maemo.org - Talk - Ovi Store and App Manager must be merge

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- - Ovi Store and App Manager must be merge (https://talk.maemo.org/showthread.php?t=46687)

Re: Ovi Store and App Manager must be merge

Quote:

Originally Posted by attila77 (Post 559623)

You're still thinking with a user head :) If you're a developer and you offer a paid app, you do NOT want a Free app with an identical purpose listed at the same place. In your scenario (if Extras keeps it's repository) it's the commercial vendors who draw the short straw - they have to pay through the nose and deal with the wreckage Ovi is, just to be listed next to an app offered for free and pray that it's bad enough so that users come back and buy their app. And as for Nokia (the Ovi division, to be more precise), it's the same problem. They are not getting any money if you DO choose the Free alternative. That's why Apple simply says 'you can be free to the users but not to US', and that's why there is so few Free apps there (compared to commercial ones).

Yes, but this is happening already. Free apps and paid apps are already listed next to each other. I am not seeing this from the user perspective. I am completely aware of the terms on publishing on Ovi and the 50 euros fee even for free apps etc and again I do not see the problem. If you are a developer and you have two options to publish your freeware, one paid and one free you just choose the free repository and thats it.

Quote:

Originally Posted by attila77 (Post 559623)

And that is exactly why I created Appwatch.

Kudos on that!! I saw that the other day. But no matter how great your app is I believe all its functionalities should be available in App Manager right out of the box.

Re: Ovi Store and App Manager must be merge

Quote:

Originally Posted by nMIK-3 (Post 559657)

Yes, but this is happening already. Free apps and paid apps are already listed next to each other.

Which ones would these be ? The only two paid apps that appeared as a non-Nokia special deal are the ones from a single (slightly controversial) one-man-show publisher. Compared to that, there is a sea of hundreds (thousands, if you count those in -devel) free applications.

Quote:

I am not seeing this from the user perspective. I am completely aware of the terms on publishing on Ovi and the 50 euros fee even for free apps etc and again I do not see the problem. If you are a developer and you have two options to publish your freeware, one paid and one free you just choose the free repository and thats it.

The problem is not choice, but no matter what you choose, somebody loses (which, in turn means the users lose). If there is a free repo, the commercial vendors loose (i.e. they will rather go and develop for a platform where they don't have this 'unfair' competition). If there isn't a free repo, the Free app developers lose.

That's the problem why you cannot merge them in a general way. Let me remind you of Maemo Select. That was supposed to be this united source of best free and non-free applications. It turned out as an epic fail as NOBODY liked it. Not the commercial developers, not the OSS developers, not Nokia, and thus, not surprisingly, the users either. Fire and water.

Re: Ovi Store and App Manager must be merge

Quote:

Originally Posted by johnel

I think the App Manager is perfectly fine the way it is.

Quote:

Originally Posted by nMik-3

I love App manager too but at its current stage lacks even basic functions. I do not want to deeply going into it right now I will only state that three updates after the originalN900 firmware and the App Manager doesn't even have the option to list new apps, or top downloads. Currently the only way to find out whats new for Maemo 5 is to visit http://maemo.org/downloads/Maemo5/ and then go download it from your phone. I am sure you agree is not that practical...

I don't think the App Managaer lacks any basic features.

It's small, focussed and does the job of installing, updating and removing of software perfectly well.

That's the beauty of using the debian package system. Believe me I've used many different Linux distributions and the debian packaging system seems to break the least (from personal experience).

It would be a much better idea to create a new app manager from scratch.

It would show a "unified" list of applications from various sources. You can put a nice html-type frontend on it, native ability to process payments, it could show a list apps with thumbnails and have all the "top ten" lists you want and fully integrated into the OVI store.

It makes more sense.

I bought the n900 because I want the freedom to choose. I don't want my choice of applications dictated to me.

This is the best way forward:
(1) A nice new shiney app installer for end-users
(2) The current app manager for geeky people like me.

The new shiney app installer can be promoted and installed in a "high profile" location - e.g. on the desktop or as the first app in the application list.

The current app must be an option - it does the job very well.

Re: Ovi Store and App Manager must be merge

All linux package managers are like that, it's just the way it is.

I'm wiling to stick with this - for the time being it's fine, it just about does the job, I'd prefer Nokia spending time on making the phone complete like adding full GPS sat-nav, mms and video calling first.

The app manager is low priority at the moment - but very soon it will be top priority, Nokia wants developers making apps for the phone and for that they need a payment process, and they also want to show users there are lots of other apps out there aswell, the way I see it WILL be merged - but paid apps will more likely be stuff like GPS software and games.

We will just have to wait and see.

Re: Ovi Store and App Manager must be merge

Quote:

Originally Posted by johnel (Post 559681)

It would show a "unified" list of applications from various sources. You can put a nice html-type frontend on it, native ability to process payments, it could show a list apps with thumbnails and have all the "top ten" lists you want and fully integrated into the OVI store.

The new shiney app installer can be promoted and installed in a "high profile" location - e.g. on the desktop or as the first app in the application list.

In what way is this different from Maemo Select ? It is what you describe *to the letter*, including the desktop icon.

Re: Ovi Store and App Manager must be merge

I prefer things how they are!

Ovi store for 'making money' apps

Application Manager for 'open, free, community created' apps

Keep up the good work developers ... dont let that ovi store overtake the number of apps available in app manager.

Re: Ovi Store and App Manager must be merge

For starters the ovi apps sould be added to the app manager as the app manager is used to install the ovi apps. but i actualy quite like the fact the comuntity have there own non comercial system that no business can get there dirty lil grubby hands on. plus it gives us solo developers a place to test our apps and get comunity feed back.

Re: Ovi Store and App Manager must be merge

Quote:

Originally Posted by tuminoid (Post 558442)

Sadly doing this would mean 3rd party software, such as maemo.org Extras, would have no channel (as there is much stricker rules of submission under Ovi brand) and there then would be two application managers instead.

I always thought it was the other way around. Ovi restrictions are all about the company creating the app, and are not that arduous for any company serious about software development for end users (IIRC, the arguments were about liability insurance and tax registration).

Extras concentrates on software quality. There are reportedly many things in Ovi that would not get into Extras due to lack of optification, non-clean uninstalls etc.

Re: Ovi Store and App Manager must be merge

Quote:

Originally Posted by ysss (Post 559749)

Interesting stats about % of free apps available per platform:

http://androidandme.com/2010/02/news...-applications/

Just for the sake of completeness, from Appwatch data: