cannot improve whatever it is they do not like. I have tried for months to improve anything I can think of, but still it has not fixed this issue. I was wondering if someone would not mind looking over it and giving me some criticism on improvements.
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Click to collapse
How big is your app? Size is always one of the most important uninstall reasons.

It's pretty small. Only a couple megabytes.

Well, If there are no ratings in Google Play, you can add a "tell me your opinion" form inside the app and as allways make sure the users can contact you... hope it helps

Related

My Vibrant Rant

So, I got the vibrant, and overall I like it because its much more responsive than both my G1 and MyTouch, but kind of have the following thoughts.
1. I feel having an LED has to be a big mistake/oversight. I cant imagine the LED would have much added cost for samsung nor be very big/require much space. Yet would have a GREAT improvment on the user experience. I hate not being able to glance at my phone and see what happened. Plus, it's alot less battery than having to turn on the screen. There are some hacks - forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=725458 - being done to compensate, but none are 'great' solutions, although clever.
2. Battery life - for an AMOLED screen, I'm surprised my battery drains as fast as it does. It lasts me 3/4 of a day more or less. I do have a few things installed, and do use the feed widgt for facebook etc, and have gmail and work email synced. I think it still doesnt last as long as it should. I'm considering removing the facebook widget and adjusting sync times to get more battery back, but still feels lacking.
P.S. : Isnt there some sort of App that can help me identify which apps are using the most battery/CPU time?
3. Calendar Notification - This is something I cant understand. I have worke mail synced to my phone, as well as my calendar for it synced. I get long vibrations and sound (if my phone isnt on vibrate), but there is no way I can find to adjust the notification to be less annoying. I know other users have noticed the same issue
4. Bloatware - I dont mind the fact that they install alot of apps on the phone that other users may find interesting, but I really feel they should make it easier to remove them. I shouldnt have to go through extra effort to get the bloatware removed.
5. Camera App - its a nice app, but I dont like how after taking a picture it does not switch back to camera... you have to hit the back button.
6. Power on button - You already have to do a slide to unlock... why on earth is the power button so small and obtrusive? I feel this is a bit quircky.
7. Proximity sensor - I dont know about you guys, but it took me a while to figure out why, when I am on the phone, the screen kept lighting up on and off. I *think* I figured out that the proximity sensor right next to the ear piece detects if your head is near the phone, and if it is away from it, it will light up the phone. I find this rather annoying, maybe I hold the phone awkwardly, but several times it has lit up while talking and I've accidentally muted etc.
So ya, </rant>
Overall, the phone is nice and a well needed improvement over my previous phone, but I feel there were just a few simple things that samsung could of done to make it a solid release.
What do others think?
csmaster2005 said:
So, I got the vibrant, and overall I like it because its much more responsive than both my G1 and MyTouch, but kind of have the following thoughts.
1. I feel having an LED has to be a big mistake/oversight. I cant imagine the LED would have much added cost for samsung nor be very big/require much space. Yet would have a GREAT improvment on the user experience. I hate not being able to glance at my phone and see what happened. Plus, it's alot less battery than having to turn on the screen. There are some hacks - forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=725458 - being done to compensate, but none are 'great' solutions, although clever.
2. Battery life - for an AMOLED screen, I'm surprised my battery drains as fast as it does. It lasts me 3/4 of a day more or less. I do have a few things installed, and do use the feed widgt for facebook etc, and have gmail and work email synced. I think it still doesnt last as long as it should. I'm considering removing the facebook widget and adjusting sync times to get more battery back, but still feels lacking.
P.S. : Isnt there some sort of App that can help me identify which apps are using the most battery/CPU time?
3. Calendar Notification - This is something I cant understand. I have worke mail synced to my phone, as well as my calendar for it synced. I get long vibrations and sound (if my phone isnt on vibrate), but there is no way I can find to adjust the notification to be less annoying. I know other users have noticed the same issue
4. Bloatware - I dont mind the fact that they install alot of apps on the phone that other users may find interesting, but I really feel they should make it easier to remove them. I shouldnt have to go through extra effort to get the bloatware removed.
5. Camera App - its a nice app, but I dont like how after taking a picture it does not switch back to camera... you have to hit the back button.
6. Power on button - You already have to do a slide to unlock... why on earth is the power button so small and obtrusive? I feel this is a bit quircky.
7. Proximity sensor - I dont know about you guys, but it took me a while to figure out why, when I am on the phone, the screen kept lighting up on and off. I *think* I figured out that the proximity sensor right next to the ear piece detects if your head is near the phone, and if it is away from it, it will light up the phone. I find this rather annoying, maybe I hold the phone awkwardly, but several times it has lit up while talking and I've accidentally muted etc.
So ya, </rant>
Overall, the phone is nice and a well needed improvement over my previous phone, but I feel there were just a few simple things that samsung could of done to make it a solid release.
What do others think?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Waaaaaaa, I had to work last night and it sucked, When I got home the house was dirty obviously the wife didnt clean... I then proceeded to the bathroom where I stepped in a big turd from my dog, damn. After the turd I went to eat something and found the bread to be stale.. Now all the sudden My car wont start and I dont know whats wrong. On top of that I accidently sharted myself and now Im a Mess.....
Whooo cares, most of those are personal gripes and should have been checked out on the day of launch.. Sorry for my rant.
csmaster2005 said:
What do others think?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I think this should be posted on the Samsung forums rather than XDA. I am pretty sure nobody here can do anything about it and I am also pretty sure that nobody cares if you don't like your phone.
temperbad said:
Waaaaaaa, I had to work last night and it sucked, When I got home the house was dirty obviously the wife didnt clean... I then proceeded to the bathroom where I stepped in a big turd from my dog, damn. After the turd I went to eat something and found the bread to be stale.. Now all the sudden My car wont start and I dont know whats wrong. On top of that I accidently sharted myself and now Im a Mess.....
