My Approach
Now that I've started to sell Android applications, I thought I should share
something about my personal approach to creating and publishing applications.
- I want to create applications that provide an enjoyable mobile experience;
even better if they delight the user. I'm not motivated to write applications
purely by the expectation that they will sell lots of copies
(though that would be nice).
- I operate a no-quibble refund policy. I want people to enjoy the
applications I publish and I'm not interested in taking money from anyone who
doesn't.
- Though as a developer I devote significant time to every application,
including those I release for free, I recognize that an application's users
also invest some of their time adopting it. Though individually small,
collectively this can represent a very significant commitment by its users.
For this reason, I avoid making free applications that are crippled in a
substantial or surprising way; once a user has taken the time to learn the
application, it should be useful to them. Likewise, once I've made the decision
to release an application for free, I won't later degrade its functionality in
an effort bump users into buying a paid version.
- One of the elements of the Android platform that I find most appealing is
the way that applications can interoperate to form a cohesive user experience.
So I take every sensible opportunity to make my applications to interoperate
with each other and those of other developers.
- I take the privacy of users very seriously. Where any user or device data
is accessible to me I try to explain clearly what information is shared and why.
Much of my software is actually focused on devolving functionality to user and
their device – granting freedoms by avoiding the reliance on a single
authority.