WP Apps - don't ask, don't get [Threads Merged]

jimmynokia

And now we have a boards.ie windowsphone app at last.
http://nokianewsireland.com/2014/04/22/exclusive-boards-ie-windowsphone-app-is-now-in-the-store-by-igibbo-wpdev-ireland/

senordingdong

They look very similar to the sites mobile version.
Are they just home screen shortcuts to the mobile sites?

theothernt

senordingdong wrote: »

They look very similar to the sites mobile version.
Are they just home screen shortcuts to the mobile sites?

Yes, they are :mad:

I really wish these amateur developers would stop doing this. It's pathetic and they're using logos, brand names, etc without permission.

liamog

I get really annoyed by website wrappers. I've a tendency to report them, I'm 90% sure that nothing will be done but I like to think I'm doing my bit.

joujoujou

joujoujou wrote: »

Anyone knows free SMB app for wp8?

That's ridiculous you can't simply share your files over LAN.

Nobody knows. Sad.

Next question - looking for registry editor for wp8.1.

liamog

What on earth would you want a registry editor for?

Those kind of apps are locked down. If you had an Interop Unlocked Ativ S Running 8.0 there were regeditors but I'm pretty sure that's one class of app that will never be allowed in the store.

theothernt

liamog wrote: »

I get really annoyed by website wrappers. I've a tendency to report them, I'm 90% sure that nothing will be done but I like to think I'm doing my bit.

Same here. And in the iOS App Store, they'd be removed quickly!

joujoujou

liamog wrote: »

What on earth would you want a registry editor for?

I really know what for.

liamog wrote: »

Those kind of apps are locked down. If you had an Interop Unlocked Ativ S Running 8.0 there were regeditors but I'm pretty sure that's one class of app that will never be allowed in the store.

I don't care about the store. I have an unlocked phone and once I get the .xap I'd be able to put it into.

liamog

joujoujou wrote: »

I really know what for.


I don't care about the store. I have an unlocked phone and once I get the .xap I'd be able to put it into.

Please enlighten us, I'm genuinely curious as to why someone needs to regedit their phone?

gibbo_ireland

theothernt wrote: »

Yes, they are :mad:

I really wish these amateur developers would stop doing this. It's pathetic and they're using logos, brand names, etc without permission.

Neil, pretty sure your app mentions Dublin Bus. Got permission?

Its clearly marked unofficial, so if you don't like it, don't install. Its free. And yes, first to admit Im an amateur, but doing it in my spare time and werent all devs once just that?

Finally, the hope is that it spurs these brands to reconsider official apps once they see the market interest. I'd gladly volunteer to remove then, not as though there's money in it for me. Just the love of the platform. Like to think I'm doing my bit

jimmynokia

gibbo_ireland wrote: »

Neil, pretty sure your app mentions Dublin Bus. Got permission?

Its clearly marked unofficial, so if you don't like it, don't install. Its free. And yes, first to admit Im an amateur, but doing it in my spare time and werent all devs once just that?

Finally, the hope is that it spurs these brands to reconsider official apps once they see the market interest. I'd gladly volunteer to remove then, not as though there's money in it for me. Just the love of the platform. Like to think I'm doing my bit

Well said there...

liamog

I have no issue with third party apps, in fact I'd fully support you if that's what you were making.

However in this case it appears that you have just wrapped the site in a web control, this to me is a terrible user experience and should not be allowed.

There is an unofficial Facebook app called Facebook. It's highly rated for some reason. I've has some WP users install and complain about the Facebook experience on the phone because they incorrectly assumed it was legit.

gibbo_ireland

liamog wrote: »

I have no issue with third party apps, in fact I'd fully support you if that's what you were making.

However in this case it appears that you have just wrapped the site in a web control, this to me is a terrible user experience and should not be allowed.

There is an unofficial Facebook app called Facebook. It's highly rated for some reason. I've has some WP users install and complain about the Facebook experience on the phone because they incorrectly assumed it was legit.

Once again, it is clearly marked unofficial, and for the reasons you stated, hopefully it will motivate the creation of official apps. Complaining on a public forum hasn't worked so far eh?

theothernt

gibbo_ireland wrote: »

Neil, pretty sure your app mentions Dublin Bus. Got permission?

