How can developers sell apps they know don't work. (can I get refund)

[wackymacky]

Well I bought Spreadsheet for $10 NZD. It might seem excessive but I have a use for a spreadsheet app on my phone)

Anyway after entering some data and simple formula, I'm getting wrong answers. I check and the problem is the App can't devide if result is a fraction!! i.e 50/100 won't give you 0.5, just zero.

This is very simple stuff, and not excatly a special or unusual function!

I emailed then developer and get the reply that ..' It is a known issue that is being fixed in an upcomming update' !!!!

IF the App was free, very well, but how can they charge for a product that donsn't do what it is ment to!

Will Apple give me a refund?

 

[DreamPod]

Because it's a bug. Bugs happen. ALL programs ever made have had bugs in them when released. The only difference is how severe/noticable. And this app apparently works perfectly fine in every other case, right? So you can't say the app doesn't do what it is meant to do. Unless it's called Fractionalizer or something So why you want your money back, rather than waiting the week or two for the update? Are you that impatient?

 

[diesel]

I would give them 2-3 weeks to fix it in an update. If by that time they don't have the update out, then it's most likely because they're a bunch of amateur hacks and best you get your refund asap. Mobilecrap is a prime example, took them 6 weeks to get an update out, and the overwhelming consensus has been that they are just a bunch of incompetent morons. For a spreadsheet app that can't do simple calcs, that's inexecuseable. However, give them at least one opportunity to make it right. And impress on them to fix the bug asap, and not to hold up the fix to roll in some enhancements when the core functionality isn't even working.

 

[Sun Baked]

A spreadsheet that can't give fractional numbers as a result is a huge error.

Sorry, no percentages and you can't divide by anything other than whole number results.

Shocking they let that slip by before release, almost as bad as a truck that can't carry a load -- GMC Typhoon/Syclone cough.

 

[return7]

I agree that it can be frustrating, but stuff happens. Give the guy a break and he'll fix it. I'm sure he'd love to have the update to you immediately but Apple has to review it too. Also, I'm sure he didn't know it was broken when he released it.

 

[wackymacky]

Because it's a bug. Bugs happen. ALL programs ever made have had bugs in them when released. The only difference is how severe/noticable. And this app apparently works perfectly fine in every other case, right? So you can't say the app doesn't do what it is meant to do. Unless it's called Fractionalizer or something So why you want your money back, rather than waiting the week or two for the update? Are you that impatient?

I'm sorry but the writers are a comercial company with several products for sale.

If they know an app has bugs to start with, it's a beta version and should be sold as such. That's my issue.

 

[robbieduncan]

Sounds like they have used integer instead of floating point maths. A really very elementary error that most school-level programmers would spot and fix.

 

[return7]

I'm sorry but the writers are a comercial company with several products for sale.

If they know an app has bugs to start with, it's a beta version and should be sold as such. That's my issue.

You make it sound like all companies are these gargantuan entities. A company can be a single guy who's spent 100 dollars to incorporate and is trying to make a little money on top of their day job. Companies are mainly small businesses and they're almost all certainly either aware of only some bugs or not aware of any at all (the simple app case where they think they've fixed them!). Just because they're "commercial" doesn't mean they're any more aware. They need help from people like you to improve their software. Really, forget this "company" thing -- it's just another human on the other end of that fiber.

Sounds like they have used integer instead of floating point maths. A really very elementary error that most school-level programmers would spot and fix.

I'd agree with that but sometimes one focuses on the big things and fails notice minor things. That app is probably pretty complex and it probably worked at some point, then he made some foolish mistake and didn't check again later.

 

[mrgreen4242]

Because it's a bug. Bugs happen. ALL programs ever made have had bugs in them when released. The only difference is how severe/noticable. And this app apparently works perfectly fine in every other case, right? So you can't say the app doesn't do what it is meant to do. Unless it's called Fractionalizer or something So why you want your money back, rather than waiting the week or two for the update? Are you that impatient?

This is not a bug. A SPREADSHEET that can't divide properly is just a grid with numbers. It's a CORE function of this type of application, and if it doesn't do it the app is broken. Period.

A bug would be if the app rounded fractions 'funny' or improperly, like say it round 6/10 to .666 rather than .667.

This is just something that the developer knew needed to get fixed but rushed it out the door to try to get some money from a system that doesn't let people test out software before paying for it. This is the #1 reason I've spent a total of 99cents on applications.

Hope you get your money back!

 

[markgamber]

I'm sorry but the writers are a comercial company with several products for sale.

If they know an app has bugs to start with, it's a beta version and should be sold as such. That's my issue.

Wait for a fix, get your money back or write a better one. There's your options.

I also tend to agree with SOME of the above. This whole Apple scheme really blows. It's a pain in the ass just to write an app, what with the bull**** ndas and all. It's a pain in the ass to get the certs lined up properly, it's a pain in the ass to get Apple to do anything in a timely manner, it's a pain in the ass to test apps before sending them off, it's a pain in the ass to update them and to top it off, the developer has to PAY to do any of the above. I'm not sure what's worse, Apple saying "NO APPS" or this mess.

 

[coconn06]

This is not a bug. A SPREADSHEET that can't divide properly is just a grid with numbers. It's a CORE function of this type of application, and if it doesn't do it the app is broken. Period.

A bug would be if the app rounded fractions 'funny' or improperly, like say it round 6/10 to .666 rather than .667.

This is just something that the developer knew needed to get fixed but rushed it out the door to try to get some money from a system that doesn't let people test out software before paying for it. This is the #1 reason I've spent a total of 99cents on applications.

Hope you get your money back!

It's still technically a bug; just a very severe, to the point of being useless, bug.

Also, 6/10 = .6 exactly, not .667 or .666 The fraction you were looking for is 2/3.

 

[iblastoff]

A bug would be if the app rounded fractions 'funny' or improperly, like say it round 6/10 to .666 rather than .667.

lol @ your math.

and i thought this thread was going to be about mobilechat

 

[DreamPod]

I'm sorry but the writers are a comercial company with several products for sale.

If they know an app has bugs to start with, it's a beta version and should be sold as such. That's my issue.

Chances are they *didn't* know it had a bug until it was submitted. This has happened to many an app. The solution is to fix the bug and submit an update, unfortunately you can't submit the update until the app is first available, and that update submission can take a week or more because of Apple, not because of the developer.

And as I said, ALL software apps for all platforms have bugs, every piece of software ever released ships with bugs both that the developer knows about and that they don't. They never all get fixed. Eventually you reach a point where if you keep fixing bugs you'll be doing it forever, and the act of fixing bugs could introduce new, worse bugs. This sounds like one they didn't know about until it was submitted, though.

This is not a bug. A SPREADSHEET that can't divide properly is just a grid with numbers. It's a CORE function of this type of application, and if it doesn't do it the app is broken. Period.

Um, where exactly did the OP state that it can't ever divide properly? He only mentioned problems when the result is less than 1, ie a fraction. Thus it is not as major a problem as you are trying to make it; while it is a problem, it's not one everyone would run into. As well, spreadsheets are for a LOT more than just dividing. The inability to deal with division results of less than 1 don't just make it entirely useless.

Hope you get your money back!

Again, I don't see the point in getting money back. He has the app, in a week or two it'll be fixed. Why get your money back?