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Ask Slashdot: What Makes You Uninstall Apps?
jones_supa writes "One of the most important measuring sticks for the success of any software is how long a user keeps it installed after first trying it. Intel has an article about some of the most common reasons users abandon software. Quoting: 'Apps that don’t offer anything helpful or unique tend to be the ones that are uninstalled the most frequently. People cycle through apps incredibly quickly to find the one that best fits their needs. ... A lot of apps have a naturally limited lifecycle; i.e., apps that are centered around a movie release or an app that tracks a pregnancy, or an app that celebrates a holiday. In addition, apps with limited functionality, for example, “lite” games that only go so far, are uninstalled once the user has mastered all the levels.' Some of the common factors they list include: lengthy forms, asking for ratings, collecting unnecessary data, user unfriendliness, unnecessary notifications and, of course, bugs. Additionally, if people have paid even a small price for the app, they are more committed to keep it installed. So, what makes you uninstall a piece of software?"
Many apps ask for far more permissions than needed.
I was once testing a 3270 emulator app to access a mainframe system over a vpn.
The emulator app refused to run unless you give it full access to your email.
When I called the vendor to ask why, they said it was so that users could automatically send support requests by email.
I can write my own email, thanks.
Uninstalled, and the vendor lost out on a multi-thousand dollar purchase.
#1 Zinga buys it.
#2 Freer software comes out that can fulfill the utility.
#3 ParanoidAndroid and AdAway are not capable of taming the program the way I'd like.
We should learn what we need to know about issues, before we decide what we need to feel about them.
One thing that bugs me about Android is that for something like contact listings, which are likely useful to the developer at one point or another, and potentially to the user, it's just a blanket permission that could mean anything from "going to constantly monitor everything in all of your contacts" to "this app will ask you once if you want to share with friends".
I have "Ad Network Detector". I run that on all downloaded applications. Anything that tracks my location, collects device or mobile network information, needs my list of contacts, has popup advertising and hotkeys that jump to a web page gets thrown out. I'd also throw out "TapJoy", "Mobclix", Mobo and Game Hub if it were possible to remove them.
Vintage computer adverts: http://www.vintageadbrowser.com/computers-and-software-ads
"Firefox" wants access for Near Field Communication, ability to delete contents of my storage, and ability remove accounts. Google Search update wants the ability to directly call phone numbers or send SMS messages (for search???), and add/modify calendar entries (from search??)
Firefox wants NFC for NFC sharing. Google Search is also the device's voice command prompt; it gains new privileges as Google adds new features to compete with Siri. It probably wants dialing so that when you say "OK Google, call Staisy", you'll get connected. probably wants calendar writing so that when you say "OK Google, remind me of a meeting with Milo at 3:30 on Thursday", you'll get it on your calendar. I'm not sure about Bluetooth though.
The problem is that the choices are to accept whatever the stupid app wants or to forbid it entirely. There is no middle ground of allowing the app but forbidding access to things I want to restrict.
Android 4.3 introduces App Ops, which you can download from Google Play Store. It lets you disable individual permissions for individual applications. It's hidden by default because it would cause too many existing apps to force-stop with a SecurityException.