ChompSMS has let me down...more importantly...the dev did.

[adrynalyne]

A small rant....



So the latest update absolutely killed it for a lot of folks (not everyone), with it force closing on open. Then on top of that, he put this annoying ad right smack on the sms thread list saying (donate to us to remove this ad!).

Note that he does not put these ad infested copies in the market screenshots....



Anyway, he is getting a flood of bad PR over it. Well, I helped him with the FC issue by showing him that he had permissions set wrong (I got it working). So I asked, is this worth an ad free copy for helping you out?


Answer:

No.

Here are my emails:

Just updating to let you know I fixed it. You have a permissions problem on the package.

Sadly, I will likely be removing as the ads on the first screen are too intrusive. I was ok with them in the settings and would have donated, but I think its going a little far. Best of luck.

Re: Permissions, what was the issue PLEASE?

Re: Ads:

We need to earn something for all our hard work (over 2-years now), we can't submit a paid app because Google only allow paid apps to be submitted from about 6 countries, none of which are Australia. So the only other option is ads really, but then some users hate ads (me included), so we added a Donate option (in settings page) that allows those users to get rid of the ads.

Imagine you are in our position, hope this helps! Feel free if you have any other ideas.



Martin
chompSMS team....

chompSMS

Fair enough. My complaint was that he actually INCREASED the ads though, which I thought was tacky. I wasn't asking it to be ad free and never would have. He also seems to be busy enough to not remember me from another email from about 1 hour prior. Fair enough.

Constant force closes on the latest update was the issue, in which you told me to uninstall/reboot/reinstall. The actual issue was that you have a permissions problem with the update. This is on a Motorola Droid, 2.1, cyanogenmod 5.0.5.

OK, would love to fix it, can you tell me where the permissions issue was?


Martin
chompSMS team....

chompSMS

NOW he is interested in what I have to say.

I used a script that went through my app permissions and it changed it. Let me look a little closer at it.

Please, that would be much appreciated.


Martin
chompSMS team....

chompSMS

Martin,

Here is what fixed it for me.

Changing group ownership for: /data/app-private/com.p1.chompsms.apk from '1000' to '10056'
Changing permissions for: /data/app-private/com.p1.chompsms.apk from 'rw-------' to 'rw-r-----' (640)

Thanks. You installed from the Android Market right?


Martin
chompSMS team....

chompSMS

Yes.

...and that was the end of it. Several hours later, I thought about it, and wondered if the dev would be kind enough to help me out with an ad free copy, as I helped him out.

So being that I helped narrow this down (and I've read reports of others with this same issue, esp. on Nexus One)--is it worth an ad free copy?

Sorry, I can't because the only way is from your phone.


Martin
chompSMS team....

chompSMS

Now...

I don't ask for much. I don't even ask for donations. But that seems pretty poor behavior to me. I had UNINSTALLED this app and planned on stop using it as of last update, but reinstalled to help him out. I mean I beta tested Pocketshield for free and no expectations back when it first came to the Omnia--heck it didn't EVEN WORK for the first couple versions. But I helped enough to fix it, and got a free copy out of it. And thats not adware and much more costly.

I've got a pretty poor opinion of this dev--he's even let spam from spam bots pile up in his support forums that dates back for days.



He sure was on the ball and interested in what I had for him on what the problem was though!

So in short, I will still be moving on from ChompSMS, which I had come to like and was going to donate to, but I am not happy with how the program is being supported, and the dev apparently doesn't see it fit to reward one good deed with another which is telling.

At any rate, I'm not expecting anyone to stop using it, asking, or recommend you to. I just thought people should know about this situation before making the decision to donate. Whether or not it affects your decision, I don't know. It did for me.


On a final note, I don't know if there was a stealth update without a version change, or if a different ROM fixed it, but the FC issue stopped which is good news for ChompSMS users. However, you don't have to look hard to realize this was a very real issue for quite a few people.

[mth04]

Good info here.....Chomp should have done better......I urge the mebers here using Chomp to speak up. It's had to support a Developer who won't do the right thing..........

[JhankG]

That is not the way to do business. I don't use third party messaging apps myself, but I certainly won't suggest chomp to others from now on. He has every right to include ads in his app, but considering the fact that you found and fixed a problem was certainly enough to merit an ad free copy.

[mills]

Totally bogus of him, I would have given it to you without you needing to ask!

"Thanks for helping improve our service! I've attached to this email an APK of the ad free version, enjoy!"

[icculusX]

screams out HANDCENT

[adrynalyne]

Yeah thats just it. I wasn't looking for a lifetime ad free copy. Just a one time "thanks."


Oh well, I've moved on.

[adrynalyne]

screams out HANDCENT

It does, but I was really disappointed in this whole fiasco, because Chomp use to be faster than Handcent.

[mills]

GOod thing I've kept the old version of chomp

[adrynalyne]

Yeah for sure.

[Flomaster]

Handcent is plenty fast for me I have no problems with it

Handcent x2

-=Jason=-