What's with the current trend of 'updates' that make games worse by adding ads or IAP? I know there were a few cases like that in the past as well (Stair Dismount, Across Age), but recently I find a few apps like that and it's annoying as there's no 'Ignore update' button. C64 removes Bruce Lee and 2 other games. What if we delete the game (to save space) and wants to play it later? And does anyone know a trick to ignore these stupid updates?
Wish I did know a trick it's one of the most annoying things about IOS, apart from ads, freemium etc there are often times when updates just break the apps or increase the size hugely with no real benefits. I think itunes seems to be based on an apt-get packager so it should be easily possible to freeze versions I can only assume it's a case of Apple not wanting us to be able to make our own choices. If anyone does know a trick to get round this and not be nagged by certain updates I'd love to know myself.
I always have like over 10 updates on App Store on my iPod. I ignore them, because it may take me more space if I update or I don't have enough space to update. I hate the bug fix updates that don't have anything to do with my device. And of course making apps free with IAP and ads, like GL and HotGen have done...
This reminds me of the Oregon Trail update a few months ago....it made the 500mb game 1.1gb :\ so ridiculous.
It's kind of ironic to see this thread crop up soon after the developers of Ash released an update that replaced every single piece of generic art with lovingly rendered original assets -- all for zero dollars. I know that bitching and moaning is an Internet tradition (especially around these parts), and I can easily list some unfortunate updates -- the Chaos Rings one that doubled the app size to add a Japanese VO track is a prime example. The great majority of updates, however, are for the better. In fact, the kind of updating that you see on iOS (and Android, I guess) is one of the primary advantages of the platform. You can always back up the ipa/app files on your computer if you want to go back to a previous version. If game data is an issue, get PhoneView or the PC equivalent and back up your app data -- it takes 30 seconds. And you can also ignore the update badge on the App Store app. Just my $.02 .
Yeah but I think the topic here was to discuss of the minority of the updates that DO make apps worse. Updates are generally nice such as more content or something, but there are still many updates that make customers unsatisfied and it is unfair to bash the devs for trying to get a better living, but if a developer comes here and sees what kind of updates the customers don't like, maybe they'll stop doing so. I personally would like an ignore button for updates that don't consider my device or that I don't need/want. Anyway, what's with the just my $.02 thing?
Very true. 99.9% updates are always for the better. Ash got a magnificent update. I am sure it would have taken a huge effort for the devs. Shows how much they care for their product. Not to mention a lot of generous updates for games like Angry Birds, Cat Physics, League of Evil, Mage Gauntlet, Bike Baron... and a ton of other games. Of course you will have some publishers who will abuse the right to update. Easy to ignore them.
I'm not against updates if they are content and game play related... and not a means for quality control... Like IB2 which should have never been released with those kinds of bugs.... pretty lame
Killer feature that I would love to have too. I've seen several 'DO NOT DOWNLOAD THIS UPDATE CAUSE IT BREAKS OUR GAME' labelled updates. Zynga poker most recently. This completely wrecks the update all button, and with 10-15 updates per week coming my way, the update all button is the only way to efficiently update... well... all!
I've been more careful about updates ever since HotGen hid their plan to introduce ads into games that people paid for by saying something like "minor fixes" in the update description. With devs changing to freemium/ad-based even for previously paid games, I no longer hit the "Update All" button for fear of things like this. Ah didn't see LOLavi's post that also mention this. I agree with previous posters as well that it would be great to have an "ignore button" for each update so it goes away if you don't want it.
Yeah it would be awesome if there was no bugs in games... Especially with heavier sized games like MC3 and IB2 I wish to have no bugs, because I just made a lot of space for them and I have to remove a lot more if I want to update...
Yeah, I was toying with starting a thread along these lines earlier. What sparked me was the inclusion of IAP in Puzzle Quest 2 though there are other apps which have stopped me from 'updating all' for some time now, it is irksome. I usually get about 30-40 updates a week come through so it's taking more of my time to go through them manually. What makes it worse is that for the IAP trend being so popular now I can see a lot more dev's retrofitting their older games into freemium builds to make a bit more cash. Effectively licensing ownership their game. Sooner or later this disease will suck the the fun out of ios gaming will spread and turn me off the app store for good. Apple should introduce rules before it gets ugly, or as has been suggested give us an 'ignore updates' option per game.
I agree, most updates are for the benefit of the game, and although they may increase in size, they generally add features to the game. Still, I've been burned on a few recent ones, most glaringly Glass Tower 3. I bought it for $0.99, intending to unlock the entire game, as it was in the beginning. Then, I downloaded an update which made the game freemium, meaning I'd have to pay MORE for the level editor and the rest of the levels, which I'd payed for in the beginning. This pissed me off, so I immediately deleted it, but now its made me more cautious in updating my games. I hate it when devs take advantage like this.
I basically update nothing unless it says "20 new levels" I refuse to update hotgens apps, even how thru sneakily added 5 new levels with their ad riddled scam. I will never buy a hot gen app ever again. I bought the first tofu game the day it came out, hd version for $3 then if went free a month later, then again I bought the hd version of tofu 2 and it was free a week later, and that doesn't bother me, I'm happy to pay but don't then make it ad supported! I paid $6 for 2 mediocre games that had almost no difference, the least they could do is not scam their paid customers into ad supported updates. It's not that hard to made a separate free version ffs
