#i remember one time an iphone DOS emulator got taken down because of that reason

[amiritefellas]

aliucord is the equivalent to betterdiscord for android

We've lost a lot to the onslaught of enshittification but I can think of none more brazen than Discord getting rid of the send button

[andmekb]

Instagram and Me: A Breakup Story

Emotionally abusive. That’s the only way I know how to describe my last relationship. It took everything I had in me and never said thank you. Instead, it asked for more. Asked me to give up every little private piece of myself. Asked me to smile when I was broken inside. Asked me to fake it even when I didn’t think I could anymore. But I did it anyway. I did everything it wanted me to because I thought that I had to. I didn’t know if I could leave, and if I could, I definitely didn’t know how. It wasn’t a boyfriend, no. This toxic relationship was with the world’s favorite social media platform: Instagram.

It wasn’t always like this. As with all relationships that eventually go sour, things started out just fine. We were happy together. I downloaded Instagram the week it was birthed into the app-mosphere and never turned back. I was around fourteen at the time, a freshman in high school, experimenting with hair dye and lacking a care about anything substantial. When I first got Instagram, I didn’t think a single bit about the politics of it. I posted what I wanted to, not concerned about the quality of the picture or the quantity of the likes it got. I was just so happy to be there. So happy to have a new lens to view the world through. Everything I saw, I captured and posted, including ridiculous things like glasses of water and my bedroom curtains. Of course, it was totally silly, but I was also totally free.

It was this freedom that fostered my love for Instagram. It fell into the background of my life, a way to capture and advertise staple memories from my high school days. I was active on it without noticing. The app was just something everyone had, and while I wasn’t quite as intense as I had been in the past, I updated it regularly and didn’t think about it as anything more than something I did because it was something I had always done and something everyone else was doing.

After high school, though, I noticed Instagram evolving. Pictures looked more professional and less casual. Comment sections became areas of praise instead of conversations about the picture they were under. I even observed that people weren’t responding to comments left on their pictures; they just left them there like little nuggets of increased self-esteem to refer back to when needed. So, along with navigating a new world with my first semester of college, I stepped up my Instagram. Now, as I evolved as a student, my posts evolved, too. I became more obsessed with the quality of my photos, the comments they received, and the number of likes they got. Instagram was a game and I wanted to win. I wanted to be the best at it, and nothing was going to stop me. 

Competing in this contest became the most important aspect of my life. I found myself caring way too much about the different facets of the app and allowed it to impact me way more than I should have. Captions and hashtags are always difficult to come up with, so my strategy was to devise something clever first, and then I would plan an event or a photo around the idea I already had.

One night towards the middle of my first semester, my college football team played Alabama in an away game. The rivalry between our two teams is pretty serious, and my obsession with football is even more serious, so I knew I would be watching. A few weeks before the game, a hashtag popped into my head: #JamasAndBama. From there, I thought it would be fun to have a group of friends come over to watch the game in pajama pants. I invited a ton of people (only a few showed up) and we took the picture I was dreaming of before the game even started. I was disappointed more people weren’t there because I thought it would hurt the amount of likes I would receive. The people of Instagram needed to think people came out in droves to participate in the #JamasAndBama event. While that wasn’t true, my followers and friends didn’t need to know. They also didn’t need to know that the event didn’t inspire the hashtag, and that instead the hashtag birthed the event.

I crushed that first semester with a 4.0 GPA and a new tight-knit group of friends. At the end of it, I threw a Christmas party at my house that included nearly twenty people. My house was flooded with friends and laughter. With mood lighting in place and a Christmas tree for aesthetic effect, everyone got in place for my obligatory “Look at all these people I know” picture. I made my mom pull out her professional camera for this one -- I knew what the quality needed to be. Every picture she took turned out blurry. I was devastated. Until I realized that some of my friends had also taken some on their phones. I went around the room checking for whose phone captured the photo with the best quality. One of the girls in the room had just gotten the newest iPhone, and since it focused automatically, we ended up with a picture worth posting. Hallelujah! My night wasn’t ruined anymore and we could continue on with our merry festivities.

