As an iOS developer (and long time developer of apps dating back to early MacOS) I find it indefensible to have so many app crashes. This statements "As you may know, Facebook does not have big QA teams…we believe that developers are responsible for their own code, and they’re supposed to write the tests to do that." is total bullshit. I've seen this happen in multiple environments (big and small) over the years and it always results in crap results. QA/Test engineers are professionals at doing testing and should be testing continuously since day 1. It's nice the developers try to produce good code, but expecting them to be professional QA is ludicrous. My last large iOS app (previous employer) had a crash rate of 0.17% and we had awesome QA people who wouldn't let anything go out the door unless they were happy.
I agree with you on the need for good dedicated test engineers, but even an apparently low crash rate can be damaging at scale. If you have 10,000,000 customers, a crash rate of 0.17% (over some unspecified time period) is 17,000 crashes (in the same time period). On the other hand, if the crash is deterministic, but caused by some user-specific state that affects 0.17% of your customers, that's 17,000 unhappy customers who are drastically more likely to post reviews than the potentially millions of happy customers not experiencing crashes (and perhaps reviewed the app positively years ago).
Note: I don't use Facebook's app often, and have no context for what the actual issues are.
I think mobile is just too new to be good. It a wild west ghetto of terrible, terrible apps. I tried using Android and iOS as a desktop replacement only to be shocked by the poor quality of the best apps and being hamstrung by lack of features.
Mobile decision making is made mostly by consumers, not business. These devices are for people to play angry birds and check email. Android and iOS aren't under a lot of pressure to provide a stable and well audited environment. Sales are good, apps are selling, etc why rock the boat?
I think as these platforms mature things might change, but from what I can tell, there's still a major disincentive to move off the Windows ecosystem, especially when I can have a quasi-mobile experience with the Surface line. Its too much amateur hour in mobile. The post-PC cheerleading, it seems, was way premature.
It'd be a lot more manageable if Apple could simply provide memory guarantees to apps. It's not an unreasonable request. Having to close other apps or reboot the device to get an app to launch is frustrating for developers and users alike.
This is a general comment. I am not defending Facebook at all.
One of the problems with feedback systems is that they truly fail to present a balanced view of the user or customer base. The people with the motivation and drive to post reviews and feedback in ecosystems such as the App Store and Amazon are those with problems. And so the rating that is produced isn't a true reflection of how well an app is received or how good a product might be.
We happen to have both a physical product business operating on Amazon and an app business on the Apple App Store. Based on this experience I'll say most apps and products receive feedback from 1 out of 500 to 1,000 people who purchase the product. Put another way, the rating figure is based on the opinions of approximately 0.1% of users, if that. And it is also far more likely that the review-posting population is highly biased in favor of people experiencing difficulties.
In other words, based on my experience, I think these rating systems that consist of a linear vote count equation are deeply flawed as they fail to capture reality in any measurable way.
Review systems need "page rank" or at least some way to filter based on whether you, personally, found a review helpful.
I don't care if a 10 year old rated an app 1 star because they didn't like the colors, or a new computer user was confused by an interface. I want to know if people like me -- with my experience level -- found the app difficult.
Movie reviews follow the same thing, it's hard to look at overall ratings. I want to know the opinions of people like me.
On the other hand there are various paid schemes that give glowing 5 star reviews without providing any kind of meaningful real world feedback about the product.
Well, if you read the beginning of the post, that's mentioned too. The theory that alot of people are suffering in silence so to speak. A ninety percent negative rating though...that almost puts a guarantee that there is a fire, not just smoke.
For me the one reason I had to uninstall the app and rate it 1 star were the notifications. Most of the notifications that are actually useful you can toggle on/off (like receiving a message). However, this particular useless one is not toggleable and occurred at least once a day.
Asking me if I know somebody is not a "notification". My phone should not vibrate or make a noise because Facebook wants to friend more people. There are other annoying notifications, but this is the main one that pisses me off.
I find it fascinating that Facebook has two independent iOS efforts, and that while one is clearly better than the other, they seem content to pursue both apps. (Notably, Paper is still not available outside the US–I use Papers personally and can't imagine going back to the default app which just feels a bit lifeless in comparison, crashes/bugginess aside.)
Paper is interesting, ambitious, and certainly seems crafted with more love than the normal Facebook app, but I'm not sure you can say it's better. I tried it out for a while but ultimately found it was getting in the way of my basic FB needs. I'm a pretty geeky user; when I've tried to get more mainstream people to use Paper, they just get realllly confused and go running back to normal FB.
These days, I just use the FB web page, and messenger. (I love that they split messenger into its own app. I wish they'd do something similar for desktop.)
All these people hate Facebook, but they still use Facebook. How many of those one-star reviews were written by people who still launch the app 20 times a day? What incentive does Facebook really have to change their QA practices?
Realistically, the main reason people use facebook is network effects. They will put up with some amount of bullshit.
But the flipside of that is that if it becomes too bad, then the first people who start leaving weakens the network effects and cause more people to leave, leading to a chain reaction and a swift collapse.