Whooo cares, most of those are personal gripes and should have been checked out on the day of launch.. Sorry for my rant.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm glad you felt the need to be a complete jerk in your response. Very smooth and professional.
FYI the rant was partially so others (who may want to get the phone) know what issues and downsides I've personally experienced, and partially to see if anyone has any suggestions on ways to imrpove/fix some of my issues.
If you have nothing smart to say next time, it may be best to just keep it to yourself.
temperbad said:
Waaaaaaa, I had to work last night and it sucked, When I got home the house was dirty obviously the wife didnt clean... I then proceeded to the bathroom where I stepped in a big turd from my dog, damn. After the turd I went to eat something and found the bread to be stale.. Now all the sudden My car wont start and I dont know whats wrong. On top of that I accidently sharted myself and now Im a Mess.....
Whooo cares, most of those are personal gripes and should have been checked out on the day of launch.. Sorry for my rant.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
this posting was worth it allow for this fine joke of yours...nice one do you do stand up?
@temperbad - the reason people on this forum will harass you about your post is mainly this:
xda-developers is just that - a DEVELOPERS forum. Most people who want to complain about devices go to forums for those devices that address general discussion. This forum caters to people who "mod" their devices. While many new-comers do come to this forum and are welcomed - it is appreciated if they stay on topics related to app modification/generation, themeing, developing and modifying ROMS and such.
So, while many do get on here and post about other crap - it is only tolerated by those that seriously want to use these forums for the intended purposes.
Your rant about this device will most likely only be heard by those who own the device out of necessity or desire - AND, by people who are already committed to owning the device. THEY DON'T CARE about hearing someone complain about a device they are already committed to!
So, in the future please make these kinds of posts on forums on which people discuss more general topics or cater to the device "generally" instead of on a forum that is dedicated to DEVELOPMENT and MODIFICATION.
I am not attempting to be harsh - however, hopefully, others will read this and will not post topics that are not related to this forum.
MOST OF THE REALLY GREAT DEVELOPERS ARE RAN OFF from Development forums because of all the off topic comments. We hope that one day this will stop.... But, I am beginning to feel like all hope is lost...
@shaneaus - yes, I understand that, but I did post in the GENERAL section. Also, I understand this is a developer forum. I'm a developer myself and have trolled the forums for a few years, and there are some development solutions to the problems I mentioned (like notifications) etc...
Thanks for the thoughtful response though.
Every phone has it's shortcomings
Return it or whine about it
At this point I would suggest you move on
wait for the froyo update and some of your issues may be resolved.
Sent from my Samsung Vibrant using XDA App
Are you people serious? You don't know how a Proximity sensor works on these phones? "Bloatware" as if T-Mobile hid it from you and has SO much of it on this phone? "Photo review, a feature that YOU CAN TURN OFF IN THE CAMERA SETTINGS?!" "PS isn't there an app that will tell me what is using the most battery" - Wow. Just wow. And you call this a "rant"? Maybe you should consult the owners manual before creating threads like this.
You knew or should've known that there is no LED Notification light on this phone. If you're trying to tell me that the battery life is worse on this phone than the G1 you're doing something seriously wrong.
heygrl said:
Are you people serious? You don't know how a Proximity sensor works on these phones? "Bloatware" as if T-Mobile hid it from you and has SO much of it on this phone? "Photo review, a feature that YOU CAN TURN OFF IN THE CAMERA SETTINGS?!" "PS isn't there an app that will tell me what is using the most battery" - Wow. Just wow. And you call this a "rant"? Maybe you should consult the owners manual before creating threads like this.
You knew or should've known that there is no LED Notification light on this phone. If you're trying to tell me that the battery life is worse on this phone than the G1 you're doing something seriously wrong.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Amen brother!
jrwingate6 said:
Amen brother!
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Click to collapse
Yes yes.. So true... I stand by my first post with pride.....

Slow X, looking for info and/or advice

My X has been running slow and a little funny. I have froyo 2.3.15, with FlyX Rom, Revolution Themes, LauncherPro Plus, and Beautiful Widgets all running. Revolution was the last thing I added about a week ago and ever since then, it seems to be running different. Its slower to react, doesn't change from portrait to landscape very fast, whenever I unlock the screen, if I'm holding it straight up and down, it always opens into landscape mode. This seems like a pretty standard setup to a lot of people on here. Any advice and info on this topic would be appreciated, or just conversation about what others are running similar or different. Thanks a lot!
(also, I ran quadrant benchmark with scores between 1440 and 1495)
brandon2x said:
My X has been running slow and a little funny. I have froyo 2.3.15, with FlyX Rom, Revolution Themes, LauncherPro Plus, and Beautiful Widgets all running. Revolution was the last thing I added about a week ago and ever since then, it seems to be running different. Its slower to react, doesn't change from portrait to landscape very fast, whenever I unlock the screen, if I'm holding it straight up and down, it always opens into landscape mode. This seems like a pretty standard setup to a lot of people on here. Any advice and info on this topic would be appreciated, or just conversation about what others are running similar or different. Thanks a lot!
