I'll be honest, this is really the first time I've seen a domain name with an accented character before (at least an English site). I'd be concerned about people trying to go to fenet.re, which is a completely different site.
2
Great app!
I would like to know more about the marketing on product hunt. Dis you rank as a product of the day or how nearly u got there? How much conversion alone product hunt did for your app?
Thanks!
1
Thank you !
For the conversion, PH did great !
Here's a breakdown of the 3 major sharing channels I've used.
I'd definitely love to see a Windows version of this. I could see myself using it all the time. The see-through/click-through features look really nice.
In the past I used some "float to top" and "transparency" apps before to do something like this but nothing as nice as what you've built.
1
It's on the roadmap, but it's quite difficult since both ecosystem (Mac OSx and Windows) are very different.
So features might diverge a bit one from the other.
But I do have something working on Windows, I "just" need to fix lots of bugs, review some UX not working on Windows and have a licensing system.
That's quite some work, but it's doable!
1
I was just about to ask the same. Was curious to find out why there's no Windows app seeing as you used Electron. What would you say are the main challenges to get an app like this to work cross-platform with Electron? Did you end up falling back on a lot of native APIs?
1
Hi, great question !
Indeed, I ended using lots of native APIs and specific UX.
For example, the "signature" UX, drag'n dropping items onto the logo in the top-bar, isn't available anywhere else.
I've started developing the windows support, and UX wise, it might end up very differently.
The same will probably happen for the Linux version.
Hope this answers your question.
Cheers!
2
I just tried your app, with twitch and would crash, even tried a few times, same.
3
Aaww... I'll have a look, that's not good.
Thank you very much for reporting this.
So sorry for the bad experience.
1
I've identified the issue, I think. It'll be updated soon.
In the mean time, can you help by giving a bit more details on your issue please? Like the url you tried, and what happened exactly. Thanks.
1
https://www.twitch.tv/dreamleague that's the URL and I would just drag it and the app would load for 1 -2 seconds then crash, then the macOs app crashed popup.
1
Thanks, I'll try that one out.
2
Nice article ! An inspiration for us all ! Keep doing great work
1
Did you have any issues with a Paid and Free version getting approved? I'm working on a timer app, and I'd like to have both, instead of using IAP.
2
I did! It got rejected many times.
For instance, you have to choose the name of both apps wisely, if you name the free one with "Free" in it, it will be rejected, there can't be any notion of price in the name. I don't remember every rules, but it's quite difficult to get it right on the first try.
I'd would advise to use IAP, especially now that Electron supports it, I think it will save you some hassle down the road.
Having two apps to maintain, to submit, to wait for review is really not that fun :D
Cheers!
1
I don't want to use IAP because in my experience that makes it hard for a company to purchase. You can't gift IAP's ... the only workaround is to give people gift cards to spend money, which is lame.
I'm going to set it up as a compiler flag (Swift 4 app) and then just toggle certain features off. Then I just need two build targets, and one provides a flag that puts it into the "Lite" mode.
I'd like to start as a paid app only, and then add a free option. If that doesn't work, I might offer just a trial on my website.
2
Those are very relevant points. I never saw it from this perspective.
Your logic looks good, I use the same kind of stuff for Fenêtre.
I only wish there was a way to simplify the submission/review process with two apps.
1
Do you think all the promotion that you did are continuing to give you visibility?
1
Yes, definitely.
I continue to have conversions from ProductHunt and Reddit from my initial posts.
And some specialised blogs did took on the story as well, creating even more visibility.
1
This is very helpful since I'm currently working on the Electron app too. Thanks!
As for the specific URLs, it is actually possible to open them with Electron. Check out the "Launch app from protocol handler" section in Electron API Demos.
1
Thank you for the resource.
For the schemes, it is indeed working in development.
But once you package and sign your app it stops working because of the sandboxed environment.
Outstanding!!!
Don't forget to hug your little kid!!! As you already know sometimes working intensely... you might forget!!
Great Job!
That's for sure, thank you so much for the kind words!
Fenêtre is great. Thanks for sharing.
No problem! Thank you for trying it out!
Nice to see a french dude around here! Amazing app and advice :)
Ahah! Merci mon cher compatriote !