Then spring semester came and it didn’t look anything like that for me. My classes were harder and my friends were busier. I went from eating at a full table of people to eating alone every day. My new group of companions was still around, but with none of us having classes together or similar schedules, we drifted apart. I entered into a depression that I thought was seasonal. When the semester ended and I still wasn’t any better, I got worried. At the beginning of that summer, I looked into counseling. That June, I went to Disney World. Standing in line for one of my favorite rides, I ended up on the verge of tears for no apparent reason. I didn’t what was going on, and I didn’t know how to fix it.

And the whole time, I became more obsessed with Instagram. As my emotional stability began to decline, my pictures got better and more frequent (but not too frequent, of course). My Disney World pictures got the most likes of all of my pictures, ever. My social media life didn’t reflect my real life at all, yet I needed to be on it all the time. I kept track of the likes and comments my friends got. Noticed who liked which pictures. Paid attention to how many days passed between others’ posts. And then I attempted to emulate what got the best attention rates. Instagram became the scale by which I measured myself. Even though I knew on some deep logical level that if I wasn’t feeling internally what I was posting externally, my friends weren’t either, it didn’t matter. I needed to put up the front because that was the price of existing as a person in my age range on the internet.

My realization came way too late. One night late that summer, I went out to eat with a group of my high school friends. After dinner, we went walking around the cutest part of our town. All of the girls in the group sat on a bench with a fine backdrop and took a photo so we could all remember the fun we had that night. I had a great time out with the people I love most, but I HATED that picture. The lighting was awful, my makeup had come off, and the quality would never hold up. No amount of edits could fix it. And because I didn’t realize it until after the hangout was over, I missed my opportunity. Was it a good picture to remember a fun night with great friends? Absolutely. Was it Instagrammable? Absolutely not.

As the summer started winding down, I got anxious. Was I going to have to force my way through another semester while depressed? Was I going to have to continue pretending? Two weeks before the start of my sophomore semester, I started to examine my life deeply and intently for ways to achieve greater happiness in a short amount of time. I had to wonder if there was anything in my control that I could alter to bring my life and emotions back to where I wanted them. Then, I caught myself doing something ridiculous: opening Instagram literally two seconds after I had closed it.

Did I really need to know what was going on that much? Did I think enough had changed in the time it took me to exit the app to open it back up? The evidence said I did. But why did it matter? It was harmless, right? I was just trying to keep up with my friends. Just using it as a way to stalk cute boys. Just doing it because it was there. Besides, I loved it. I grew up with it. Instagram and I had been together since ninth grade, and nothing bad had ever happened, so everything was fine. Right?

I heard the answer like a whisper in the dark: “Delete it.”

This was not the solution I was looking for. In fact, it was the opposite of what I wanted to do. Deleting Instagram just wasn’t an option. But after much prayer and deliberation, it became clear that the only way to feel like my life was alright was to remove the barrier that made me feel like it wasn’t. I wouldn’t know how well I was or wasn’t doing if I had no scale to check. I ordered a hard drive to save all my pictures and made my farewell post while waiting for it to arrive.

Honestly, I didn’t think anyone but myself would care. Yes, it was a bigger deal to me than it should have been, but I have an obsessive personality which tends to make things like this more dramatic than necessary. The number of “Are you really deleting Instagram?” texts I got was insane. I was honored that some people wanted me to stay, but of course my close friends want me to exist in the same spectrum as they do. They were all extremely understanding that I needed to remove the toxicity from my life -- that the app had become more of a problem than a pleasure, and because of that, it needed to go. We all moved on, and it wasn’t that big of a deal.

Or so I thought. The same day my farewell post went live, a girl I went to high school with - but don’t really talk to anymore -  ran into my parents at lunch in town and mentioned it to them. That’s how I realized that while this mattered way too much to me, it at least mattered enough to other people as well. I knew then that this was a piece of our culture that so many of us thought we had to participate in. No one knew we could leave at any time. We weren’t devising exit strategies because we didn’t think we could use them. But I discovered an out and I had to take it.