Its clearly marked unofficial, so if you don't like it, don't install. Its free. And yes, first to admit Im an amateur, but doing it in my spare time and werent all devs once just that?

Finally, the hope is that it spurs these brands to reconsider official apps once they see the market interest. I'd gladly volunteer to remove then, not as though there's money in it for me. Just the love of the platform. Like to think I'm doing my bit

I do have permission to use the data, plus mentioning a brand on the about page of my app is very different to pretending to be the official app by using the Boards.ie name and logo.

If you think you’re doing some good here, you’re not. First, and there are lots of examples, but apps that are webviews (WebBrowser component) showing a website always receive bad reviews - the web experience is very different to the native experience, especially on Windows Phone. That and the fact that most mobile websites are made to look iOS-like doesn’t help either.

Look at the Aer Lingus app on Windows Phone. Even though it’s the official app, the company responsible for the app thought this was the way to go (lets just show the mobile website!). It’s obviously not, just look at the reviews.

Second, brands don’t care when apps like this appear. And I’m speaking from experience as I deal with some of these companies, trying to convince them to develop Windows Phone apps. The only response you’re likely to get with this type of webview app, if any, is for it to be removed from the store because of a copyright claim.

gibbo_ireland

From experience, looking at plenty of examples, most notably the class WP developer Rudy Huyn.....unofficial apps can and do motivate brands to develop for the platform. And if you really hate unofficial apps, and think this is bad, you should see the state of Android marketplaces.

liamog

gibbo_ireland wrote: »

From experience, looking at plenty of examples, most notably the class WP developer Rudy Huyn.....unofficial apps can and do motivate brands to develop for the platform. And if you really hate unofficial apps, and think this is bad, you should see the state of Android marketplaces.

Rudy makes good apps that work well with the platform, they show what is possible and leave users with a good impression of the service the work with.

Another distinction is that Rudy makes sure his apps have names which don't rip off the brand that he integrates with.

The description on the store is not enough to make it clear that its unofficial.

Would you open a store in Ireland and call it Asda whilst using their same logo?

I'm pretty sure if you put a sign up just inside the door saying your not really Asda but your just trying to make them see that their is demand in the Irish Market that you'd still be shut down remarkably quickly.

gibbo_ireland

Liam I agree with everything you've said. The difference here is that these apps aren't ripping off anyone. They are the brand's own service, and it could be argued help drive traffic to them. Its not as though they are copy cat services trying to deceive or take user traffic away! Nor am I attempting to make money from this in anyway, they are free.

As I've said before its simply to help put a presence on the platform they notice to entice reconsidering their position of neglecting WP8. I've notified each of the apps, and heard nothing, reinforcing all of our beliefs that they don't care....yet.

With that said, I don't wish for anyone to be misinformed or think they are official, so ill rename all asap to help avoid any possible confusion.

Beagslife

I've just seen the announcement of the new Ryanair mobile app. Surprise, surprise - available for iPhone and Android.

I've contacted Ryanair, using their easy to use feedback option, asking them to have WP included.

Please feel free to do the same.

MC

jimmynokia

I've been onto them already what a fail...

mark_m360

Beagslife wrote: »

I've just seen the announcement of the new Ryanair mobile app. Surprise, surprise - available for iPhone and Android.

I've contacted Ryanair, using their easy to use feedback option, asking them to have WP included.

Please feel free to do the same.

MC

I have done so on twitter as well but they have no plans.

I just really find it ironic. On the other hand, it is making it more and more frustrating to continue to be with windows phone. There is almost no local support in this country.

g0g

mark_m360 wrote: »

I have done so on twitter as well but they have no plans.

I just really find it ironic. On the other hand, it is making it more and more frustrating to continue to be with windows phone. There is almost no local support in this country.

They had a guy on Matt Cooper last night and I texted in too. Matt put the question to the guy but he didn't have any plans for one. Incidentally they had a techie reviewer talking about the app and fairly slated it in terms of features/functionality/bugs!

mark_m360

g0g wrote: »

They had a guy on Matt Cooper last night and I texted in too. Matt put the question to the guy but he didn't have any plans for one. Incidentally they had a techie reviewer talking about the app and fairly slated it in terms of features/functionality/bugs!