(also, I ran quadrant benchmark with scores between 1440 and 1495)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I cannot recall whether or not FlyX includes the build.prop modifications or not, if not you would definitely want to make those. Other than that the only other thing I would recommend is giving MinFreeManager a shot, it changes the "low memory" requirements for the built in memory manager (task manager) of android. If configured properly it can really make a difference in both battery life and performance (not speed, but responsiveness). It does not do it for you, it lets you set the fields, so learn how to do it first, it varies depending on your use of your phone, I don't run any facebook or other streaming applications so my settings are 6,8,16,60,60,150 but this could vary greatly, and may adversely affect others, so read up on the app in the market.
Again that app will improve responsiveness, in that it will give you less delay when swyping the screen in the UI and such, in that your phone does not have to kill a task to free up memory to complete the next task, it will not improve benchmarks, at the same time, poor memory management will give you poor performance in real world use but may not affect your benchmarks, another reason that benchmarks are poor ways of measuring performance.
Outside of that, what it really comes down to is our Android systems need hardware acceleration... Google really needs to get of there... well... you know... and get with the game here, based off the recent discussion and their advisement to manufacturers to hold of the release of tablets until the next android release, I am hoping they are currently implementing it, but without GPU hardware acceleration in the UI and web browser, we will constantly have the appearance of choppiness and the illusion of poor performance even on our overqualified phones... it is one area where I am sad to say the iPhone has us beat... very sad to say... as a matter of fact, I just washed my mouth out with a bit of soap...
EDIT: a good example of how well that application worked for me over actual "tasks killers" on the market such as task killer and such... before having this app installed and configured, a quick investigation of "settings, applications, running services" and viewing the available memory, it would display "Avail:16MB+98MB in ##" after having this app and having it configured it displays "Avail:72MB+116MB in 26" I am assuming my poor UI responsiveness was due to the first of the two numbers...
Yeah I always hate to say that about iPhones too but they do seem to keep the same speed and responsiveness ALL the time... Oh well, they've been around a little longer so Android will just have to keep working on it. I believe it'll be there soon. I will try that app you recommended. I appreciate the speedy response.
brandon2x said:
Yeah I always hate to say that about iPhones too but they do seem to keep the same speed and responsiveness ALL the time... Oh well, they've been around a little longer so Android will just have to keep working on it. I believe it'll be there soon. I will try that app you recommended. I appreciate the speedy response.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
no problem, yeah, the iPhone has had GPU hardware acceleration in the UI since it came out, they structured their OS around it, Google chose otherwise, and I can only hope they regret that decision now... but hopefully they will make amends for that...
just make sure you read the post referenced in the app itself. It is written for the HTC Hero which only has 288MB of Ram as opposed to our 512MB Ram, but it still basically applies.
Keep in mind:
It does not automatically set on reboot until you tell it to, do not tell it to until you are sure the settings you have set do not mess with anything.
You probably will not notice a difference for about an hour... at least that's how long it took for me to truly notice a difference... I'm not really sure why, it apparently took that long for the priorities to take affect, and get the right processes killed, etc., etc. After that, especially later that day I was truly noticing a difference, especially in typing... I have always had a delay when typing on this phone, and that seems to be gone now...
yeah i was guessing that. i read an article at androidcentral.com about it and just set it to aggressive for now. applied it, but the specs under "running services" haven't changed so i'll give it an hour or so. i'll let you know how it turns out. thanks again!
brandon2x said:
yeah i was guessing that. i read an article at androidcentral.com about it and just set it to aggressive for now. applied it, but the specs under "running services" haven't changed so i'll give it an hour or so. i'll let you know how it turns out. thanks again!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sounds good, your welcome and good luck!
If those settings work out for you without any problems, you'll probably want to up them a bit, it might say aggressive, but they are only so aggressive... If it makes a big difference for you then stick with them, if you still have slow down, and you are running what you described before, you can probably get away running settings similar to what I posted, just don't have them set on boot just in case, if they don't work out you can always set them lower or back to a preset. It is definitely something you can expiriment with, if worst comes to worst, you can always reboot, but as long as you don't touch the first 4 values, you won't mess anything up, the worst that you will do with the last 2 is temporarly screw up facebook sync. or something similar, and really you can get away with changing the 4th value to, it just has a chance of affecting more things, but I doubt you'll end up affecting anything with values around 50 anyway. Like I said, experimenting never hurts, slow phones do... Just keep an eye on it ;-) good luck again.
To add a little correction.if you are running fly x then you are not running 2.3.15 you are running the earlier related release it Is based on. Even if you did have2.3.15 before installing it fly x over writes the system to the files it uses. All roms do. Do you actually have like 2.3.9 I think
Sent from my DROIDX using XDA App
It does say 2.3.9. I inquired about this before because I used teamblackhat to get .15 and the system never seemed to change to .15 every time I tried to download it... I guess that's why, because of flyx...
Sent from my DROIDX using XDA App
After reading Captian Taco's post I was eager to try it out, and its actually making a big difference =D thanks!
Yes it is... its been running much smoother and more responsive all day. Thanks again captaintaco... (boy thats kinda funny to type...)
Sent from my DROIDX using XDA App
Thanks CaptainTaco! Installed MFM to clear up my "lag" issues that are usually experienced in the evenings after a reset first thing in the a.m. each day. Before MFM it wasn't a huge deal to do a reset to clear up the issue, but I much prefer it to just work right all the time.
pduboise said:
Thanks CaptainTaco! Installed MFM to clear up my "lag" issues that are usually experienced in the evenings after a reset first thing in the a.m. each day. Before MFM it wasn't a huge deal to do a reset to clear up the issue, but I much prefer it to just work right all the time.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hey don't thank me, thank the creator of MFM, I'm pretty sure he was one of the first to discover the power of Androids integrated minimum memory management, if not the first. Just glad to share my discovery of his discovery haha. But yea, to be honest I don't even use a custom Rom anymore, it runs so quick just having that (thought it works even better in conjunction with your standard simplistic task killer such as "advanced task killer" just to kill apps in the foreground after you are done with them, since many apps don't include a way of closing themselves out...
