To the German App Store user Rumpel5t1 | Dafacto
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The personal website of Matt Henderson.

To the German App Store user Rumpel5t1

07 May 2013

This post is written for the Apple App Store user, "Rumpel5t1".

Since it's not possible for me to contact you through the App Store, I'm contacting you through my blog. (I'm assuming that by Googling yourself, you'll eventually end up here.)

On April 12, 2013, you left a 1-star review of version 1.1 of our app Rego in the German App Store. Rather than doing what most people would do who are unhappy with an app—delete it—you, for some reason, kept it around. And, then, when you saw that we released version 1.2 this week, you couldn't rush fast enough back to the store within hours to re-post your original 1-star review.

With that, I feel pretty justified in calling you out, Rumpel5t1. Let's look in detail at your review:

  1. Hübsch gemacht, aber nur eine Demo. ("Nicely made, but it's just a demo.")

Of course it's a demo, Rumpel5t1. That's the whole point.

Most people prefer to try an app before they buy it, and since Apple don't provide developers with a way to offer a trial version, many of us work around that by providing a limited version, as a trial, that can be upgraded through an in-app purchase. Most people appreciate that.

Our charging model is clearly explained in the App Store description and on our website—so what, exactly, is your complaint? Would you prefer we offered a pay-up-front only version instead, that you can't try before you buy?

  1. Funktionsumfang rechtfertigt keinen In-App-Kauf. ("The app's functionality doesn't justify the in-app purchase.")

Apple liked Rego so much that they featured it on the App Store home page in 127 countries. Our users like the app so much they've given us over 100 5-star reviews. But you don't feel its functionality justifies the cost of a cup of coffee.

Fine. Your opinion, and I have no problem with that.

  1. Fehlender Datenschutz ist KO-Kriterium. ("Lack of data privacy is knock-out criteria.")

This is where you're totally off-base. As of the current version 1.2, all Rego's data is located exclusively on the device.

Do you understand what that means, Rumpel5t1 — we don't have any of your Rego data! It's all on your phone! The only data about you that we have is your name and email address—in the case that you decide to publicly share a Rego place (which is completely optional.)

So, what, specifically, is your complaint with regard to Rego and data privacy?

Next time, Rumpel5t1, try contacting us first.

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