Being Ryanair, I would expect that there was a tight budget on it which would affect features and testing! The boarding pass on your phone would be so handy though, it would probably be the only reason most people would use the app!

I sent off feedback through their website as well but the 500 characters is so measly.

yosser hughes

Beagslife wrote: »

I've just seen the announcement of the new Ryanair mobile app. Surprise, surprise - available for iPhone and Android.

I've contacted Ryanair, using their easy to use feedback option, asking them to have WP included.

Please feel free to do the same.

MC

Yeah I tweeted them and they replied that they had no plans. However if you actually listen to Matt Cooper's programme here http://www.todayfm.com/player/listen_back/7/13036/14th_July_2014_-_The_Last_Word_with_Matt_Cooper_Part_2 at about 56mins the Ryanair spokesman says "we will look at launching it on the windows platform,in the months ahead"
I tweeted back to Ryanair that their spokesman said they had plans to launch but I got no reply.

mark_m360

yosser hughes wrote: »

Yeah I tweeted them and they replied that they had no plans. However if you actually listen to Matt Cooper's programme here http://www.todayfm.com/player/listen_back/7/13036/14th_July_2014_-_The_Last_Word_with_Matt_Cooper_Part_2 at about 56mins the Ryanair spokesman says "we will look at launching it on the windows platform,in the months ahead"
I tweeted back to Ryanair that their spokesman said they had plans to launch but I got no reply.

I think he just said it to fob the question off tbh. Even still, he said "look" at windows phone, so they have no plans to commit to anything. I tweeted him on twitter so will be interesting to see if he responds.

yosser hughes

mark_m360 wrote: »

I think he just said it to fob the question off tbh. Even still, he said "look" at windows phone, so they have no plans to commit to anything. I tweeted him on twitter so will be interesting to see if he responds.

Of course it was a fob off, but the fact is, he did say it. Instead of just saying they had no plans at all for a windows phone app, he intimated otherwise.
I won't hold my breath though, and as someone else said earlier it's another frustrating reason to ditch Windows phone.

I wonder would a PDF of a boarding pass downloaded to the phone not do? I have done that with Leinster tickets before and they scanned the barcode on the ticket no problem.

Fingleberries

yosser hughes wrote: »

Yeah I tweeted them and they replied that they had no plans. However if you actually listen to Matt Cooper's programme here http://www.todayfm.com/player/listen_back/7/13036/14th_July_2014_-_The_Last_Word_with_Matt_Cooper_Part_2 at about 56mins the Ryanair spokesman says "we will look at launching it on the windows platform,in the months ahead"
I tweeted back to Ryanair that their spokesman said they had plans to launch but I got no reply.

The term "Windows Platform" probably indicates more that they are looking at Windows 8.1 - although if they do eventually do it, and they code it as a Universal App, then Windows Phone would get it.

A lot of 'if's and 'maybe's in that sentence.

CDonaghey

You are not missing much, especially at this early stage. It's buggy and cost me £15 to re-print my boarding pass on my return journey after my boarding pass disappeared from the app. Ryanair said that the charge was fair as I wasn't able to produce my boarding pass

yosser hughes

CDonaghey wrote: »

You are not missing much, especially at this early stage. It's buggy and cost me £15 to re-print my boarding pass on my return journey after my boarding pass disappeared from the app. Ryanair said that the charge was fair as I wasn't able to produce my boarding pass

As I haven't seen the Ryanair app;maybe you could illuminate me. Is it not possible to just download the boarding pass as a PDF and scanning the barcode? Or must it be viewed from the app?What actually happens when presenting it,either at security or at boarding?
By the way, I assume there is a charge for the app?The app in itself would be a massive revenue spinner. That's their right to charge but surely if it's just a matter of scanning the barcode, then a PDF should do? No?

but1er

So many little apps my windows phone dosnt have that i would kill to have back

Rte player being the main one

Halo Taxi

Sky Sports (videos dont work)

The Journal for news

Horse Racing App

what do you want/need/miss?

Davy

but1er wrote: »

The Journal for news

This journal app does the job even if unofficial

http://www.windowsphone.com/en-ie/store/app/journal-ie/131e6495-3123-486b-b023-2d7e1f8e2141