[Android Apps and Games] [deXter]:
My feature request list

Great app, hope you continue supporting it and keep implementing user-requested features, like:

1) Meta-market: Automatically aggregate apps from the official Market and other alternative markets. There are so many advantages to this that I think this feature should be your first priority. The main advantage is of course, users need not have to install a dozen alternative-market applications and developers need not have to submit to all the markets. Of course, a user might not be able to pay for a third-market app directly, so pressing the install/purchase button can open up the respective market app/URL.

2) User comments + moderation + karma : similar to system used by Slashdot:

Moderation is really needed because sometimes stupid users rate an app 1 star just because they didn't understand how to use it (for eg, themes/addons), and it unfairly brings down the rating of the app. Moderation allows such comments/feedback to be automatically hidden and not count towards the final app rating. It also allows for a karma system. It's useful because karma allows people to trust a particular user's reviews. Users having negative karma will not be able to vote on other's comments. Users with sufficient positive karma have voting rights. Users with very high karma can be promoted to moderators, thus having the ability to clean up unfair comments / votes.

IMO you could implement the voting system this way: When a user posts a comment, positive karma users can vote whether that comment was Useful, Neutral, Inaccurate, and Spam.

'Useful' comments earn positive karma. These are comments that help people whether to install this app or not, and see what are the features/limitations. For example: "This app worked great for me, but could use some improvements. Pros: blah, blah, blah. Cons: blah, blah, blah".

'Neutral' comments don't count towards the karma. These comments aren't very useful. They're still nice to have around though. For example: "Nice app, thanks".

'Inaccurate' comments earn negative karma. The rating associated with it will not count towards the final rating of the app. These comments will be visible in the comments list but hidden by default. (Like in Digg or Slashdot)

For example: "Doesn't work.". ("Um, yes it does, it's a widget!")

'Spam' is of course, off-topic comments. If a comment gets too many 'Spam' votes, it will be removed. Repeat offenders will be automatically banned.

3) Allow the author to reply to user comments. The reply should be made visible under the respective comment. These comments would be useful for both the author, as a way to tell their side of the story, and as a user, to see that the author is actively involved with the program. For example: "Thanks for the report, will be fixed in next version". or "It's an addon, you have to install xyz program first")

4) Stricter rating system - Don't allow users who are rating 1 or 2 stars to submit the rating without typing a comment. The developer and other users deserve to know the reason behind such a low rating. You can have a multiple-selection list like:

- It didn't work for me at all

- It didn't have the features I needed

- It's not up to the standards

- It didn't have the advertised features

- It's defective

- It's malicious

- Other

And at the end of the list add a text field so that users can type their comment there.

This feature, combined with feature #2 should allow for better screening of apps and ratings, without any intervention needed from you guys or the app developers.

5) Searching: Allow the user to search by author, app name, description, category, date.

Also, please allow standard search operators like AND (&), OR (|), NOT (-) , and exact ("").

6) Sorting: Sort by date, title, author, size, rating, downloads (popularity), category

7) Filtering: Exactly what gogol said. Also, by default, please make it such that adult apps are hidden. Finally, implement a sever-side filter for really annoying and possibly harmful spam comments like ("www.blahblahblah.net $9.99 a year! All paid apps! We have them all!"). These sort of comments shouldn't even be allowed to be posted.

8) Highlight new apps. Maybe use a different color, or a 'New' tag.

9) Please include the version number and date in the app's details.

10) 'Confirm Password' field should be added to the 'Create Account' screen. (This is present on the website, but why has this not been added to the app?)

11) Some improvements can be made to the registration (fix the grammar and typos in the email) to make it look a bit more professional. Also, one should not be able to register without clicking on a confirmation link. This is necessary, otherwise people will be able to use any random email address to register an account. (If they did want to use a random email, they're free to use spam.la, mailinator, etc...)

An example welcome email (based on the one sent by phpBB):

"Welcome to YAAM, an alternative Android Market!"

Please keep this e-mail for your records. Your account information is as

follows:

----------------------------

Username:

Profile URL:

----------------------------

Please visit the following link in order to activate your account:

http://yaam.mobi/register.php?mode=activate&u=#####&k=XXXXXXXXX

Your password has been securely stored in our database and cannot be

retrieved. In the event that it is forgotten, you will be able to reset it

using the email address associated with your account.

Thank you for registering.

Best regards,

The YAAM team."

12) Website improvements - I understand it's still under construction, but when it's done, could you add these features:

- Allowing direct download of apk file (using 'http://', so that users can download apps using a different device)

- Link to user profile showing the user's most recent reviews, their karma, and optional user-editable fields like avatar, device, location, etc.

13) Please make a roadmap and display it in the first post and/or on your website, so that we know the current status of YAAM.

14) Facebook and Twitter buttons on an app's page

I understand the above list may seem daunting, but without atleast half of the features implemented, I see no advantage in using YAAM. But consider this fact - YAAM has very little competition. We all know Google's going to take ages to implement all this. You already have a base. All you need to do is keep implementing the features regularly to make YAAM the de-facto in the Android Market scene. :)

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Btw, does anyone else find the phrase "YAAM Market" a bit silly? Because when you expand it, it reads as "Yet Another Alternative Market Market" :) It's just one of those phrases you know, like "NIC Card", "LAN network", "USB bus"...