Kacper Raubo

In my opinion the problem is that all activities relating to software are confused - we sign up for an app's account both from the app itself and its website, we buy software both from within the app, its website or an app store, we use applications both natively - on a device and inside the Web and, also, we may install it - from the Internet or via an app store. I see mess in how it works and think it is possible to design it better. I believe that all the activities should be organized and each place should be responsible for their specific tasks only. A specific place for installing, a different one for using, another for learning about and one, individual place for signing up and buying. Since I work in the industry, on a solution, my opinion is probably not objective, so I am curious of yours. Do you even see it? Is this a problem for you?

In my opinion the alternative is a free, open and general space with software, which lives above the app stores, apps websites, devices and apps themselves and treats the first two as building blocks of the greater system. It is a place which enables you, as a developer, to distribute, and, as a user, to get to know, create an account, buy and download any application, giving you, at the same time, a choice of where you can do that. This way, implementing such a general and ultimate model, the alternative neither competes with app stores, using them as its element, not enemies, nor with apps's producers, in fact encouraging users both to visit their website and buy apps from there. An early version of the solution is available on Product Hunt - https://www.producthunt.com/post..., the vision of the future of this project on my Twitter -https://twitter.com/raubo_/statu...

I believe that the way that users get, and developers distribute, software across different operating systems defines how the platforms cooperate with each other. Moreover I think that how it works today, i.e. on each platform we use both different store and different installation interface, in my opinion, exacerbates an isolation between them, makes it difficult for users with different OSes to cooperate and causes that they focus on choosing a suitable software, rather than on the job they have to do itself. From my point of view, if we would normalize it - the way we get (and distribute) software, we would blur the line between operating systems and would create one, general environment for working (and playing), where operating systems are just interfaces defining how we feel the environment and not (like it is now with apps that work on some OSes and do not on others) whether we can even be part of it. And even though the subject of these considerations is not making all apps crossplatform now, I think we could talk about a general space with software, one for all operating systems, which gathers and lists software for all of them, where one can search for apps available on all desired ones. I see it as a place which one enable to discover and buy apps, but when it comes to installation - redirects to proper installation interfaces (you can learn more about a prototype of such a solution here https://www.producthunt.com/post...). This way it enables to find software available on all operating systems we use, treats official app stores just as installation interfaces and creates the mentioned open, general environment.