Sorting by most popular apps

Hi! I've just added an option to the app loader that allows it to send some very basic usage stats back to the banglejs.com server. It's under the More... tab and currently defaults of 'Off':

Send app analytics to banglejs.com (apps installed, favourites, firmware version)

I've tried to implement this in the most privacy-focused way I can. An internal serial number on the Bangle is hashed with the MAC address and a single 32 bit number is returned to the app loader, and that is used to identify the installed apps. There's no way of figuring out a Bangle's MAC address from that number, and even if there was the number is sent to the server securely.

I'd really appreciate it if everyone that's happy to would enable it in their app loader. Then I can build up enough data that I can get the server to create a list of app popularity, and we can expose that in the app loader - letting users see which apps are used (as well as which are liked).

Hopefully it'll be a big benefit not just for users, but also for developers who can then see how much their apps are used and get a bit of motivation :)

I enabled it when connected to my personal app loader. Does that work or should I connect to the official app loader?

Awesome, nice to see this added as opt-in without nag banners.

Does this work from custom app stores? i.e. can I just enable it in my personal store, or should I visit the official loader to make my watch count?

This sounds great.

Thats great!

Does this work from custom app stores?

Well, the reporting should work in custom app stores. The initial plan was that the info would be loaded like the appdates.csv file (so from the URL that the app loader was loaded from) so unless you manually copied the file in it wouldn't.

However I could make that URL configurable so it'd be a one-line change in your app loader to use the banglejs.com file

I could make that URL configurable

No need to bother on my account, I'm happy to look at the list on the official store.
Just checking that enabling it in a custom store wouldn't be pointless.

Maybe enable it by default? I have no idea how many people just use their Bangle without developing for it, but most of those probably never read this forum and won´t change their app loader settings. I really don´t see a privacy problem with this.

When does it upload app analytics? On connecting the watch, on toggling app analytics on, on installing/removing apps, on favoriting/unfavoriting apps?

Maybe enable it by default?

Maybe later I will (or have a popup at first start), but right now I just want to be sure not to annoy people. Some people are militantly anti-tracking and while I don't track, they won't like the thought of any info leaving their PC

When does it upload app analytics?

Pretty much all of the above - whenever stuff changes

...I hate tracking AND popups

I very much appreciate you caring about privacy and thinking about it from the get go.
Actually privacy concerns with other watches is what brought me to bangle!
So I would vote against enable by default and for a pop up (if upcomming once and not every time).

That said, knowing your intents and pseudonomisation I am happy to provide data here. I did turn on, re-connected, then off again. Not sure though if that was enough (guess so from your ">Pretty much all of the above")

What I personally would like most is a button: "Send now" (which could be annotated with explanation of what data, how anonymized and how used).
Maximal control, transparency and ease.

Thanks! Looks like we're up to around 25 reports at the moment, so at least when I add the code for it, we should be starting to get some semi-useful info

How about asking the user with an additional toggle in the device choosing dialog on first use of the apploader?

I think the pseudonym is good enough for default activation, but I fully understand the reasoning behind making it opt-in.

How about asking the user with an additional toggle in the device choosing dialog on first use of the apploader?

That's a good point - it's one less window :)

Gordon just "admitted" that there are 6k BangleJS2 in the wild:
You cannot unfavorite some applications like bootloader and settings. As of now both have 106 favorite counts, this means over 1% of all users do report their installation.

You cannot unfavorite some applications like bootloader and settings

That's interesting! I should remove that restriction and just ensure that 'Install Favourites' installs them by default anyway :)

But yes, there's still a way to go but it's great to have the input from that many people - I've found it helpful when thinking about what watch faces to add features to like fast load

Using Favorite is good way to avoid risks or a trial&error installing process with its associated time consuming.

I missed the "favorite" filter when I was new with bangle.js. Now I find interesting the "New" filter and give a chance to new apps.

To be even more perfect I just miss a page for feedback (considering privacy), so users can give opinion and even tips. (inspiration from Firefox addons page)

I feel like this is covered to a pretty large extent already with the forum and the github issue tracker. But you're prabably right there's some resistance for some users using either of those two options.

I just miss a page for feedback

I think maybe a link to a specialised filter for GitHub issues might be a good idea.

I deliberately avoided feedback in the app loader as then I have to think about spam, moderation, and what happens when a developer says "I fixed this bug, now manually delete all the comments that reference it" :)

I deliberately avoided feedback in the app loader

I agree with a separating feedback from the installing function, but maybe having a link to the github filtered result.

By "feedback" i was referring more to personal opinions or functional analysis, focused more in end-users than in issues/technical feedback as bugs or feature demands focused on developers.

In fact i just realized that my example (reviews page of firefox addon) lacks of a version number field (btw google play reviews lacks of it too), and imo it is must to have info.

Through fields and filters I am sure that Github can manage this review info :)

If someone wants to look into this and do a PR that'd be great. I guess we could use GitHub discussions and have a thread per app...

That's interesting! I should remove that restriction and just ensure that 'Install Favourites' installs them by default anyway :)

Would be nice. Currently I misuse the favorites to collect all apps I have installed that have an interface.html

I love this @Gordon, good work! I love the numbers of how many installs, etc. I came back to my Bangle.JS2 and the improvements are impressive! I got a free Ticwatch GTH and it highlights how much better the software is on the Bangle already, I can't wait until sleep tracking, workouts and heartrate stuff is better. That's the only thing better right now.

Interesting though, the heartrate seems quite accurate on the Bangle! The Ticwatch was showing a similar number when sleeping. I even suggested to Mobvoi that they look at this code, who knows if they will but the GTH looks very similar.

The Ticwatch was showing a similar number when sleeping.

This is not surprising. The hrm on the Bangle only gets corrupted when you move. Most people do not move much while sleeping.