Facebook's incentive is to prevent such a collapse.
You are right, this is not a QA problem, but much more complex.
I'd say it's a mix of people who don't equate the Facebook app with the Facebook content, who don't like Facebook as a company, but loves the content and who don't feel that their recommendation is necessary for spreading the app (that is, one can give it 1 star to punish FB for my app crashing, but I still recommend friends to download it)
Personally, I visit the newsfeed less and less these days. Paper and Pages are my only FB contact these days. The Pages app gets multiple visits in a day, but Paper gets about one visit a week from me. This whole QA stand by FB, if true, is just wrong and signals that FB doesn't understand user experience yet.
Facebook Messenger has been a top 5 app in the App Store since it was released, so there hasn't been any repercussions from the one-star reviews (mostly because people don't have a choice not to use it if they use Facebook).
Here's a chart of Facebook's overall app score according to Applause Analytics over time (since 2011). It is an abstraction on the generic star rating.
What it shows is that there has been a general trend down in their app score - there seems to be a further dip around the time of Messenger but the reviews seem to indicate a lot of frustration around stability.
I still don't understand why people hate Messenger so much. It works fine for me, indistinguishable from when it was included in the main Facebook app.
The biggest takeaway from this story is "The absence of a specific QA function may be hampering the company as well." QA is vital. A proper QA department sees the forest and the trees. Developers see the trees (or, in some cases, just the branches). Having proper QA means that John doesn't accidentally break something that Julie was working on, because they run regression tests. It's quite astonishing that QA isn't a separate team at Facebook for their iOS apps.
I noticed a lot of low ratings once Facebook hid the "Most Recent" version of the feed to force you to take 3 steps.
Previously they had an easy way of switching between the two all within the first view that showed by default, now it's just a pain in the ass and it seems like none of the devs actually use it.
Facebook is clearly a big believer in test automation - to the extent that they do not appear to believe (by their approach and hiring) in manual testing - big mistake imho. Best approach from my point of view is a portfolio approach that includes automation and manual testing.
I just use the website now. Somehow it manages to offer chat as well as news feed without displacing me to another domain, or whatever is analogous to opening up an entirely separate app.
I just don't buy that spinning off messenger was good for customers, especially considering they have really failed to create a good experience all around.
Same here. I'm using the mobile web versions of Facebook, Twitter and G+ on my iPad and iPhone and I'm not (yet) missing any of the features of the native apps.
I agree completely, the crashes are the #1 problem. In fact its almost unbelievable that such a buggy app could be passed through the app store process (I'm sure Facebook gets very special treatment with app store reviews, though).
One big issue I've noticed is that the app is borderline unusable on older devices (iphone 4). This may explain the huge number of people who are reporting these issues, which certainly happen less on newer devices. I've noticed what looks like a small UI hickup on my 5s will crash the iphone 4.
Interesting facebook doesnt have 2 separate apps. A "stable" version and a "beta" version that people can use. When a beta version runs well enough make that one the stable version. People running a "beta" that has some bugs will be far more forgiving than people running "stable" versions with bugs.
I use facebook's Paper app, which is essentially this. I have found it to be totally stable, a much more pleasing interface, and (for those who care, I personally don't) you don't need the Messenger app either. I don't use the content aggregation either--it's just a significantly nicer facebook interface.
It's rate 4+ on the app store, with 512 reviews. I think it's just less well-known.
You might think this until you read the 1-star reviews written by people running developer/preview builds of iOS. Think "App crashes on iOS 9 alpha 6, this is a HUGE inconvenience!"
It's because app updates include features, but the roll-out of those features is staged internally at Facebook. So there are no features in any given update that can be announced.
To be frank, if someone is rating the entire Facebook app as 1-star because they are forced to use the Messenger app, that's a bullshit review that I put no stock in.
Btw. I wanted to boost my blog post on facebook. Facebook didn't approve it. Reason: "Your ad wasn't approved because it includes an improper reference to Facebook". Wasn't facebook all about free speech? https://twitter.com/mposchenrieder/status/557225783286980608
[+] [-] coldcode|11 years ago|reply
[+] [-] morpher|11 years ago|reply
Note: I don't use Facebook's app often, and have no context for what the actual issues are.
[+] [-] drzaiusapelord|11 years ago|reply
Mobile decision making is made mostly by consumers, not business. These devices are for people to play angry birds and check email. Android and iOS aren't under a lot of pressure to provide a stable and well audited environment. Sales are good, apps are selling, etc why rock the boat?
I think as these platforms mature things might change, but from what I can tell, there's still a major disincentive to move off the Windows ecosystem, especially when I can have a quasi-mobile experience with the Surface line. Its too much amateur hour in mobile. The post-PC cheerleading, it seems, was way premature.
[+] [-] forrestthewoods|11 years ago|reply
[+] [-] rebootthesystem|11 years ago|reply
One of the problems with feedback systems is that they truly fail to present a balanced view of the user or customer base. The people with the motivation and drive to post reviews and feedback in ecosystems such as the App Store and Amazon are those with problems. And so the rating that is produced isn't a true reflection of how well an app is received or how good a product might be.