I still try the custom Roms out and play around with them for the hell of it, but as for right now, I rely heavily on corporate integration, and most of the good blurless Roms remove features required for true and proper corporate sync, such as calender sync and the like... and I just don't like touchdown pro... So this helps me out greatly... remove some bloat, throw launcher pro on there, and get this fix fired up, phone runs like a dream... now if only they could get exchange active sync running like it was on Sense... best implementation I have seen of Exchange active sync so far... I do miss that...
Well after all the advice I ended up installing the zapx rom last night. Wow! It is sooo fast... everything just responds and reacts so much faster than before. I suggest installing zapx to anyone. Best rom so far I think...
Sent from my DROIDX using XDA App

A few reasons why this phone is a fail for converting iPhone users

A work colleague came and asked me to explain a few things about her new S3 today, since she knows I have one and she upgraded to it after having a little look at mine last week. She had an iPhone before.
1. Play Store default setting is to dump app icons all over your homescreens - she had about 30 icons dotted across her home screens, and she couldn't understand why they were duplicated there and in her app drawer.
2. The Touchwiz launcher default is not to alphabetically organise your apps, and she said she had a hard time finding each app when she wanted to use it
3. Some of the cool features are not turned on by default, and are buried in menus which a novice user is not going to find. Case in point, voice control of apps is under Settings in S Voice. First off there is no indication that Settings is even there unless you know to pres the menu button (not intuitive at all). If these features were turned on in the first place then the popup notifications you get when using the apps would've told her about their existence, and hence she could've been using them on her own.
4. Disabling built in apps - first off she had no idea that it could be done, she just knew that she couldn't uninstall them via Play Store like her downloaded apps, and there lots she wanted rid of. When I showed her the Applications Manager this caused confusion on three counts:
A) why is there two places to get rid of/disable apps,
B) why do you have to uninstall updates to some built in apps before the disable button is shown,
C) she didn't feel comfortable messing around in a menu which clearly has essential system apps with weird (to a novice) names such as Certificate Installer, Factory Test, Security Storage and com.android.smspush
5. She didn't really understand what a Widget was and why there was a list of them at the end of her app drawer, and how to use them. I can't remember whether the setup wizard covers widgets or not, but suffice to say if it did then she had not understood it, and dismissed it. She was scrolling to the end of the apps into her widgets and saying "I don't understand these funny looking apps - they don't do anything when I press them"... She did not see the tab at the top which detotes the difference between apps and widgets, and there is no other indication when you get into the widgets.
6. She says the battery life is not good compared to her old iPhone. After having a quick look at her Battery stats (unplugged after full charge, 7.5hrs off the charger 1.5hrs screen on time, 25% battery left) there was nothing in particular acting up, however her cell reception was burning a lot of the battery. She said that her reception (measured by the number of bars - I know, I know!) was not as good as her iPhone. So the 2 issues here are that her battery is objectively not as good, and her reception is subjectively not as good as her old iPhone.
7. She does like the camera, but was unaware of features such as panorama and shooting stills whilst recording video (and I'll mention again, the possibility of voice control). However she WAS aware that the new iPhone does these things (minus the voice control).
8. She didn't understand why she needed multiple accounts for things, Google, Samsung, Dropbox - she was unaware of what these accounts were even used for, and she thought it confusing to have them all on her phone. I didn't check, but it wouldn't surprise me if she was saving all her contacts to her phone rather than her Google account and thus negating a large benefit of having an Android phone.
All these things are minor to the likes of us who are used to Android, but she felt confused and out of her depth with the phone. I tried to show her stuff and reassure her, and she has said she will give it a few more days - but she isn't comfortable with it and may return it for another iPhone...
Admittedly she is not a techie sort of person, but I do feel that Samsung (and Google) could do a bit more to simplify things for the likes of her, because ultimately they are competing against Apple the masters of simple and making people feel at home with their devices.
My discussion with her has really opened my eyes as to why so many people love the iPhone, despite it being inferior in many ways to the S3. I guess you can sell a Ferrari at Ford prices, but not everyone has the skills to drive and park such a machine...
Opinions?
Literally dude I am surprised you wrote this long problem stats. First half of the things you asked are solved in settings for ex. your first problem is solved in playstore settings and similarly same with touchwiz go in menu press option button and u get grid view choose your type and your many other problems would be solved by reading whats written in plain english and smart phones are to bug around and learn about it not to keep in showcase
Nikhil'Da Devil said:
How did you last this long on this forum...................head bang
Literally dude I am surprised you wrote this long problem stats. First half of the things you asked are solved i settings for ex. your first problem is solved in playstore settings and similarly same with touchwiz go in menu prss option button and u get grid view choose your type and your many other problems would be solved by reading whats written in plain english
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That's ironic, because you clearly didn't read the beginning of his post.
For point 1, you can disable the shortcut creation in the home screen so that it will create only in the app drawer.
I expect Google having its own findmylostphone service..... Samsung drive is useless.
The one big issue that I see in S3 is the lag that is in the home screen after returning back from another app. Samsung was pathetic there. Also inside the. App drawer lags inside the widgets tab. Even though S3 is a power horse Samsung has failed in many places....
No phone is perfect to fulfil everyone's need but the features that are released shouldn't be as half baked as the TW home screen. Disappointed.
