Should I keep updating this iPhone app? Or is it complete crap?

2 points by visiblestorm 15y ago ↗ HN

This was my first attempt at writing an iPhone app last September. It is now free and gets on average 150 downloads per week since 1 January 2011.

I have not updated the app since last October as I am not making any money from it. So now I am trying to figure out if I should update it - i.e. rewamp the interface and recompile to the most recent iOS.

Links:

http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/words-puzzle-1000/id395147842?mt=8

http://www.visiblestorm.com/

I seem to be leaning towards dumping it as I do not have any monetary incentive to continue working on it (i.e. I have to eat and do something more rewarding right now.)

This is my first post here. I am also finishing school next week (OOSD in Calgary) and I am looking for an internship/job right now. Some things I know: HTML, CSS, PHP, JavaScript, C#.NET, VB.NET, ASP.NET, C++, Objective C, MySQL, Oracle, Java, JSP, Pearl. Linux, Windows, Mac OS. Apache.

2 comments

[ 4.1 ms ] story [ 17.9 ms ] thread

dwc 15y ago ↗

Nobody else has commented, so I'll give you my opinion...

You have a steady but smallish number of downloads. Given the bad ratings of your app, I think that indicates that there are people who want something like this - enough that 150 people per week will download a 1-star app.

If you're just sick of this app, then either abandon it or maybe sell it for some small amount of money to someone who wants to give it a shot.

But if you're just sick of maintaining something that's going nowhere, then make it go somewhere. There's some interest there. Listen to the complaints. Pivot. Clean it up a bit and make it $0.99 instead of free.

visiblestorm 15y ago ↗

Thanks. I have not touched this app since last October. I did some rough calculations on the number of hours I will put in and a possible return. I will give it one more shot and do a complete revamp of the interface etc. when I find the time. I will implement the features people are asking for. This time I will try to build what the users want based on the feedback I received and see what happens.