We happen to have both a physical product business operating on Amazon and an app business on the Apple App Store. Based on this experience I'll say most apps and products receive feedback from 1 out of 500 to 1,000 people who purchase the product. Put another way, the rating figure is based on the opinions of approximately 0.1% of users, if that. And it is also far more likely that the review-posting population is highly biased in favor of people experiencing difficulties.
In other words, based on my experience, I think these rating systems that consist of a linear vote count equation are deeply flawed as they fail to capture reality in any measurable way.
[+] [-] throwawaymsft|11 years ago|reply
I don't care if a 10 year old rated an app 1 star because they didn't like the colors, or a new computer user was confused by an interface. I want to know if people like me -- with my experience level -- found the app difficult.
Movie reviews follow the same thing, it's hard to look at overall ratings. I want to know the opinions of people like me.
[+] [-] dman|11 years ago|reply
[+] [-] wl|11 years ago|reply
[+] [-] im3w1l|11 years ago|reply
[+] [-] Kaibert123|11 years ago|reply
[+] [-] choward|11 years ago|reply
Asking me if I know somebody is not a "notification". My phone should not vibrate or make a noise because Facebook wants to friend more people. There are other annoying notifications, but this is the main one that pisses me off.
[+] [-] Osmium|11 years ago|reply
https://www.facebook.com/paper
https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/paper-stories-from-facebook/...
Not only is it a great app, but it's also given back to the iOS community in the form of several great open source projects:
https://facebook.github.io/origami/ https://github.com/facebook/pop http://asyncdisplaykit.org
I find it fascinating that Facebook has two independent iOS efforts, and that while one is clearly better than the other, they seem content to pursue both apps. (Notably, Paper is still not available outside the US–I use Papers personally and can't imagine going back to the default app which just feels a bit lifeless in comparison, crashes/bugginess aside.)
[+] [-] jfernandez|11 years ago|reply
[+] [-] dilap|11 years ago|reply
These days, I just use the FB web page, and messenger. (I love that they split messenger into its own app. I wish they'd do something similar for desktop.)
[+] [-] smackfu|11 years ago|reply
[+] [-] Haul4ss|11 years ago|reply
[+] [-] im3w1l|11 years ago|reply
But the flipside of that is that if it becomes too bad, then the first people who start leaving weakens the network effects and cause more people to leave, leading to a chain reaction and a swift collapse.
Facebook's incentive is to prevent such a collapse.
[+] [-] wodenokoto|11 years ago|reply
I'd say it's a mix of people who don't equate the Facebook app with the Facebook content, who don't like Facebook as a company, but loves the content and who don't feel that their recommendation is necessary for spreading the app (that is, one can give it 1 star to punish FB for my app crashing, but I still recommend friends to download it)
[+] [-] teaneedz|11 years ago|reply
[+] [-] onewaystreet|11 years ago|reply
[+] [-] pestaa|11 years ago|reply
[+] [-] tstonez|11 years ago|reply
[+] [-] inthewoods|11 years ago|reply
http://i.imgur.com/iB2SMwC.png
What it shows is that there has been a general trend down in their app score - there seems to be a further dip around the time of Messenger but the reviews seem to indicate a lot of frustration around stability.
[+] [-] Raphmedia|11 years ago|reply
[+] [-] smackfu|11 years ago|reply
[+] [-] zo1|11 years ago|reply
[+] [-] CanSpice|11 years ago|reply
[+] [-] laoba|11 years ago|reply
Previously they had an easy way of switching between the two all within the first view that showed by default, now it's just a pain in the ass and it seems like none of the devs actually use it.
[+] [-] inthewoods|11 years ago|reply
[+] [-] fleshweasel|11 years ago|reply
http://www.scottyloveless.com/blog/2014/the-ultimate-guide-t...
I just use the website now. Somehow it manages to offer chat as well as news feed without displacing me to another domain, or whatever is analogous to opening up an entirely separate app.
I just don't buy that spinning off messenger was good for customers, especially considering they have really failed to create a good experience all around.
[+] [-] oesmith|11 years ago|reply
[+] [-] jamieomatthews|11 years ago|reply
One big issue I've noticed is that the app is borderline unusable on older devices (iphone 4). This may explain the huge number of people who are reporting these issues, which certainly happen less on newer devices. I've noticed what looks like a small UI hickup on my 5s will crash the iphone 4.
[+] [-] smackfu|11 years ago|reply
[+] [-] bnolsen|11 years ago|reply
[+] [-] evanb|11 years ago|reply
It's rate 4+ on the app store, with 512 reviews. I think it's just less well-known.
Edit: link https://www.facebook.com/paper
[+] [-] ndespres|11 years ago|reply
[+] [-] dilap|11 years ago|reply
(Messenger does provide release notes; it's just the FB app proper that doesn't.)
[+] [-] smackfu|11 years ago|reply
[+] [-] smackfu|11 years ago|reply
[+] [-] martin_tipgain|11 years ago|reply
[+] [-] unknown|11 years ago|reply
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