Sent from my GT-I9300 using xda premium
Well you typed an essay...
Sent from my epic amaze 4g
The only thing that this post proves is that most people are stupid and don't take the time to learn things that they use everyday. Why have a smartphone of u don't take the time to learn how to use it?
Sent from my SPH-D710 using Tapatalk 2
Get her to go Windows. It's just two rows but more customization than IOS.
What Samsung should do is make a Galaxy S4 and a Galaxy SW. Make the hardware exactly the same but market the S4 to intermediate to advance user and market the SW with Windows Phone 9 to beginner to intermediate users.
The reason I say that this is how they should approach it is because Android is like what you described inherently. It gives you a lot of ways to do things from every screen. Samsung can't really dumb it down anymore or there is no point using Android. So Windows for beginners is how Samsung should approach it but instead of fragmenting their market just call the next Ativ S a Galaxy SW and watch the money come in from the beginners.
IPhone for girls and soccer moms. Android is for advanced users. I understand what you're getting at.
Sent from my GT-I9300 using Tapatalk 2
I have a couple of friends who got the S3 just about the same time as myself. They both were ex iphone users and were both using BB torch prior to the S3. After a month, I was quite familiar with all the functions such as smart stay, direct call, swipe capture... etc. They were quite surprised that those features existed when i showed them, despite the fact there are pop up tutorials when you first use the phone. That's how i knew those features existed.
I dont think i'm any smarter than the average person, I think they are just too lazy and can't be bothered. Or maybe they are just living life and not sitting down with a computer, hitting the refresh button to see if the link to the latest JB leak have been posted up.
Nikhil'Da Devil said:
How did you last this long on this forum...................head bang
Literally dude I am surprised you wrote this long problem stats. First half of the things you asked are solved in settings for ex. your first problem is solved in playstore settings and similarly same with touchwiz go in menu press option button and u get grid view choose your type and your many other problems would be solved by reading whats written in plain english
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You apparently have a reading comprehension disability. He was pointing out that these things are not as obvious to others as they are to us, as in the case of his colleague.
This has been obvious to me since I first got an android. I have had no issues, though I have missed some options till reading about them a time or two or just forgot where they were.
That's why there will always be a need for the iPhone, for those who cannot figure **** out on their own.
Sent from my GT-I9300 using xda premium
I m gs3 USEr and GS3 is really failed phone bcoz....
wt the hell this time apple really make awesome work look at the picture...
http://mediacdn.disqus.com/uploads/mediaembed/images/344/6674/original.jpg
lol hahahaha
setspeed said:
A work colleague came and asked me to explain a few things about her new S3 today, since she knows I have one and she upgraded to it after having a little look at mine last week. She had an iPhone before.
1. Play Store default setting is to dump app icons all over your homescreens - she had about 30 icons dotted across her home screens, and she couldn't understand why they were duplicated there and in her app drawer.
2. The Touchwiz launcher default is not to alphabetically organise your apps, and she said she had a hard time finding each app when she wanted to use it
3. Some of the cool features are not turned on by default, and are buried in menus which a novice user is not going to find. Case in point, voice control of apps is under Settings in S Voice. First off there is no indication that Settings is even there unless you know to pres the menu button (not intuitive at all). If these features were turned on in the first place then the popup notifications you get when using the apps would've told her about their existence, and hence she could've been using them on her own.
4. Disabling built in apps - first off she had no idea that it could be done, she just knew that she couldn't uninstall them via Play Store like her downloaded apps, and there lots she wanted rid of. When I showed her the Applications Manager this caused confusion on three counts:
A) why is there two places to get rid of/disable apps,
B) why do you have to uninstall updates to some built in apps before the disable button is shown,
C) she didn't feel comfortable messing around in a menu which clearly has essential system apps with weird (to a novice) names such as Certificate Installer, Factory Test, Security Storage and com.android.smspush
5. She didn't really understand what a Widget was and why there was a list of them at the end of her app drawer, and how to use them. I can't remember whether the setup wizard covers widgets or not, but suffice to say if it did then she had not understood it, and dismissed it. She was scrolling to the end of the apps into her widgets and saying "I don't understand these funny looking apps - they don't do anything when I press them"... She did not see the tab at the top which detotes the difference between apps and widgets, and there is no other indication when you get into the widgets.
6. She says the battery life is not good compared to her old iPhone. After having a quick look at her Battery stats (unplugged after full charge, 7.5hrs off the charger 1.5hrs screen on time, 25% battery left) there was nothing in particular acting up, however her cell reception was burning a lot of the battery. She said that her reception (measured by the number of bars - I know, I know!) was not as good as her iPhone. So the 2 issues here are that her battery is objectively not as good, and her reception is subjectively not as good as her old iPhone.
7. She does like the camera, but was unaware of features such as panorama and shooting stills whilst recording video (and I'll mention again, the possibility of voice control). However she WAS aware that the new iPhone does these things (minus the voice control).
8. She didn't understand why she needed multiple accounts for things, Google, Samsung, Dropbox - she was unaware of what these accounts were even used for, and she thought it confusing to have them all on her phone. I didn't check, but it wouldn't surprise me if she was saving all her contacts to her phone rather than her Google account and thus negating a large benefit of having an Android phone.
All these things are minor to the likes of us who are used to Android, but she felt confused and out of her depth with the phone. I tried to show her stuff and reassure her, and she has said she will give it a few more days - but she isn't comfortable with it and may return it for another iPhone...
Admittedly she is not a techie sort of person, but I do feel that Samsung (and Google) could do a bit more to simplify things for the likes of her, because ultimately they are competing against Apple the masters of simple and making people feel at home with their devices.
