Apple takes apps out of iTunes (dumber than the Pro 5 promotion)

HarveyWildes

HarveyWildes

Member
Joined
May 3, 2016
Messages
984
Every once in a while, my mind is blown away by dumb business decisions.  You remember the Festool Pro 5 promo.  Well now Apple has done it.

Has anyone else installed the new version of iTunes and discovered that you can't buy apps on you computer?  Apple has just made it hard for me to buy apps by forcing me to do it on my iPhone - if I were selling apps on the Apple store, I'd be royally ticked right now.  Have you ever tried to find just the right app on an iPhone sized screen?  It's a terrible experience!  And of course, Apple is trying to dress up the pig by explaining how great it is that they took this away and made apps on the iPhone better instead.  C'mon, you couldn't put a large enough screen on a phone to make searching for and buying apps a good experience - if you did, it wouldn't be a good phone anymore.

With limited memory on my iPhone, I would sync different apps to and from my phone as needed, from my PC.  Now I need to download them each time.

Furthermore, I just wasted a couple of hours discovering this on my own, then researching it online because I couldn't believe that Apple would do something this dumb.  Silly me, I guess.

Of course, look how the whole Pro 5 thing has blown over - the inventory is gone and the only lasting effects are the occasional Pro 5 that shows up on eBay.  This is much worse than that - I'll be surprised if Apps ever make it back into iTunes, so this bad decision will be with every iPhone (and iPad) user for years.

Arrrrgggh!
 
I don't understand why so often i hear negative chat here about the Pro5 promotion. I get the frustrating delays in delivery, but man.... Festool sold $300+ Sanders for $99 and people talk about it like they were literally robbed in broad daylight.  [eek]

As for apps in iTunes.. Personally I'm glad iTunes will have one less thing in it thats not music. I miss the days where it was just a simple music library.
 
MrB

It now appears that this site is just for old wingers to moan about everything that is wrong in their lives, shame really because it drives away the interesting people who enjoy their lives.this site needs another 500 sixpointsocket’s not more wingers as late.
Totally agree with you about iTunes, the clue is in the name, tunes.
 
Harvey, I share your frustration!  I'm hoping a development will be in the works for a device management application that allows for backups, syncing, and managing apps from a desktop. 

I agree with you at the risk of being labeled as an "old winger".  I don't know what that is, but I probably am one.

[embarassed]  [embarassed]  [embarassed]
 
It is evolution. We are partners with Apple and everything they do nowadays (in regards to iPhones and iTunes) is geared towards NOT having iTunes. I would argue that seeing the app in its native format (ie on your phone or tablet) is the best way to “preview” the app you are going to load.

I do agree that it was a handy way when you have a limited phone, say 16 or 32 Gb.

My .02, YMMV.

Cheers. Bryan.

PS - I forgot to add that from your phone you can see all of your purchases that are not on your phone if that helps.  Still on the phone, but you can at least "sort" for items not currently on the phone.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
I don't think the negative remarks (but often also constructive or insightful) we see in the Forum are largely due to the behavior of old wingers. They are rather the responses from people who have different backgrounds and/or experiences.

Many have rich life experiences outside woodworking and they may make comments on certain topics as they look at them from different perspectives. Unless they explain themselves in detail (often not, in the nature of forum discussions), their perspectives may make them misconstrued as being whiners. For example, I am fully happy with my Pro5s (in plural), but I understand why some people felt upset by its disorganized launch, and some people did receive mal-functioned units from the get-go.

I am not a user of the iTunes, but it does sound silly that its new edition has made it harder for a customer to make purchases. (The business/strategic rationale behind it may not be silly though, and may in fact be brilliant from the company's perspective.) There are many examples of changes which upset customers and customers are doing the businesses a favor by voicing their unhappiness. The worst is when customers of a business have given up and don't care to make their opinions known, positive or negative.
 
Big G said:
MrB

It now appears that this site is just for old wingers to moan about everything that is wrong in their lives, shame really because it drives away the interesting people who enjoy their lives.this site needs another 500 sixpointsocket’s not more wingers as late.
Totally agree with you about iTunes, the clue is in the name, tunes.
Click to expand...

