App store updates are perfect: no unnecessary complications, no unnecessary work (assuming Screen Studio is published and properly updated in the app store), and the worst case scenario is notifications about a new Screen Studio version ending up in a Screen Studio recording in progress.
Thinking of it, the discussed do-it-yourself update checking is so stupid that malice and/or other serious bugs should be assumed.
Exactly. The AppStore already exists and does updates (either automatically or manually, configurable by the user). The developer didn't have to lift a finger to get this functionality. Imagine sitting down and spending time adding functionality to your application that is already provided for free by the operating system, and then after all that, doing it incorrectly!
Starting from the paid developer accounts, the Apple app store isn't "provided for free by the operating system" and it is a source of endless busywork, fear and suffering, but the argument stands: a professional Macintosh software vendor uses the app store because Macintosh users expect it, so it can be assumed that "properly" publishing new software version to the app store is a sunken cost that should be made as useful as possible.
By "provided for free" I mean the App Store comes with the OS, costs nothing (monetarily) to the developer over the existing annual Apple Developer Program fee, which pretty much all macOS developers pay anyway, and can be counted on to exist on all macOS installations.
> malice and/or other serious bugs should be assumed
Going back to the blog post and re-reading it with this possibility in mind is quite a trip.
> It turns out thousands of our users had the app running in the background, even though they were not using it or checking it for weeks (!). It meant thousands of users had auto-updater constantly running and downloading the new version file (250MB) over and over again every 5 minutes
This could easily have been data exfiltration from client computers instead, and few (besides the guy whose internet contract got cancelled for heavy traffic) would have noticed.
I find the misbehavior of indie/boutique MacOS apps always insisting on starting at login very irritating. Unless the app needs to run some heavy background preparation steps before becoming usable, there is literally no sense it starting at login. Also when dormant, check for update(once every 24h), and nag the user if they want to update, but please do not auto download! A lot of non-tech folks use 128/256GB versions of macbook with trillions of photos already clogging their device, an app downloading new updates to add to the pain unless the user asks to do so is outright malice.
Yeah no, publishing to the App Store is a nightmare in cost and time. I can 100% guarantee they still saved money on 30% fees even after this $8000 snafu.
Screen Studio has 32k followers, lets say 6% are end users, 2000 users at $229, that is $137k in App Store fees.
I am going to say writing your own app update script is a wash time wise, as getting your app published is not trivial, especially for an app that requires as many permissions as screen studio.
Some people don’t like using the AppStore. I like to keep backups of installers so I can control the version. And if it gets pulled from the AppStore, I’ll always have a copy.
Thinking of it, the discussed do-it-yourself update checking is so stupid that malice and/or other serious bugs should be assumed.