So, that was it. I made a difficult decision that shouldn’t have been difficult. I had to completely remove myself from the equation. I sacrificed my favorite way to search people and my clever name handle for a life without likes, comments, captions, and hashtags. The most important thing about doing it is how bad I didn’t want to. If I thought there was any other way to feel better or to use it right, I would have stayed. But nearly a year later, I am still without it. When school started this past fall, I had the best time of my life! I walked in the freedom of no pressure to be perfect for others. I met my best friend, started a new major, and moved forward realizing my life still matters even when other people can’t see it.

I haven’t relapsed since deleting Instagram, but I have come close. There are days when I think, “If I do it right, it won’t be as bad. Now that I know what the problems were, I won’t be susceptible to them.” And then I get a taste of it and remember that’s not true. Most recently, this came in the form of asking a friend to look up a cute boy for me (some things never change, okay?).  Within an instance of being on his profile, we learned that he had recently gotten a new girlfriend. Rest assured, this is not the first time this has happened to me. Nearly my entire Instagram duration was fostered by this same desire to know more than I needed to, seeking it out, and being disappointed with the results. But, the new knowledge changed my interactions with the boy. Had I never looked him up, the information would have found me on a need-to-know basis and I could have dealt with it organically. This little adventure on Instagram was fun and disappointing, but it was enough to show me that I can’t control myself when I have it. It was enough to convince me I am not ready to go back and won’t be anytime soon.

My life without Instagram is fuller and more genuine than it ever was while I had it. My events are planned out of a sheer desire to spend time with people I love and want to fellowship with. I had another Christmas party this past year. This party was more intimate than the last one, but it was filled with people who belong in my life, not because they make pictures look good but because they make life feel good. It was a more fulfilling experience, with games and food and laughter into the wee hours of the night. It was an entirely different tone from the last one. I was happier to be in the presence of other people, listening to stories and making new memories with them. Now when I take pictures, I take them for me. I don’t worry about my hair or my makeup or the backdrop for aesthetic appeal. I go on adventures for the heck of it and can take breaks when I need to because no one is waiting for me to post. Once I realized that I could live my life without an audience, I found the freedom I had been wishing for. If the way to find myself was to do it without anyone watching, then Hasta La Insta, baby.

[beingmad2017-blog]

eleven Methods to Marketplace Your iPhone and iPod media Contact App And Carrier

New Post has been published on https://beingmad.org/eleven-methods-to-marketplace-your-iphone-and-ipod-contact-app-and-carrier/

eleven Methods to Marketplace Your iPhone and iPod media Contact App And Carrier

On the equal time as there may be no magic system or single marketing motion which could do the trick for you, the one’s strategies can offer you with a framework that will help you growth corporation exposure, sales, and income. Media advertising and marketing your iPhone/Touch app is simply a way that can take time.

I ill-will will let you apprehend that we have no longer decided price discounts to be the first rate technique. We to begin with the notion this is probably very effective because the App store shape is set up to rank applications by the usage of the form of total downloads. Higher typical profits and overall downloads thru price class are not presently recognized with Apple’s gadget.

Keep in thoughts for instance that in case your app becomes $five and you decided to decrease it to $zero.ninety nine, you will have to inform promote five instances as many surely to interrupt even. Now you may briefly increase publicity this manner, however At the charge of maximizing your income margins even as you are most apt to do nicely On the begin of your product existence cycle. Customer service troubles can also increase through a component of 5 as properly.

That being stated, there may be not anything incorrect with adjusting your app’s rate inside the starting to find out its excellent Market price (which might change over the years).

There are 24,455 apps and counting, so permit’s bounce in and get commenced!

1. The arena (iTunes App keep) Is Flat

advertising

Take into account your functionality global Marketplace right from the moment of conceptualization. There are human beings anywhere inside the planet eager to use and gain from exceptional programs. initially, we meant to encompass the metric machine and neighborhood foreign money in our app but decided to push it again to version 1.1. We were so eager to begin the submission process with Apple and this ended up negatively affected our sales without query. I endorse taking that extra time to make your app useful to the global community, or maybe a few key Macworld Marketplace gets (China, Russia, Important and South America, Japan, and Germany come to thoughts).