My discussion with her has really opened my eyes as to why so many people love the iPhone, despite it being inferior in many ways to the S3. I guess you can sell a Ferrari at Ford prices, but not everyone has the skills to drive and park such a machine...
Opinions?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
help her see the light, guide her.
2ndaccord said:
The only thing that this post proves is that most people are stupid and don't take the time to learn things that they use everyday. Why have a smartphone of u don't take the time to learn how to use it?
Sent from my SPH-D710 using Tapatalk 2
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That's the reason most people don't like android phones. They find it complicated. Those who know something about technology and open source or wants more from their phone they switch to android.
Sent from my GT-I9300 using xda premium
I can't understand the reason of this thread, most of the "problems" are just caused by the inexperience. Logically android it's not iOS and i don't get why she spent her money in a phone that don't wanna learn to use
Inviato dal mio GT-I9300 con Tapatalk 2
Thank you for your replies regarding on how to "fix" her issues, perhaps I didn't make it clear enough - I was able to sort all of her issues out for her as I am well versed with Android. The point is that many of her issues require digging down into menus that a novice could not know existed, or they are issues caused by thoughtless defaults on the part of the manufacturer.
Many people (iPhone users especially I think) pick up a device and learn how it works by using it, they don't want or have time to read manuals or dig through settings menus trying to guess what might or might not be in there. For instance my colleague couldn't make the mental link between installing a new app and having it appear in two different places (seemingly randomly arranged, because it would just go to the first empty space on her home screen, and her app drawer was not alphabetically organised).
If she couldn't make that mental stretch, how would you then expect her to think "Ah, this behaviour might be adjustable - where would I adjust it? Oh of course, in the Play Store settings, where if I press the Menu button (with no indicator that there is a menu underneath that button on that screen) and de-tick auto-add widgets"
And they aren't even widgets, they're app icons! So even if she had got there by some stroke of luck, she probably wouldn't have understood it anyway, because widgets are something else!
My point is that Android and Samsung have a long way to go in the usability stakes for novices.
Nosterius said:
I can't understand the reason of this thread, most of the "problems" are just caused by the inexperience. Logically android it's not iOS and i don't get why she spent her money in a phone that don't wanna learn to use
Inviato dal mio GT-I9300 con Tapatalk 2
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
She got the phone because she was impressed with it's physical characteristics, big screen & nice camera. But using it has been far more difficult for her than her old phone, and hence she doesn't feel comfortable with it unfortunately.
Man I gave up long ago trying to convert iPhone users.
I tried to convert 3 at my work, and all 3 times it backfired on me. They could not grasp Android after using iOS for so long and you become the ASSHOLE that ruins their life. iOS is a perfect operating system for most people, you don't really have to think much to use it. It's just so beautifully easy to use and intuitive that you could just pick it up and master it within 10 minutes.
On that note, I could NEVER EVER go back to iOS, ever. When I use an iOS device, it feels like I'm using a phone. When I use my Android device, it feels like I'm using a computer.
So basically OP, she doesn't know how to use the phone yet?
Why the hell did she buy a phone thinking she would instantly know how to use it?
Sent from my GT-I9300 using xda premium
---------- Post added at 03:24 AM ---------- Previous post was at 03:23 AM ----------
Dan37tz said:
On that note, I could NEVER EVER go back to iOS, ever. When I use an iOS device, it feels like I'm using a phone. When I use my Android device, it feels like I'm using a computer.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That's exactly how it is!
Sent from my GT-I9300 using xda premium
setspeed said:
Thank you for your replies regarding on how to "fix" her issues, perhaps I didn't make it clear enough - I was able to sort all of her issues out for her as I am well versed with Android. The point is that many of her issues require digging down into menus that a novice could not know existed, or they are issues caused by thoughtless defaults on the part of the manufacturer.
Many people (iPhone users especially I think) pick up a device and learn how it works by using it, they don't want or have time to read manuals or dig through settings menus trying to guess what might or might not be in there. For instance my colleague couldn't make the mental link between installing a new app and having it appear in two different places (seemingly randomly arranged, because it would just go to the first empty space on her home screen, and her app drawer was not alphabetically organised).
If she couldn't make that mental stretch, how would you then expect her to think "Ah, this behaviour might be adjustable - where would I adjust it? Oh of course, in the Play Store settings, where if I press the Menu button (with no indicator that there is a menu underneath that button on that screen) and de-tick auto-add widgets"
And they aren't even widgets, they're app icons! So even if she had got there by some stroke of luck, she probably wouldn't have understood it anyway, because widgets are something else!
My point is that Android and Samsung have a long way to go in the usability stakes for novices.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I edited my reply with more thoughts. Basically, I don't see Android going that route of simplifying because that is just not in the Android genetics. All android manufacturers should follow HTC and Samsung and make idiot proof Window phones to supplement their advance android devices. Because let's face it, if they dumb down Android some more most of us are gone once we get bored of Jelly Bean. No one here wants Android 4.2 to be simple like IOS.
Don't understand it either. I jumped on a Mac the other day and was lost in iOS. Problem IMHO Mac holds your hand does it for you, whether you like it or not.
Android, less hand holding and many ways to do the same task. Can see that being confusing. It's like a prisoner being let free, all those new options are so confusing.
Like comparing a new Honda with automatic everything. To a Ferrari or Porsche that surrounds you with options of how you want everything to operate.
As I say in IT, to most plebes RTFM.
