Over the past couple of days I\u2019ve had something going on with my back. So I\u2019ve been sitting in a straight backed chair or lying on the floor.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This has given me time to be both frustrated and happily doing some reading about upcoming computer stuff.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This led me to investigating various applications for my phone, iPad, and Computer. Some of the new apps look interesting, and some of the older recommended apps might be useful even if I have to pay for them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Before I load, much less buy an app I look at the reviews. Usually on the Apple App Store the best reviews are presented first. It\u2019s the date you have to pay attention to. That best review might actually be 2 years old.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I\u2019ve found that if I sort the reviews by date an interesting bit of information is often revealed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Many of the apps show a reduction in the number of stars in the reviews and growing customer dissatisfaction. Which is kind of useful, and also very strange. You\u2019d expect the applications to improve over time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Sure there might be some glitches and transient discontent when new features are added or when the OS changes. But you\u2019d expect those issues to be really minimal. What I\u2019m seeing instead is very consistent death spirals. It\u2019s like a version of an app stumbles and the app never recovers. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Over time, the comments and ratings get worse and worse until no-one is rating or complaining. So the question is, has the app stopped selling? Are people simply not rating it anymore? Or some combination of both? <\/p>\n\n\n\n
When I find an app that has no new ratings for a year or more I tend to pass. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
What surprises me, is how many apps fit the criteria for me to pass.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Oh, I\u2019ll check other sources too. If I\u2019ve got my eye on something I\u2019ll check other reviews from publications where the journalist is paid to walk through the application as long as they\u2019re not getting any kickbacks for a good review I\u2019ll tend to trust their evaluation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I wonder why application quality seems to be dropping. I also am glad to find out that it\u2019s not just me that\u2019s seeing it. I know I\u2019m critical and wonder sometimes if I\u2019m too critical. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
In this case perhaps I\u2019m not. If other people are walking away from poorly constructed subscription models where the \u201cBenefit\u201d of regular updates degrades rather then improves an application then I\u2019m right there with everyone else.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
All this being said, I don\u2019t have a lot of apps on my phone and when something no longer serves me, It\u2019s gone. There\u2019s a journaling app that I\u2019ve been subscribed to for several years. I like it because it\u2019s available on all my devices.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Apple Journaling app is really very nice, but it\u2019s only available on my phone and I don\u2019t like typing on my phones keyboard. I\u2019d hoped that Apple would bring the app to iPad and then I\u2019d use the iPad keyboard. Had they done that, I\u2019d have cancelled the subscription to the other journaling apps and figured out how to move my journal entries to the Apple native app.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Apple didn\u2019t, but they have extended continuity to a point where I can interact with my phone using my Mac screen and keyboard. Essentially opening a terminal to my phone. This means that I can move all the journal entries into the Apple\u2019s Journalling app on my phone without having to be limited to the little tiny screen and keyboard.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
If this works like it appears it will, then I\u2019ll cancel the subscription to the journaling app and move happily on without spending money I don\u2019t need to.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In this case it\u2019s not that the journaling app I pay for had degraded, it\u2019s that it has become redundant. Day One is still quite nice and it\u2019s syncing across devices is well done.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I suppose I was looking at the apps because with the new Apple operating systems being released in the next few months. I was investigating to see what subscriptions I could get rid of and then trying to determine if I wanted to get rid of those subscriptions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Fantastical for example, is super nice. It unifies todo, and calendar, into a single application. IOS and Mac at one time did this but someone decided that these functions needed to be divided into two apps that both had to be open, in order to go about my day. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Fantastical stepped in and corrected what was clearly a screw up on Apple\u2019s part. With the upcoming OS releases, they are reunifying ToDos and Calendar and Fantastical\u2019s days may be limited on my systems. Honestly Fantastical\u2019s subscription model is pricy. While I like the application itself, I\u2019d prefer to have only one and the Apple Calendar \/ todo list would serve my needs jut fine.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Fantastical would still be relevant for all the folks who want their work calendar and personal calendars displayed on their all their devices correctly. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
I suppose at heart I\u2019m a computer minimalist.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Over the past couple of days I\u2019ve had something going on with my back. So I\u2019ve been sitting in a straight backed chair or lying on the floor. This has given me time to be both frustrated and happily doing some reading about upcoming computer stuff. This led me to investigating various applications for my … <\/p>\n