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I'm actually a little surprised that this passed apple's App Store screening. Clearly not in compliance with the infamous "Human Interface Guidelines". Also ir

I'm actually a little surprised that this passed apple's App Store screening. Clearly not in compliance with the infamous "Human Interface Guidelines". Also irks me every time I use the app, as there is no quick way to archive and move onto the next item. As a paid app, and a pricey one at that, one expects a little polish. Grrrrrr make it better Marco!

tptacek 14y ago
Instapaper costs $2.99.
- smackfu 14y ago
  It was $4.99 for a very long time, and $9.99 before that. I guess people remember you as an expensive app even after you drop the price. http://appshopper.com/news/instapaper-pro http://appshopper.com/news/instapaper-pro
  - tptacek 14y ago
    I have a problem with the idea that $9.99 is expensive. I bought a croissant to go with my coffee this morning and ended up spending that. The idea that using hours that bill at $150-$200 (current stab at journeyman iOS dev rate) to build products that sell "pricey" at anything over $1.99 is a problem. Problem might be the wrong word. Con. Marco will be fine. Or he won't, I guess. That's not my problem with this line of pricing thinking.
    - smackfu 14y ago
      It's the $10 croissant and coffee when all the other coffee shops are selling $3 ones. It better be a damn good croissant for the extra money.
      - tptacek 14y ago
        It probably is, but that's not why I paid for it; I paid for it because it's the coffee shop in my building and I'm not going to go out of my way to optimize over 5-6 dollars. If it was crappy coffee, it would not matter to me if it cost $0.50. I can get crappy coffee for free in the lobby of the parking garage I park at.
    - jrajav 14y ago
      There may be problems with your line of pricing thinking, too. http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=4393817 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=4393817
      - tptacek 14y ago
        Thanks for linking to that; it makes a better case for what I'm saying than I'm willing to spend the time making now. Stop encouraging people to burn $150/hr hours making things that are "pricey" if they cost more than a buck.
  - incision 14y ago
    I consider Instapaper "expensive" because Pocket is free and, in my opinion, superior. 1: http://getpocket.com http://getpocket.com
    - connortomas 14y ago
      Though this is oft-repeated: nothing is "free". Pocket plans to make money off you somehow, whether directly or indirectly. Instapaper is simply more up-front about how and when you will pay.
      - chimeracoder 14y ago
        > Instapaper is simply more up-front about how and when you will pay. Whatever Pocket ends up doing, nothing's preventing Instapaper from doing it too. They may not need to, but as we've seen in the past, you can't assume that that one-time purchase means you're now the customer again (and not the product).
      - incision 14y ago
        It's pretty disingenuous to equate the two that way. There's no reason to believe that Instapaper won't or doesn't already do everything that you're suggesting Pocket could do. As it stands: Pocket (Free), Instapaper ($3.99/$2.99) Pocket (No ads), Instapaper (ads) Pocket (Free API), Instapaper (Subscription fee for some API functions)
        connortomas 14y ago
        The difference, as far as I see it, is that Pocket makes being free a selling point, whereas Instapaper users are used to paying for features. Instapaper can continue to exist without substantially shifting business models for the foreseeable future - Pocket can't. Unless I'm missing something?
smackfu 14y ago
To be honest, I think the HIG standard would be to just have the rightmost action icon, that has options for "Delete", "Archive", "Move to Folder", etc. So it wouldn't really be nay faster. Also, the App Store review certainly doesn't enforce the HIG.
kennywinker 14y ago
Apple doesn't enforce the HIG like this. App review will catch big, ugly, user-confounding violations (some times) but not these little fiddly bits around the edges.

tptacek 14y ago

Instapaper costs $2.99.

smackfu 14y ago
It was $4.99 for a very long time, and $9.99 before that. I guess people remember you as an expensive app even after you drop the price. http://appshopper.com/news/instapaper-pro http://appshopper.com/news/instapaper-pro
- tptacek 14y ago
  I have a problem with the idea that $9.99 is expensive. I bought a croissant to go with my coffee this morning and ended up spending that. The idea that using hours that bill at $150-$200 (current stab at journeyman iOS dev rate) to build products that sell "pricey" at anything over $1.99 is a problem. Problem might be the wrong word. Con. Marco will be fine. Or he won't, I guess. That's not my problem with this line of pricing thinking.
  - smackfu 14y ago
    It's the $10 croissant and coffee when all the other coffee shops are selling $3 ones. It better be a damn good croissant for the extra money.
    - tptacek 14y ago
      It probably is, but that's not why I paid for it; I paid for it because it's the coffee shop in my building and I'm not going to go out of my way to optimize over 5-6 dollars. If it was crappy coffee, it would not matter to me if it cost $0.50. I can get crappy coffee for free in the lobby of the parking garage I park at.
  - jrajav 14y ago
    There may be problems with your line of pricing thinking, too. http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=4393817 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=4393817
    - tptacek 14y ago
      Thanks for linking to that; it makes a better case for what I'm saying than I'm willing to spend the time making now. Stop encouraging people to burn $150/hr hours making things that are "pricey" if they cost more than a buck.
- incision 14y ago
  I consider Instapaper "expensive" because Pocket is free and, in my opinion, superior. 1: http://getpocket.com http://getpocket.com
  - connortomas 14y ago
    Though this is oft-repeated: nothing is "free". Pocket plans to make money off you somehow, whether directly or indirectly. Instapaper is simply more up-front about how and when you will pay.
    - chimeracoder 14y ago
      > Instapaper is simply more up-front about how and when you will pay. Whatever Pocket ends up doing, nothing's preventing Instapaper from doing it too. They may not need to, but as we've seen in the past, you can't assume that that one-time purchase means you're now the customer again (and not the product).
    - incision 14y ago
      It's pretty disingenuous to equate the two that way. There's no reason to believe that Instapaper won't or doesn't already do everything that you're suggesting Pocket could do. As it stands: Pocket (Free), Instapaper ($3.99/$2.99) Pocket (No ads), Instapaper (ads) Pocket (Free API), Instapaper (Subscription fee for some API functions)
      - connortomas 14y ago
        The difference, as far as I see it, is that Pocket makes being free a selling point, whereas Instapaper users are used to paying for features. Instapaper can continue to exist without substantially shifting business models for the foreseeable future - Pocket can't. Unless I'm missing something?

smackfu 14y ago

To be honest, I think the HIG standard would be to just have the rightmost action icon, that has options for "Delete", "Archive", "Move to Folder", etc. So it wouldn't really be nay faster. Also, the App Store review certainly doesn't enforce the HIG.

kennywinker 14y ago

Apple doesn't enforce the HIG like this. App review will catch big, ugly, user-confounding violations (some times) but not these little fiddly bits around the edges.