Bring Back Version 1.5

[George Dundee]

Hello,

This is the first time I have ever done something like this but I'm so
disappointed with the latest version of What's On? that I felt I had
an obligation to let you know. What's On? version 1.5 is my most used
iPhone app, and still is my favorite app. It's icon is smack dab in
the middle of the first page of my iPhone's home screen. i use this
app several times a day and it is by far the most useful app I have
installed.

This is why I'm so disappointing in the new version 2.0 of What's On?
that I reverted back to version 1.5. I was excited to hear about some
of the new features in 2.0 like push notification, landscape support,
improved search. But once I installed the new version I knew almost
instantly that I had made a big mistake. The application is slow, the
interface is crowded and I can no longer find out What's On? in an
efficient manner.

Station icons in the guide.

These take up way too much screen real estate on a device that already
has too little screen real estate. The fact that you didn't have
station icons was why I switched from i.TV.

The guide is now slow.

The guide is now unusably slow. in the previous version the guide was
amazingly fast, I could flip through the hours with the flick of my
finger just about as fast as I could flick. Now it takes so long to
load the next section of the guide it's unusable. The fast guide was
another reason why I switched from i.TV.

Favorites now cluttered.

Why can I no longer view a simple list of my favorites; also without
all the show and station icons. This was my favorite feature of
What's On? I could efficiently view what was going to be on TV each
day this week and plan my TV watching schedule. This was displayed in
a simple indented list with each day of the week at the top of the
list and the shows displayed in order of air time. Again another
reason why I switched away from i.TV

Preferences seem missing.

The previous version had six different preferences that allowed you to
show only HD shows in the guide and favorites, don't show repeats in
favorites, I could not find these equivalents in the new version.

Overall I'm disseminated in this new version and from the reviews and
ratings on iTunes I'm not the only one.

I would consider upgrading if there was a preference to allow users to
switch to the "Classic" v1.5 interface. Otherwise I will continue to
run the 1.5 version of this software.

I Thank You so very much for all of the hard work you put into What's
On? and I am sure that you felt the decisions you made in creating
version 2.0 were the right ones. I'm sure there are going to be a lot
of people who will switch to this version and love it. I am just not
one of them.

Thanks,
Matthew LaBerge

[Andrew Gould]

Matthew,

Our sincerest apologies for your disappointment in 2.0. As I'm sure
you can imagine we put hundreds of hours into designing, building and
testing the app and really aspire to build something that everyone
loves. In reality, change isn't for everyone and some people won't
care for a piece or whole of an app no matter how hard you try.

Over the past months we've received literally thousands of request for
an app that "pops" more and adds a lot more features. We delivered an
app that we feel fills this demand pretty well but some people just
don't like it.

Obviously we can't just throw 6 months of work out and go back to 1.5
but we are absolutely listening to complaints and suggestions and have
already began beta testing 2.0.1 which implements nearly 80 of these
fixes, criticisms and suggestions.

Included in these changes are the ability to turn off station logos,
favorites that remember the section you were in so when you tap on
favorites you always go right to tv favorites, sorts that remember
what you set and default to "next showtime" and a better way to set HD/
repeat settings for shows. These settings exist already by tapping
edit in favorites and then tapping on the show. The settings are in
Settings for new favorites you add. Again this was another HIGHLY
requested feature.

Now I think it's also fair for us to point out that this application
is free. $0. We've put HUNDREDS of hours into the application and
strive to make it as good as possible but it's also the part of users
to not expect a flawless application for free. Had we charged you
$9.99 that's to be expected but sometimes you have to stand back and
look at exactly how many things you're getting for free. The amount of
time and resources that go into this application exceed any small
amount of money we've made to date.

This is a labor of love for us and we hope you can stick along for the
ride.

Respectfully,
Andrew Gould
Napkin Studio - Cofounder

[George Dundee]

Andrew,

I completely understand your reasoning behind the changes and
appreciate all of the work you guys do; especially given that the app
is free. There isn't another 3rd party app on my phone that I use and
care about more than yours. If I didn't care about this app I
wouldn't have even posted here letting you know of my displeasure; I
would have just deleted it and moved on. I can confirm that the 2.0
app is gorgeous which is probably why I am somewhat disappointed; I
feel like I've lost functionality. I'm not a software developer but
being a mechanical designer I certainly do understand that not
everyone will appreciate change and I have had many of my designs poo
pooed by those whom I thought I was helping. I am excited to hear
that you are going to incorporate so many new features in the next
version. I'm sure a lot of these feature will address the issues I
wrote about today. It really sounds like you guys are listening to
the community and I can only imagine how awesome this app will be. I
am certainly going to become more involved and suggest features here.

If there is ever a day when I can pay for this app please let me know
because I won't hesitate.

Thank You so much for responding to me.
Your hard work is appreciated!

Sincerely,
Matthew LaBerge

As I wrote before I use this app every day and LOVE it I would in a
heartbeat spend $9.99 for this app

[chrispav]

I would also like to let you know that I'm very disappointed in the
2.x version. I loved v1.5, and have reverted back to it (thank God for
backing things up). I feel that version 2.x doesn't need any movie
information, there are already a good number of (better) movie apps
available. The name of your app is (was?) "What's On TV", not "What's
in the theater". So clearly some feature bloat happened. I don't need
push notification, or any HD reminders or fancy stuff really (what in
the world is "the buzz???"), I'm happy with a basic app. I also do
development and completely understand how you need to A-make money and
B-keep users happy with improved apps and C-can't throw out 6 mos of
development.
But it would be really great if you would either keep v1.5 around,
give it away for free, or make it a "light" version of whatever 2.x is
at the time.
I also would gladly pay money for this app, in its v1.5 form.
So thanks for making an awesome app in the first place!

Ciao,
Chris

[Ryan]

Andrew,
I understand that change is not for everyone. But as such you could
very easily provide a legacy version for those of us that don't want
the change you offer. All I want is undo my foolish choice to
upgrade. I would be willing to pay a few dollars to get back the
simple, clear, often used app that doesn't "pop". I want to be
entertained by the television, not by an app telling me what's on the
TV. Please allow us to downgrade to a legacy version.

ryan

[Ryan]

Does anyone happen to have a copy of the .ipa file for the 1.5
version? I didn't backup my app before upgrading. :(