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Created December 12, 2012 18:06
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I'm torn...
I'm torn…
Whether to add features to a shipping app as a result of customer
feature requests is always an interesting one. I am certainly not a
fan of blindly adding every requested feature to an application but
I am definitely not one to completely ignore feedback from our wise
(and attractive) users.
You might have guessed that this is not a theoretical problem I am
talking about so let's talk specifics.
When we released Status Magic the most common feature request was one
that we did consider during development but rejected. People want to
be able to add custom carrier text on the status bar. The reasons
given for wanting this mainly boiled down to them wanting to put their
company name or similar as the carrier.
My big problem with this is that the original point of the app was to
clean up status bars and draw the user away from the top of the screen
and into the app itself and I think any carrier text at all is against
that original goal.
The problem with that last sentence however is where I said "original
point of the app". When we first had the idea, we didn't even consider
that it might end up being be useful for non-developers but I know
it's now being used by bloggers, journalists and authors as well as
developers. Turns out that it didn't need any changes to be useful in
those situations but if I only ever considered the "original point of
the app" and not what it's actually being used for then I am sure it
would eventually suffer for it.
The problem is, if we do add it it's almost like we are endorsing
using it to add your company name as a carrier on your App Store
screenshots and I really don't like that. I even toyed with the idea
of having the feature but showing a warning not to use it ;) (Don't
worry, I'm not going to do that).
We just finished up a new point release and it doesn't include this
feature but I am really torn as to whether that was a mistake or
whether we should add it in a future version.
I would really appreciate some input on the plusses and minuses of
this specific feature this so please comment or tweet me @daveverwer
with thoughts… I would really appreciate the help!
@daveverwer
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Just one more thing, this is not a technical issue at all. This would be a pretty trivial feature to add.

@leearmstrong
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Hmmm, I agree with you but if you include it people don’t have to use it?

@daveverwer
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But they will... :)

@Krishna
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Krishna commented Dec 12, 2012

Hi Dave,

I understand your reluctance to add the feature.

But I think you are trying to take on a responsibility which is not, and should not, be yours. Policing the App Store, and preventing abuses of the various polices of it, is Apple's responsibility.

Adding the feature will make some of your customers happy. Maybe it will lead to some interesting uses for the app. Someone might even come up with some witty and effective way to market their app in the store using it.

So whilst I understand your reluctance on this feature, I'd opt for customer happiness over trying to enforce good taste or good practice.

Krishna

@paulofierro
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Ignoring the fact that it may or may not be allowed by Apple's policies, it could be useful for screenshots posted on the web, as part of a portfolio or otherwise.

If anything its a simple way of "watermarking" a screenshot. I uploaded an image to my blog while the "maps debacle" was unfolding which ended up on Wired, CNET, Huffington Post with no attribution. A simple watermark like this could have been nice.

So clearly I vote yes, but I'm sure it could be scripted in Photoshop too.

@aaronwardle
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Sounds like it would be worthwhile to add the feature in, it sounds like there could be demand for it also.

The other thing to consider is if you don't lead first with a feature will someone else come along with that?

Aaron

@jasongregori
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I understand not wanting to be "the guy who made this happen" but I don't think it will be that bad. The type of people who will do this are making the type of apps that are doing other stupid stuff like that already. So you won't really be making their app store pages any worse. And great dev shops won't do it.

The one guy I would be worried about is the great developer who works at a big company and the biz guy finds out about this. We should tell that great developer to use Status Magic but never tell the biz guy about it :)

@robelkin
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I don't think you should avoid putting in a feature just because there is a small percentage of people who would abuse it. If it makes people happy to have it there, then have it, and the people that abuse it will be the ones judged on what they do with it, not the person that enabled it. When's the last time you judged Apple for creating the app store just because you saw a bad app?

Also, if you are still having doubts about putting it in, then you probably want to put it in.

@nheagy
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nheagy commented Dec 12, 2012

Since this would violate the new App Store marketing guidelines, it doesn't seem like it should be a priority at all.

@daveverwer
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Thanks all for the comments everyone. Really appreciate it.

Nate: Thank you especially for your comment, I knew it was against the guidelines but I hadn't seen it written down in Apple documentation so clearly as in that document you referenced.

Decision made! We will add the feature but since those guidelines are so clear that you shouldn't have any carrier text at all visible on App Store screenshots I feel comfortable putting a warning to be clearly visible if you do set some carrier text. I think this gives a good compromise between flexibility and not seeming like we are endorsing it for App Store screenshots. The reason I initially discounted the warning was without something concrete like that to link to it felt a little whiny on my part but with a solid reference like that I feel better about it ;)

The warning will be worded something like "The App Store Marketing Guidelines recommend against having carrier text visible on App Store screenshots. You should remove the custom carrier text if these screenshots are intended for use on the App Store." with a button "Learn More" at the right hand side linking to the document on the Apple site.

Guidance along with your warning, what's not to like!

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