What does this suggest? If currencies are used, vehicle find out the individual’s nearby forex beneath their device’s well-known settings; and if applicable cope with forex conversions. Make your internet site, instructions, and sales pages easy to understand and use images to guide your text. Keep in mind that for masses human beings, English can be their second or 0.33 language. Make your software program greater intuitive via selecting symbols over text wherever viable. Attain out to bloggers in your niche global Market in Europe and Asia. encompass a complimentary promo code in your correspondence. It cannot damage.

Don’t forget this: we obtained nearly $1,000 in profits from Italy due to a single online put up turned into written in Italian! Now you could flow further with this and have your profits internet web page and help instructions translated into number one languages like Spanish or Chinese language. Expenses for best work range and you will need to get a person fluent inside the language to double check their artwork.

Recollect there are sixty-five one-of-a-kind versions of iTunes around the area and counting. unmarried apps may be superior to be used on the iPhone and the iPod Contact. How big is the Market for both? Apple does not destroy down sales of man or woman product strains. A conservative estimate of four.4 million iPhone income and 22.7 million iPod sales for an ultimate quarter might be about 7 million in three months. That may be a suggest of seventy-8,000 new devices coming on-line every day. top notch and nearly frightening. It cannot be remaining all the time, but wow!

2. Create a Lite or Demo version

Apple we ought to builders offer both a unfastened and paid model of the identical app, and a unfastened pattern might be the maximum a hit advertising and marketing technique ever. humans want to try things. There are masses of Crapps (crappy apps) accessible, so why ought to humans hazard cash on an app they realize no longer anything approximately from a company they apprehend even less about? If you could supply humans a flavor this is just enough, they’ll purchase the entire meal from you! This way you dispose of a whole lot of the risk.

There are various techniques for this, but ensure the lite model sales net web page is plain in its barriers vs. The paid or full version. In case you truncate the app an excessive amount of, human beings may think it is an entire dud and notice no rate in paying you whatever for the top class release. provide human beings an easy concept of what they’re entering into and this method may want to make you wealthy. Developer Ethan Nicholas offers the motivation to head this route in a state-of-the-art Stressed piece:

at the same time as iShoot released in October, the economic agency changed into slow for a while. And then Nicholas placed a few spare time to code a unfastened version of the app – iShoot Lite, which he launched January. Right here’s how that helped: Internal iShoot Lite he advertised the $3, a full version of iShoot. Customers downloaded the loose model 2.four million instances. And that led 320,000 glad iShoot Lite gamers to pay for iShoot.

three. pass loose

Now, this is something that can be taken into consideration for awesome reasons. proper now “in-app” advertising and marketing lacks sophistication. Once I say that I advocate we do not have Google AdSense yet. I’m positive it is coming, but embedded advertising and marketing and advertising and marketing that does not relate to the content material fabric in any way is actually intrusive in my personal opinion. I, however, have a look at about sure developers making tons of cash with embedded app marketing and advertising, but, it’s miles tough sufficient to get human beings to click on ads if they’re relevant. Whilst they may be no longer, the press-thru fee is pretty low. in case your app is something that human beings use, again and again, advertising can however paintings. We personally did no longer find it successful because it’s masses simpler to make approximately 70 cents off of a 90-nine cent app than to earn the same amount with commercials. you can additionally upload a PayPal donation button as AppCubby did, however this probably may not be just proper for you until you’ve got a large pre-current purchaser or fan base.

you can also introduce your app for free of charge. Get people using it, talk about it, and get hold of remarkable comments. Then begin charging human beings. Flawlessly acceptable with Apple.