Great work, inspire the community!
Awesome little app. Love interviews like this one. Have you had any issues with your domain name? Seems hard to type on a US keyboard, at least.
I did have many issues due to the domain name :)
That's why I also had to register getfenet.re, without any weird character!
I talk about these issue specifically in the section "The French tartine de caca" here:
https://medium.com/@yoannm/pushing-electron-on-the-mac-appstore-pain-tears-88414921e72d#030a
I'll be honest, this is really the first time I've seen a domain name with an accented character before (at least an English site). I'd be concerned about people trying to go to fenet.re, which is a completely different site.
Great app!
I would like to know more about the marketing on product hunt. Dis you rank as a product of the day or how nearly u got there? How much conversion alone product hunt did for your app?
Thanks!
Thank you !
For the conversion, PH did great !
Here's a breakdown of the 3 major sharing channels I've used.
I'd definitely love to see a Windows version of this. I could see myself using it all the time. The see-through/click-through features look really nice.
In the past I used some "float to top" and "transparency" apps before to do something like this but nothing as nice as what you've built.
It's on the roadmap, but it's quite difficult since both ecosystem (Mac OSx and Windows) are very different.
So features might diverge a bit one from the other.
But I do have something working on Windows, I "just" need to fix lots of bugs, review some UX not working on Windows and have a licensing system.
That's quite some work, but it's doable!
I was just about to ask the same. Was curious to find out why there's no Windows app seeing as you used Electron. What would you say are the main challenges to get an app like this to work cross-platform with Electron? Did you end up falling back on a lot of native APIs?
Hi, great question !
Indeed, I ended using lots of native APIs and specific UX.
For example, the "signature" UX, drag'n dropping items onto the logo in the top-bar, isn't available anywhere else.
I've started developing the windows support, and UX wise, it might end up very differently.
The same will probably happen for the Linux version.
Hope this answers your question.
Cheers!
I just tried your app, with twitch and would crash, even tried a few times, same.
Aaww... I'll have a look, that's not good.
Thank you very much for reporting this.
So sorry for the bad experience.
I've identified the issue, I think. It'll be updated soon.
In the mean time, can you help by giving a bit more details on your issue please? Like the url you tried, and what happened exactly. Thanks.
https://www.twitch.tv/dreamleague that's the URL and I would just drag it and the app would load for 1 -2 seconds then crash, then the macOs app crashed popup.
Thanks, I'll try that one out.
Nice article ! An inspiration for us all ! Keep doing great work
Did you have any issues with a Paid and Free version getting approved? I'm working on a timer app, and I'd like to have both, instead of using IAP.
I did! It got rejected many times.
For instance, you have to choose the name of both apps wisely, if you name the free one with "Free" in it, it will be rejected, there can't be any notion of price in the name. I don't remember every rules, but it's quite difficult to get it right on the first try.
I'd would advise to use IAP, especially now that Electron supports it, I think it will save you some hassle down the road.
Having two apps to maintain, to submit, to wait for review is really not that fun :D
Cheers!
I don't want to use IAP because in my experience that makes it hard for a company to purchase. You can't gift IAP's ... the only workaround is to give people gift cards to spend money, which is lame.
I'm going to set it up as a compiler flag (Swift 4 app) and then just toggle certain features off. Then I just need two build targets, and one provides a flag that puts it into the "Lite" mode.
I'd like to start as a paid app only, and then add a free option. If that doesn't work, I might offer just a trial on my website.
Those are very relevant points. I never saw it from this perspective.
Your logic looks good, I use the same kind of stuff for Fenêtre.
I only wish there was a way to simplify the submission/review process with two apps.
Do you think all the promotion that you did are continuing to give you visibility?
Yes, definitely.
I continue to have conversions from ProductHunt and Reddit from my initial posts.
And some specialised blogs did took on the story as well, creating even more visibility.
This is very helpful since I'm currently working on the Electron app too. Thanks!
As for the specific URLs, it is actually possible to open them with Electron. Check out the "Launch app from protocol handler" section in Electron API Demos.
Thank you for the resource.
For the schemes, it is indeed working in development.
But once you package and sign your app it stops working because of the sandboxed environment.