Naturally, I was interested.
So I watched the entire 90-seconds video (which is indeed impressive but c'mon, what does an animated directed sequence tell about the app real virtues). The video actually did it's job because I took my phone and looked the app in the market. And then I see this (I am posting the web version here, but you get the idea):
Ouch. 2-stars. Bad.
Hundreds of people complaining about... well, just about everything.
Hundreds of people giving it 1 star.
As I said -- bad.
The first thing I thought was 'well, someone screwed the launch up'. Maybe they've put too much marketing effort (and app developers are often desperate for coverage -- I know because I am) into a product that's far from polished yet. They should have spent more time testing or releasing the app quietly to gather some early vital feedback without much noise.
But then, there is something deeper here.
As a mobile developer you build something and then you publish it in the market and you have very little control over the distribution channel from then on. You cannot reply to negative reviews even if many of them will be unfair (put mildly).
Sometimes people are right and there are bugs. It's normal. Shit often happens and (especially if you are a one-person shop or a small indie team) sometimes bugs can slip into published code. But what can you do to make your disappointed users happy?
First you fix the damn bug, right? Still haven't? Go and fix it. Then what?
You cannot reply to user's comments, remember? You cannot send them a message.
The best thing you can do is add something in the 'What's new' section (or paste it on the top of the description because nobody really reads what's new). Something like: 'Fixed the FC issue from the earlier version'. Or 'Sorry, I screwed up, there was a bug but it works now, believe me!'.
Whatever you do it doesn't really matter. Because the first thing people will read is not the 'What's new' section. It's not the description either (well many will start reading it but then will quickly skip to the reviews).
It is the reviews and ratings that matter. When I wonder whether to install an app, I look at the reviews. 2 stars overall rating? No thanks, I'll look elsewhere. And this is true for most of the people.
This is why bad reviews and ratings hurt. No matter if you are Disney or Dimitar, writing apps for fun in his spare time, they hurt. But they hurt worse when you are small. Because Disney says a lot. You will give a try to something built from Disney even if it has big fat 1-star review at the top. But you will hit the 'Back' button without spending another second if the app developer is someone you don't know.
Don't misunderstand me. I am not a baby cry. Fair or not, this is how the system works and honestly, it is better to hurt the developers rather than the users.Because ratings and reviews are meant to bring objectivity to the system. And this is a good thing. It just leaves smaller margin for errors for the developer. And it feels unfair sometimes.
Update: And I am not saying anything bad about Cluzee. They might be the next big thing. I will be glad if they are. I didn't install the app and didn't try it (reasons -- see above). This post is for the mobile market distribution, not to bitch about Cluzee.