Looking at it from a prolonged-term perspective, you may absolutely deliver away the number one app to get human beings talking, create a base and construct your emblem. Notwithstanding the entirety, no longer something spreads like unfastened (mainly exquisite unfastened). you may use this to gather Contact info and remarks out of your initial Clients and turn them into customers to your subsequent app or product. Be sure to encompass a “proportion” function Internal your unfastened app (Inner all of your apps!). Make sharing as easy as feasible.

four. Ship Out a Press launch

Service

PRMac, a free (or almost unfastened) press launch distribution Service and the MacNN (Macintosh News network) syndicate (unfastened to submit) are truly well worth the charge of submission. Competing services can rate over $six hundred for distribution in The us alone, so those are valuable and much less pricey alternatives. they may be saying the press launch is lifeless, however, the one’s offerings right now targeted your capacity Customers. You in no way understand who you may Achieve, and it’s miles vital to offer a press release While soliciting all sorts of media.

five. Touch the Pinnacle one hundred Blogs

Technorati can provide you with the modern-day listing. Use a conversational fashion, get right to the point and embody a promo code. Figure out what might also want to sell them to your commercial enterprise corporation. If there is a thrilling perspective or tale around your app, this will boom your possibilities. Ask them if you can do a tourist publish. Who knows? When you have websites like Gizmodo that get three million page views consistent with a day, this could certainly turbocharge income!

6. Continuously Enhance Your income web page

This one is pretty essential however often omitted. Examine the profits pages of various Pinnacle apps. What are they doing? Emulate what works and Hold learning to spark thoughts. you can show up to five photographs as of this writing, so use them! Use the photos that sell your product. Ask exclusive human beings what grabs their attention. Use expenses from reviewers; percentage advantages first and major. Clients aren’t Continuously logical, so do not bore them with statistics. How will your application make their lives better?

7. Use purchaser feedback to construct a Better Product

this is two parts. First, properly-timed respond to client emails and comprehend that every interaction with customers, whether or not or now not genuine or awful, is a marketing possibility. whilst you get feedback through electronic mail or thru your patron opinions, Remember and comprise those improvements. You cannot please really everybody all the time, and you may have limited belongings, so that you may not be capable of uploading the whole thing. a few awesome mind are sure to come returned your way. First-time Customers can also assist you to see how your software program is being used from a newbie’s angle.

The second way to receive purchaser remarks is to embed analytics code to your software program. Flurry Analytics and Pinch Media each provide tracking software program an amazing way to provide perception into how Customers are interacting in conjunction with your utility, consisting of real-time download data, all absolutely free. this may be particularly useful if ninety% of your clients are not using a specific function. Perhaps they do now not understand it’s miles even there!

8. Constantly Replace Your utility

Here is an exceptional feature of the App keep. New versions bypass again to the Top of what’s new on your elegance. Incorporating capabilities your clients want, thereby making your product better, coupled with maintaining visibility, can help boom or at the least keep an everyday income. don’t abuse this through changing some words on your assist section After which resubmitting or you can smash this for absolutely anybody. If you are operating hard to make your product Better, the distribution channel can praise you with accelerated publicity due to the fact you are renewing.

9. Market it

Google AdWords and AdMob are possible alternatives. I recall we are now not there, however, but we’re pretty close to. AdWords does offer the capability to Market it on mobile devices with an entire internet browser Provider app, but that does not, in reality, encompass the iPhone and Contact. you may get Androids and greater relying on which territory you Promote it. proper now they have not advanced conversion tracking for apps both, and without this, you could simply burn thru cash with little results to reveal on your efforts. You won’t realize which keywords are working or aren’t running. there may be one way to tune sales the usage of this method: turn out to be an iTunes affiliate by way of the manner of becoming a member of LinkShare. you can create a link on your income internet web page in the App store and acquire a five% price on qualifying purchases.

App

AdMob has app advertising down Better than Google to date. you’re capable of music your conversions and goal-relevant Apple devices. you can even target the ones which can be both on or off the WiFi Network, it’s quite cool. The drawback to this is that you are paying at least 10 cents a click on to Deliver a person in your App maintains earnings web page. No guarantee of sales Right here and counting on the fee of your application, this leaves a completely little margin to spend on advertising. It is able to take 100 clicks simply to get a real sale, so keep that in thoughts. additionally, considering AdMob does no longer intention your classified ads very well, the human beings clicking aren’t surely looking for what you are providing as they could on a Google searching for.

proper Here are some examples of Google AdWords commercials underneath from agencies with money to burn; this high-priced is not something absolutely everyone can manipulate to pay for and it could no longer be worthwhile except.