I've been using Deliveries for years and have recently noticed that certain delivery companies (Fed Ex, Amazon) have been blocked. FedEx is "online only" and Amazon has been unavailable for the past year. JUST switched to Parcel..no issues.
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Deliveries App Loses Functionality as Shipping Companies Refuse to Participate
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You think this product batches API calls from disparate users before calling the shippers’ servers? Rather than each user’s app making its own calls on open or refresh? I guess that‘s possible, but it seems pretty unlikely, all the more so since the load on the shippers and the issue of management would be on the developer.
Surepost — or the USPS leg of it, anyway — is an abomination against man and nature. I’d never, ever buy from someone who used it if I had a way to know beforehand that it would be the shipping method.
Agree. Long time user, but why aren’t they facing the same issues?
Worst thing about this thread is how many people who think paying $5/year, that's A YEAR, for an app that you find useful is beyond the pale. People suck.
Tracking UPS deliveries is futile these days. Only the most recent location is given. And any delays are only noted, never any reason why. Ditto for amazon tracking. However, FedEx and USPS seem to be providing details better than UPS, and no app is required.
Delivery companies don't want us using third party apps to track their performance. Who do you think is going to win that battle?
I've also been using this since Tiger widgets. My subscription actually just renewed on Tuesday and I don't care. For the cost of buying the developer a beer, it's worth it to me for the usefulness I've gotten out of it all these years. Sad for it's demise.
Sure, but the thing about a subscription is you can stop paying if it’s not useful to you. If the cost isn’t worth the value or utility it provides, you don’t pay. And let’s be honest, most subscription services aren’t going to last “the length of your life”, nor are most one-time costs. Very, very few things will remain as useful as the day you bought them by the time you’re facing the grave.
To me, I’d much rather pay for something I find useful if it’s not a burdensome amount. And if that helps an independent developer have more stable, regular income that makes their life easier, I think that’s good for everyone involved. I agree that some subscriptions can be onerous or annoying, and subscriptions that are made deliberately difficult to cancel are exploitative. But generally those are the realm of large corporations and not independent teams or single developers on the App Store.
The Deliveries Junecloud sync is useful if you want to share a database with others in your household. iCloud would silo it for each user.
This is a pain. I’ve been using this a couple years along with AfterShip as a backup. They both do similar things, but AS is aggravating and Deliveries is so streamlined and clean it’s my go-to.
Package tracking app Deliveries is losing functionality because shipping companies are not willing to provide the shipping data that the app needs to work, according to developer Mike Piontek.
In a blog post penned earlier this week, Piontek said that Deliveries is no longer able to maintain the same service that it used to provide because it relies on shipping companies, and "without their help" the app is not able to work the way that customers expect.
In time, the Deliveries app will likely stop showing direct tracking information in the app for additional services. Delivery date, map route, and other details will not be available, nor will notifications about status changes. To see tracking information, customers will need to use the "View Online" button to see tracking information on the shipping company's website.
According to Piontek, Deliveries understands that the app will become less useful to users, but the Deliveries team will aim to keep making it as useful as possible for those who continue to use it.
At the current time, Deliveries seems to be able to show shipping information from major U.S. shipping companies like the United States Postal Service and UPS, but over the course of the last few months, Amazon deliveries have stopped working.
Deliveries used to be able to track Amazon shipments just from an order link, but that is no longer possible. Tracking either does not work, or it requires logging in to Amazon with a login and password, which is a hassle. The app also recently stopped working with FedEx tracking numbers, and there are also complaints about DHL shipments not being able to be tracked.
Prior to when these changes were made by shipping companies, Deliveries was a very useful package tracking app, but for many, it may no longer be worth the $4.99 per year subscription price.
Article Link: Deliveries App Loses Functionality as Shipping Companies Refuse to Participate
This is some seriously bad mess. I track UPS, USPS, and FedEx mainly, as Amazon doesn’t have delivery contractors in our area yet. FedEx is horrible for us, I choose any option other than that if I can.
There's always going to be people like that. I personally spend hundreds of dollars a year on subscription apps that add meaningful value to my life. Quality apps are what allow me to take full advantage of the $1500 Super Computer I carry around in my pocket.
This is a good reason to shop as local as possible, as often as possible. Amazon has become a total crapshoot with regards to receiving the item you actually ordered. Shippers have little to no concern for getting you your stuff in any kind of working order, or to the correct address, and then there are porch pirates...
Far less hassle to go to the store and get it yourself.
Far less hassle to go to the store and get it yourself.
I am a long time Deliveries user and it is very unfortunate that they can no longer get info from shippers. Yes, you can go to the Fedex or UPS app but Deliveries put it all in one place, and just worked. BTW if you sign in to Amazon, Deliveries works just fine.
Yeah I see it happening a lot. What ever happened to open data and a connected world of information? It’s more like paywalls, sandboxes, and pathetic corporate revenue squeezing now. These companies can make healthy profits without stifling third party access to data.
I actually stopped using that feature of the Shop app when it started showing me orders that I did not order through Shop or any one of the Shopify partners. When you hook it up to Gmail, Outlook, etc., you're giving Shop read access to all your email. After doing that, I started seeing orders from other merchants who don't use the Shopify platform. Which means Shop is doing more than tracking your orders placed via Shop.