Ok I am going to attack these points one at a time:
- 2 week approval process --> this works in the Apple app store model, sure its slower but they just need to work on it. I would hope they also do things like battery life test given that recently it has come to light that most android apps murder battery life for no good reason.
- No consumer contact --> amazon needs to fix this asap. It is critical for vendors to be able to contact their clients.
- No refund policy --> is this even legal in the US? I think we just need to take it to court to find out :( It is quite refreshing to hear that app developers actively refund to make frustrated customers happy. However on that note, the main reason for this is because Apple can FORCE your app to be removed from your device if you get a refund, google/amazon cannot. therefore amazon is trying to prevent people from just downloading and then asking for a refund thus legally getting a free app. Not to mention the fact that rooted devices (htc is going to allow rooting without hacking bootloader now) can do things like give amazon/google the finger when it comes to asking the device to uninstall apps, even if its built-in.
- Cannot quickly deploy fix in 30 minutes --> this is true for the Apple store too. I think going with the release cycle, this can be either a good or bad thing. Ensures you test your fixes and try releasing asap. I think in many cases the approval process is justified because it prevents things like malware from being pushed as an update.
tl;dr
- I like Apple App Store approval process
- Amazon needs to heavily focus on client <-> developer communication channels. Even if not email and in-app store.
- Refund policy is possibly legitimate due to uninstall concerns.
> No refund policy --> is this even legal in the US?
Sure. There's nothing illegal about 'all sales are final'.
As far as the 'refund gets you a free app' concern: paid apps from Amazon and come with Amazon's DRM. Google provides a way to do license verification with paid apps in the Android Market. Google also allows a 15-minute window to get a refund. So, presumably, Amazon not allowing refunds is a decision that is not based in purely technical grounds.
Comments
Ok I am going to attack these points one at a time:
- 2 week approval process --> this works in the Apple app store model, sure its slower but they just need to work on it. I would hope they also do things like battery life test given that recently it has come to light that most android apps murder battery life for no good reason.
- No consumer contact --> amazon needs to fix this asap. It is critical for vendors to be able to contact their clients.
- No refund policy --> is this even legal in the US? I think we just need to take it to court to find out :( It is quite refreshing to hear that app developers actively refund to make frustrated customers happy. However on that note, the main reason for this is because Apple can FORCE your app to be removed from your device if you get a refund, google/amazon cannot. therefore amazon is trying to prevent people from just downloading and then asking for a refund thus legally getting a free app. Not to mention the fact that rooted devices (htc is going to allow rooting without hacking bootloader now) can do things like give amazon/google the finger when it comes to asking the device to uninstall apps, even if its built-in.
- Cannot quickly deploy fix in 30 minutes --> this is true for the Apple store too. I think going with the release cycle, this can be either a good or bad thing. Ensures you test your fixes and try releasing asap. I think in many cases the approval process is justified because it prevents things like malware from being pushed as an update.
tl;dr
- I like Apple App Store approval process - Amazon needs to heavily focus on client <-> developer communication channels. Even if not email and in-app store. - Refund policy is possibly legitimate due to uninstall concerns.
> No refund policy --> is this even legal in the US?
Sure. There's nothing illegal about 'all sales are final'.
As far as the 'refund gets you a free app' concern: paid apps from Amazon and come with Amazon's DRM. Google provides a way to do license verification with paid apps in the Android Market. Google also allows a 15-minute window to get a refund. So, presumably, Amazon not allowing refunds is a decision that is not based in purely technical grounds.