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Apps from the App Store that don't work should be removed!

MartinAppleGuy

MartinAppleGuy

macrumors 68020
Original poster
Sep 27, 2013
2,247
889
There seems to be quite a few apps that just won't work at all. And I'm not talking about Yosemite support, but Mavericks almost one year in and no upgrades. Developers should just loose their accounts if they do things like this.

And Apple seem to be just as bad. They release new Operating Systems every year and want us to buy apps from the App Store and not on the web yet they let dev's get away with apps that just don't work on the current OS. Games like GTA San Andreas (where all the reviews on the Mac App Store after Mavericks came out say that it doesn't run).

Is it just me or is this a serious problem with both lazy developers (Rockstar...) and Apple having to make OS updates every year.
 
Plenty of people are still running Snow Leopard, Lion, Mountain Lion
Should they be penalized by having no access to the apps that work on their OS?

You read the reviews and if it doesn't work on your OS, then don't buy

There are any number of reasons why apps may not have been updated for the latest OS

And I for one, appreciate Apple releasing new versions of the OS regularly to give me additional functionality and features
 
MacDawg said:
Plenty of people are still running Snow Leopard, Lion, Mountain Lion
Should they be penalized by having no access to the apps that work on their OS?

You read the reviews and if it doesn't work on your OS, then don't buy

There are any number of reasons why apps may not have been updated for the latest OS

And I for one, appreciate Apple releasing new versions of the OS regularly to give me additional functionality and features
Click to expand...

So those of use who buy a new Apple product (which Apple wants us to do) or upgrade our OS to the latest and greatest (which Apple also want us to do) should be penalised for it? These Applications that have not been updated show no information on the Mac App Store that they will not work. This is a disgrace. At least hiding these Apps from OS's that don't support it would stop us (they very people who pay both Apple and Dev's at the end of the day) from wasting our money on a 10GB icon that does nothing but crash when opened.

If Apple want to move forward so fast (by releasing a new OS every year) then they should be making sure developers keep up with them.

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MacDawg said:
There are any number of reasons why apps may not have been updated for the latest OS
Click to expand...

There is not a single reason for games not being updated. That is apart from lazy dev's that already have our money in return for an Application that doesn't do what it says on the tin.

Apple should be taking more action in the Mac App Store. This just shouldn't be happening.
 
MacDawg said:
I'd say that's a pretty limited view of things
Click to expand...

Not really seeing as the games by Rockstar on the Mac App Store are just Cider ports of the PC version! That is the definition of the word lazy.

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Even Sony with PSN does things better. PS2 Classics are not playable on a PS Vita or PSP so they are not visible in the store on those devices. They are playable on PS3 and PS4 so they are visible on those.
 
Perhaps you should just contact the developers of your game directly and see what they say instead of demanding unilateral action from Apple in the App Store. Maybe you will get an update or an explanation as to why there is no update.
 
MacDawg said:
Perhaps you should just contact the developers of your game directly and see what they say instead of demanding unilateral action from Apple in the App Store. Maybe you will get an update or an explanation as to why there is no update.
Click to expand...

Several already have. Rockstar repeatedly said it was to do with the specs of the computer (1. if it was working on ML, the specs of your computer don't just lower when you upgrade you OS, and 2. a new Mac running Mavericks can easily handle a 10 year old game). After users replied no further action was done. Us users don't have the power Apple have, Apple should notice the large amount of negativity on a App Store Dev and ask them to sort it out or more serious action will occur.
 
Software has always been flaky on New machines, new OS.

Apple is already enough of a nanny with its App store that it irritates many developers. Why make matters worse just to benefit people who need additional hand-holding?
 
Stop using the App Store as your only source of deciding whether to get an app or not.

Games require recompiles, SDK updates, among other things. They can't just tick a box and get it updated. Two years later these teams have been dissolved aswell.

They could hide apps that aren't compatible. But that's not an easy process.
 
Jessica Lares said:
Stop using the App Store as your only source of deciding whether to get an app or not.

Games require recompiles, SDK updates, among other things. They can't just tick a box and get it updated. Two years later these teams have been dissolved aswell.

They could hide apps that aren't compatible. But that's not an easy process.
Click to expand...

I have an understanding that if an App is written well, it will work with future OS updates unless there is a major change in the OS (like a Kernel rewrite). And that is information for a Mac App Store Dev. The point is though that they are just (from what I have read and seen) cider ports (so the most they had to do was watch a progress bar). They can't really patch anything because they never done it in the first place.

And to be honest, if the competition can do it (PSN that is), hiding should be something Apple really should consider.

And I do not use the App Store as my only source. I just do not want to use Steam (like many others) for games.

PS - on an off note, nice to see you have a G4. How does it run nowadays?
 
Should Amazon stop selling a book when its information has become outdated? The accepted practice is to display the publication date, and let the buyer decide suitability.

Why should the App Store be any different? The App Store description prominently includes the Last Updated date. If that substantially pre-dates your operating system, that should be, at the least, a warning flag that the developer hasn't been paying attention to its product. If there are also recent reviews that report it doesn't work under the current OS? Huge warning flag.

However, I just looked at all the Rockstar Games apps in the App Store. Only one shows an unusually hight percentage of negative reviews. Of the negative reviews that post-date the release of Mavericks, not one mentions whether they're using Mavericks, or that the problem arose after updating to Mavericks. Many of them are download issues, which is not something that can be laid at the feet of the OS.

There's always a possibility that software that ought to be compatible after an OS release, isn't. That's a bug, and bugs are supposed to get fixed, either at the OS level, or by the developer. That's one reason developers get beta access to new OS releases, and why there are interim update releases of an OS. Most developers are going to be proactive about testing, because their customer support costs go up, and sales go down when there are problems.

Since, in principle, nearly every OS X app written to run on Intel ought to run on Mavericks (apps in the class of Parallels and VMware Fusion are prominent exceptions), why should App Store require that every app developer prove/certify that their app does run under the latest major OS release, or automatically hide those that have not been updated since before the latest major OS release?

This is a program-by-program issue, not an across-the-board issue. Bugs, of any sort, arise, for any number of reasons. It's a fact of life. If an app that ought to run under the most recent OS release does not, you fix the app or OS, not the App Store.

Meantime, the App Store requires that developers provide customer support. If a developer fails to respond to requests for support, contact App Store support to report it, and request a refund. Try http://reportaproblem.apple.com or http://www.apple.com/support/itunes/contact/
 
Apple should do something for their money.

They review apps before letting them in; a statement from Apple about compatibility with a plain-jane system would be nice. I'm not sure if the compatibility notice in the little box comes from the developer or Apple
 
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