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duanem commented on Ask HN: Flowx removed from Google Play without warning    · Posted by u/duanem
duanem · a year ago
So Flowx is back on Google Play now. There was no notification that the changes were accepted or the appeal was accepted of that the app was live again. Nothing.

During the 1-2 days the app was removed from the Google Play store, Flowx missed out on new subscriptions and it seems the recurring subscriptions were cancelled.

I find it crazy Google can do this to people with no recourse.

This is why we need multiple app stores on each platform.

As a solo developer, it has been hard to support multiple app stores but now I will make an effort, encourage other developers to list on other stores and encourage users to install from the smaller stores.

I know it's hopeful, but I hope get get a better app ecosystem.

I remember when Apple and Google worked hard to woo developers and users, now they own the market, they can act without concern.

duanem commented on Ask HN: Flowx removed from Google Play without warning    · Posted by u/duanem
Aulig · a year ago
From my experience, your best bet is to remove references to these agencies from the app and especially the app description.
duanem · a year ago
Thanks for the reply.

The store blurb lists the data models available in the app, for example, NOAA HRRR and DWD D2, which only cover certain regions in the world. This is important for the user to know before installing the app.

Also, all other weather apps, including Windy and Ventusky, lists the weather models that are available in their app.

This violation notice just doesn't make sense, this is why I wonder if it was an AI process that removed it.

duanem commented on ShowHN: New Flowx Solar Eclipse feature with the weather forecast   flowx.io... · Posted by u/duanem
duanem · 2 years ago
Hi HN,

I'm the developer of Flowx[0], an Android and iOS weather app, and I've just added the solar eclipse path and shadow which can be superimposed over the weather forecast - in particular the low, mid and high cloud forecasts.

I've also created an OpenZone which make all weather data (including HRRR) freely available over North America for the period leading up to the eclipse day.

This is available in the latest Apple App Store release. Unfortunately, I could not get this out to production Android in time but have an alpha test version. Contact me if you are interested in the alpha test version.

Cheers, Duane.

[0] https://flowx.io

duanem commented on iPad users will miss out on third-party app stores, browser engines, and more   9to5mac.com/2024/01/26/io... · Posted by u/microflash
yinyang_in · 2 years ago
Apple did lot of efforts building the ecosystem. No government system helped them in it. Now fruits have come up & they want to tweak it to their own taste.

If monopoly is causing trouble to small businesses & you’re able to prove it then impose fines & whatever is under the law. But just being jealous & imposition of laws just to target businesses(here almost Apple is being singled out).

But this is unpopular opinion.

With 30% fees you get access to big ecosystem of Apple imo is cheap. They’ve put lot of efforts in building it. If don’t want to participate, then don’t. Use android it has what you all what EU wants.

Ps. Not a US citizen neither stakeholder in Apple

duanem · 2 years ago
Apple did not build the ecosystem alone. The ecosystem is made up of the platform, the developers and the users. Lose one of these and you don't have an ecosystem. If all the developers leave, users will leave. If all users leave, developers will leave.

I would argue developers put in just as much, if not more effort.

Apple did not build the ecosystem alone, nor does it own the ecosystem. It is merely acting as a uncool gatekeeper.

duanem commented on Facebook Marketplace shutdown a home business   rnz.co.nz/news/national/4... · Posted by u/duanem
duanem · 3 years ago
I read RNZ news and came across this article. I don't know this couple and I don't know if they did anything wrong, but what really bugs me is that major tech companies can do this without due process or penalties when they negligently get it wrong.

In New Zealand and many places around the world, governments cannot shut a business down without following due process. It seems tech companies make their own rules. How can tech giants do so in a way that affects people's livelihoods in a major way? For Facebook/Meta is it's a drop in the ocean - for this couple, it is their livelihood.

duanem commented on A eulogy for Dark Sky, a data visualization masterpiece   nightingaledvs.com/dark-s... · Posted by u/skadamat
clawlor · 3 years ago
> Never deploy a site into production with DEBUG turned on.

- https://docs.djangoproject.com/en/4.1/ref/settings/#debug

Setting DEBUG = False doesn't cause in Internal Server Issue. The issue is caused by something else, having DEBUG = True just means Django will return a detailed error page, instead of a generic 500 error page.

IIRC, DEBUG = True also used to leak memory, which doesn't matter so much for local development, where it's intended to be used.

duanem · 3 years ago
I changed DEBUG = False and I get an "Internal Server Error" - you can check it now while I have a quick go at finding the cause.

I want to try static page generators (Hugo) instead since they are easier to maintain. So it's a prioritization question - do I spend time fixing this bug or spend the time on migrating.

u/duanem

KarmaCake day85August 3, 2017
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Developer of Flowx weather app.
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