Sent from my GT-I9300 using xda app-developers app

[Q] [App][2.3+] thesaurus word map - is my app really that bad it gets < 30 downloads

[Q] [App][2.3+] thesaurus word map - is my app really that bad it gets < 30 downloads
Heres the link https:// play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.valeonom.wordmap
I'm working on a cool way to do a dictionary in the app along with it being a thesaurus in it's current design. But with less than 30 downloads I feel like I want to do something else. When I first thought of the idea I thought of how cool it was all the way to finishing the app. And still think it's cool. Is the app bad? or is there something else that I'm missing for the so low downloads? Or maybe I just have too high of expectations?
Thank you
over_optimistic said:
Heres the link https:// play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.valeonom.wordmap
I'm working on a cool way to do a dictionary in the app along with it being a thesaurus in it's current design. But with less than 30 downloads I feel like I want to do something else. When I first thought of the idea I thought of how cool it was all the way to finishing the app. And still think it's cool. Is the app bad? or is there something else that I'm missing for the so low downloads? Or maybe I just have too high of expectations?
Thank you
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
So apparently since this post 2 days ago you've grown to over 1000 downloads! Any tips on where you've been advertising?
Edit: Your app description looks a little short on words so it probably doesn't perform amazingly in the search results. Buffing out your description with keywords while avoiding looking too obvious will probably help boost your download count considerably.
dentedent said:
So apparently since this post 2 days ago you've grown to over 1000 downloads! Any tips on where you've been advertising?
Edit: Your app description looks a little short on words so it probably doesn't perform amazingly in the search results. Buffing out your description with keywords while avoiding looking too obvious will probably help boost your download count considerably.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
My app isn't new, its been around for almost 1 year. It had accumulated all those downloads very slowly. And the description, I played around with all sorts of different descriptions for a few weeks. Even playing around with the name of the app. No matter what I set as the description, or title it had no effect on downloads. If you looked at the download stats, you wouldn't be able to tell when any of the changes have occurred. I tried having creative descriptions like poetry. No effect.
I tried blasting the description with keywords and that didn't do anything either. Interestingly crappy descriptions does not negatively effect my downloads. I'm curious what will happen if I give my app a crappy name will it negatively effect downloads? So far everything pretty much didn't effect downloads in any way (positive or negative).
I'm thinking what will happen if I rename my app to be called "A" and description "A". haha. Like I doubt there will be a negative effect. I've been reading alot on marketing, and really this app is my "marketing experiment" as to me it seams very good to experiment with, and it's not a bad app. All experiments I mentioned in this post I let it collect data for minimum 7 days before trying the next thing. The fact that all of this does not change downloads, even changing the icon to a nicer looking one had no effect, really boggles me. Even more stranger no negative effects from crappy descriptions.
What you just did is called A/B Testing
First of all Congratulations on getting 1000 downloads. But I guess the thread should be useful for others still struggling with getting good downloads.
So here's the thing, 'trying out crappy titles', playing around with different descriptions and other such experiments are actually good for understanding the best trend but it might have serious repercussions. What you need to do is try A/B Testing where you still get to try these weird changes but on a much smaller scale. Of course you can only do these changes inside the app, but trust me that works.
And as for the problem at hand, you lacking a good marketing plan, here's one for you..
1. Before app release
2. During app release
3. After app release

Getting frustrated with poor performance

I see others are having issues with the phone being sluggish and freezing - requiring a forced restart. I've had these issues since day one, but the phone is just so damn beautiful to stop using.
I've tried everything I have seen on this site including factory resets and manually adding apps back in (in lieu of restoring from Google). Still happens.
I've been emailing back and forth with Essential customer service, and while they're responsive, I'm getting frustrated.
They asked me to use it in Safe Mode for a couple days, and I had no issues. So they concluded it's an app causing the problem. So they want me to do another factory reset, and then add apps back one at a time for a few days to see if I can pinpoint which app(s) are causing the issue. I have 100+ apps on the phone - this will take months to do!
My comment to them (that they didn't appreciate) is that if they want to compete with the flagship phones of other OEM's the phone should be able to handle any app you you throw at is, and I have no issues with my ZTE Axon 7 running the exact same apps.
Am I off base here? Any other suggestions?
fungo45 said:
I see others are having issues with the phone being sluggish and freezing - requiring a forced restart. I've had these issues since say one, but the phone is just so damn beautiful to stop using.
I've tried everything I have seen on this site including factory resets and manually adding apps back in (in lieu of restoring from Google). Still happens.
I've been emailing back and forth with Essential customer service, and while they're responsive, I'm getting frustrated.
They asked me to use it in Safe Mode for a couple days, and I had no issues. So they concluded it's an app causing the problem. So they want me to do another factory reset, and then add apps back one at a time for a few days to see if I can pinpoint which app(s) are causing the issue. I have 100+ apps on the phone - this will take months to do!
My comment to them (that they didn't appreciate) is that if they want to compete with the flagship phones of other OEM's the phone should be able to handle any app you you throw at is, and I have no issues with my ZTE Axon 7 running the exact same apps.
Am I off base here? Any other suggestions?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You are off base.
There are apps that can cause issues and no manufacturer can guarantee the performance of their device with any and all apps in the PlayStore.
There are apps that have memory leaks, wake events, etc. and there is no way for them to contain any/all errant apps, nor should they.
I suggest Greenify to look at app behavior and see what isn't sleeping and taking resources.
You can also look at the battery stats and see what app is burning battery.
Social media apps are typically bad.
Things like Pet Rescue and Candy Crush can also cause issues.
Make sure you limit which apps can do notifications and limit those to SMS and email apps.
Good luck.
