Re: Are Playstore app updates tested before release?

Jeff Layman wrote on Fri, 12 Jul 2024 09:50:53 +0100 :

Take a look at my results run for this post, as shown in this screenshot.
  <https://i.postimg.cc/CL0CYF32/solitaire01.jpg> 324 free/ad-free apps
 
What did I do wrong (given that over 300 similar apps seems like a lot)?

 
You used App Finder, rather than just use the Play Store search, which
is what I did on my cellphone.

Hi Jeff,

It's always good to learn from you as you've helped me in the past too.

Yes. The Skyica App finder, which is free for me, is the best app search
engine on the planet, bar none - it has the best filters by far of all.
 <https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=scadica.aq>

I'm not sure if it's free for everyone as I use a special build.

What is interesting about the Play Store
search is that even if you use "solitaire klondike free no ads" or
similar wording you get lots of results. It's only when you look at the
one and two star reviews you find they're *not* ad free at all!

You'd think Google would know a thing or two about search engines, right?
There's a reason the Google Play Store search is almost totally useless.

You leave a lot of money on the table when you don't know what's free,
ad free, in-app purchase free, etc., which Skyica app finder gives you.

For
example, you'll find many reviews complaining that the incidence of ads
for that app have increased with the latest update. To do that, though,
you'll have to look at "all reviews", and change from "relevance" to
"most recent".

Yes. The sleazy companies play tricks to get those ads to your phone.
There are lot of tricks they are using - but most ads are easily blocked.

But I wouldn't know much about that as I never see ads on my phones.

What is really strange is if you look at
<https://play.google.com/store/search?q=solitaire+no+ads+free+offline&c=apps>
in your PC's browser (I've no idea what a cellphone browser shows),
you'll find only four hits.

While the companies often have "mobile" sites (e.g., m.domain.name), they
"should" show the same information - perhaps in an abbreviated format.

Now change the search to
<https://play.google.com/store/search?q=solitaire%20klondike%20no%20ads%20free%20offline&c=apps>.
In other words add another limitation by using "klondike" as a required
search term. Mysteriously, you'll now find 30 hits!

Each search engine works in its own mysterious ways but if you added a
"plus sign" to each of those terms, it should reduce spurious hits.

FROM: solitaire klondike no ads free offline
TO: +solitaire +klondike +"no ads" +free +offline

But I didn't test it because I have Skyica App Finder installed.
I just click the button for "free" and the one for "no ads".
If desired, I click the one for "no in-app purchases" too.

BTW, the number two app, ranked by the default sort, was the one you're
using by "Potato Jam" so you picked a good app it seems.

 
Yes, I've always appreciated its simple interface. What I don't like is
the way that it automatically hides the android system buttons even when
working correctly, and I've not found a way (other than by using the
app's menu) to get them back.

Oh, you hit another pet peeve of mine - when an app hides Android's
interface. Now you're making me mad! :)

I especially dislike when they hide the Android navigation buttons simply
by changing the color of the bottom of the screen to white so they're
nearly invisible even though they're there so you can't swipe around to get
them back because they're already there - just hidden behind the curtains.

The F-Droid alternative I've installed has a few more solitaire games,
including "Freecell" which I first played on a Windows NT4 PC around 30
years ago!

Well, you have 300 free ad-free in-app-purchase free apps with Solitaire in
the name to choose from, so you should find a couple in that list you like.

Good luck.

If you install the Skyica App finder, let me know if it's free for you.
(Mine is a special build which isn't generally available to the public.)
 <https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=scadica.aq>