Now that it's the next morning and my frustration at wasting two hours (that I could have used to do more enjoyable things) has calmed down, I plead guilty as charged, noting that the site also accommodates old wingers who moan about old wingers who moan (thankfully it does not regress infinitely).  And I agree about sixpointsocket, and would add derekcohen and ear3 and Peter Parfitt - thanks guys! - and I know I'm missing many others who are great constructive contributors.

r.e. the question, Have I looked in the [new] App Store? - Yes.
*  Any text entry requires that I use the iPhone soft keyboard.  I do have a Bluetooth keyboard that I can connect my phone to, but using it kind of defeats the purpose of the phone's form factor.
*  Searching for new apps (for example, try searching for "time tracking") allows you to scan one or two apps at a time, and I did not see a way to sort the items.  Ads for apps sort to the top.  The experience is better if I know exactly what app I want to download.
*  The screen shots for the apps don't really give a full-size preview feel, so I haven't seen that as an advantage yet.  If there are multiple screen shots, you have to scroll through them and it's harder to build a big picture.
*  I have slow internet - it's generally easier for me to update apps overnight, and then let the updates sync to my phone when I plug it in.  The speed of updating or downloading apps in the phone directly is painful, especially if I am moving around.
*  In general, my take on the new App Store is that it is an incremental improvement over the old one, but not a replacement for the App Store in iTunes.  Note that I have used the iPhone App Store in a limited way over the years, though not so much for purchasing new apps.  It's just not as productive as using iTunes for things that I do more frequently.
 
Quite ironic about the nature of six point's last posting. Just as he was mentioned here.  :o
 
My full-time job is with a company that develops on Apple's IOS (operating system for all iPhones and iPads) platform. Typically, Apple will favor apps that are frequently updated (in this case, by Festool) and/or downloaded by end users. As its a coupon, there is no reason for Festool to update their app. It might be a pain in the neck for some to download to the iPhone but $50 seems like a pretty good incentive to me.
 
antss said:
Quite ironic about the nature of six point's last posting. Just as he was mentioned here.  :o
Click to expand...

    Something tells me that sixpoints situation goes a bit deeper than whining. Due to lack of further in depth details and the fact that he has requested the thread be temporarily locked until he can share more. I suggest that further speculation is not the best course of action.

    He has certainly provided a wealth of interesting tool topics and projects to follow with great pictures to accompany them. A nice change up and some variety from the common topics on FOG.

Seth
 
Haven't bought an App on iTunes for.....don't know how long. I think that's what the App Store is for isn't it?

Seems like the thread was just an excuse to post something negative about Festool that the person didn't like.
 
Re old wingers  - working in retail I find wingers come in all ages, genders, ethnic groups etc.,. And I can differentiate a genuine complaint that deserves my attention from that of a winger.

Just a mid 60s winger having a winge here about all wingers necessarly being 'old men'  [big grin]
 
grbmds said:
Haven't bought an App on iTunes for.....don't know how long. I think that's what the App Store is for isn't it?

Seems like the thread was just an excuse to post something negative about Festool that the person didn't like.
Click to expand...

Or maybe that person had something different in mind.  Maybe he was frustrated with Apple because he does buy apps on iTunes.  Maybe he just compared Apple's decision to the Festool Pro 5 promotion because most FOGers would remember that it also frustrated a lot of people as an unintended consequence.  It's really hard to determine motive from written communication where motive is not explicit.

And I finally get winging - it's whinging as in Harry Potter's Little Whinging, isn't it?  So is whinging an archaic spelling?
 
One of the real reasons is that Apple is removing the need for using a traditional computer at all. The new chips are faster than some top of the line laptops. There's also an assumption in the next few years there will be no ports at all, so it's an attempt to transition you there before then.

Personally I haven't hooked up a phone to a computer outside the need to root on Android, and haven't done it with an iPhone since probably the 4.
 
Ha, Pro 5 promo was awesome for me. I had no problem getting quite a few.

That said, I do agree that it is lame I cant buy apps in the iTunes PC app anymore. Silly. But then I always have my iPhone or iPad within arms reach and I have a Macbook Air that I can use too. So, in the end it wont make that big of a difference for me.
 
Just another reason why I don't use Apple devices. Too closed, too dictatorially. There are some applications better that their analogs for Android, but no problems with access to file system, installing anything I want.. Now i prefer to download modified apk to my laptop, plug my phone to it and press "install".
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

F
sysrock br10 conenction issues
Replies
1
Views
99
rmhinden
R
O
Pro 5 a "Must Have"?
2
Replies
22
Views
4K
leakyroof
leakyroof
S
Grabo Classic vs Pro vs DeWalt?
2 3
Replies
52
Views
6K
brbeard
B
A
Incra Router Table Fence vs Woodpeckers SF Pro Fence?
Replies
3
Views
469
alltracman78
A
P
Someone is listening…(An IPad story).
Replies
14
Views
3K
Peter Kelly
P
Back
Top