I would highly recommend testing the Oreo 8.1 beta. HUGE performance improvement
I've been running N 7.1.1 since I got the phone 2 weeks ago and the performance has been stellar, scrolling is smooth and fast, no freezes at all, after reading the issues with 8.1 beta (battery drain, wifi etc.) I'm in no rush to upgrade....
I am on 7.1.1, came here after searching google seeing if they'll ever do this android Oreo Update. I have some phantom touches on my touchscreen. Thank god this phone was cheap. That S9 keeps looking better and better.
tech_head said:
You are off base.
There are apps that can cause issues and no manufacturer can guarantee the performance of their device with any and all apps in the PlayStore.
There are apps that have memory leaks, wake events, etc. and there is no way for them to contain any/all errant apps, nor should they.
I suggest Greenify to look at app behavior and see what isn't sleeping and taking resources.
You can also look at the battery stats and see what app is burning battery.
Social media apps are typically bad.
Things like Pet Rescue and Candy Crush can also cause issues.
Make sure you limit which apps can do notifications and limit those to SMS and email apps.
Good luck.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for your honesty. I'm giving greenify a shot though I still think a phone like this should not need something like this.
Sent from my PH-1 using Tapatalk
InfDaMarvel said:
I am on 7.1.1, came here after searching google seeing if they'll ever do this android Oreo Update. I have some phantom touches on my touchscreen. Thank god this phone was cheap. That S9 keeps looking better and better.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
yes the Samsung will be issue free? dream on! no phone is issue free. I really like the essential and they are right you have to locate the bad app yourself.
because the open structure of android. app builders can really destroy the user experience on your phone.
if you don't want that? buy an iPhone.
for sure the app will destroy the performance of an s9 as well!
herwarth said:
yes the Samsung will be issue free? dream on! no phone is issue free. I really like the essential and they are right you have to locate the bad app yourself.
because the open structure of android. app builders can really destroy the user experience on your phone.
if you don't want that? buy an iPhone.
for sure the app will destroy the performance of an s9 as well!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The touchscreen issue is related to hardware from what I can see and have read. Performance issues for me are related to memory management and the fact that I use a lot of memory hogging applications. Don't get me wrong just because your experience has been stellar the. I think it's a cool phone. Just not good enough for me to continue using it for another year. The Samsung...I specifically said the S9 because of extra ram and its top of the line screen. Which you can deny if you want but it's true. Best in class screen. They even make the iPhones screen. This phone was cheap so it was worth it for me because I enjoy tech regardless of the flaws. Just need that official oreo update!
InfDaMarvel said:
The touchscreen issue is related to hardware from what I can see and have read. Performance issues for me are related to memory management and the fact that I use a lot of memory hogging applications. Don't get me wrong just because your experience has been stellar the. I think it's a cool phone. Just not good enough for me to continue using it for another year. The Samsung...I specifically said the S9 because of extra ram and its top of the line screen. Which you can deny if you want but it's true. Best in class screen. They even make the iPhones screen. This phone was cheap so it was worth it for me because I enjoy tech regardless of the flaws. Just need that official oreo update!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
S9 is also 4 Gig RAM just like our PH-1, no extra RAM...
Jostian said:
S9 is also 4 Gig RAM just like our PH-1, no extra RAM...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
S9+ to be exact
InfDaMarvel said:
S9+ to be exact
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yip S9+
Sent from my PH-1 using Tapatalk
---------- Post added at 02:53 PM ---------- Previous post was at 02:50 PM ----------
look I had the S8 and it was stellar, but was looking for some cash so sold my S8 for $620 and bought the PH-1 for $450, and I'm really impressed so far, ok sure I dont to rocket science etc on the phone so I'm a pretty light user, but on 7.1.1 its been superb since day 1, smooth, snappy and better battery than the S8.
Agreed with all above. Apps are the issue for any phone. I have a zoo of different makes & models. to compare. Social bs apps are the worst. Even google's own are bad enough. Just do a quick search on ""worst apps for draining battery" and start cleaning your phone.
PH-1 Oreo 8.1 power drain is almost nothing comparing to the rest of the 'stable' world. If you don't like to experiment, stay on stable 7.1 until 8.1 is released.
fungo45 said:
Thanks for your honesty. I'm giving greenify a shot though I still think a phone like this should not need something like this.
Sent from my PH-1 using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Started using Greenify, but to work as intended, it requires you to set it as a Device Admin. When doing this, it disables the fingerprint sensor.
alkanaft said:
Agreed with all above. Apps are the issue for any phone. I have a zoo of different makes & models. to compare. Social bs apps are the worst. Even google's own are bad enough. Just do a quick search on ""worst apps for draining battery" and start cleaning your phone.
PH-1 Oreo 8.1 power drain is almost nothing comparing to the rest of the 'stable' world. If you don't like to experiment, stay on stable 7.1 until 8.1 is released.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes, am in no rush to go to Oreo as 7.1.1 is so solid for me
Sent from my PH-1 using Tapatalk
why not wait for the oneplus 6? all oneplus phones have tons of memory?
jusegozu said:
I would highly recommend testing the Oreo 8.1 beta. HUGE performance improvement
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ditto here.My 7.1.1 was acting up.Oreo has been butter.Some nice tweaks built in as well.Pic in Pic is cool and useful.As is the floating dialer.
herwarth said:
why not wait for the oneplus 6? all oneplus phones have tons of memory?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'd say that RAM is not an issue here. The software causes phone performance to degrade. 8.1 works fine for me. Hardware itself in PH-1 is awesome. And price tag beats OnePlus and many others. ??
So far, the Oreo OTA update has been great. No issues like I had on Nougat. Hope this remains.

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