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Comment by checker659 | Hacker News Reader

My app's name was ScreenTime. Oh well, time to change it I guess.

(PS: Please don't buy my app or anything. It's not 'released' yet.)

Cool app! Advice with only warm and friendly intent: you might want to hire a really great designer to look over the landing page. It's mostly good, but it sends off a few unconscious red flags for me.

Thank you; I'm all ears.

But, just to guess, I suppose the layout is inconsistent. Is that right? I tried to get the vertical rhythm correct but I suppose the discrepancy in the "inter-section" layout is jarring. Yeah?

There's something about the layout and style of the latter part of the page. Maybe part of it is that the "buy for $10" button is repeated so many times. Maybe it's the intense green I'm reacting to. I was also felt something, I don't know what, when I saw the loading widget after pressing the buy button. I think I reacted both to the fact that I had to wait and its somewhat antiquated style (feels a bit 2012-ish; no maliciousness intended, maybe my tastes are weird). Of course, these might just be N=1 impulses, don't take my reactions on faith without a/b testing stuff.

You're absolutely right about the buttons (and the other things too, btw). I'm going to be a/b testing the buttons part, so yeah, I hear you.

Agreed on the buttons, it give the impression of desperation somehow, like someone repeatedly tugging at your coat sleeve saying 'please, please buy me'.

Hear hear.

Not sure if I'm on the same wavelength as the other commenter, and I'm not a designer by schooling, but your page has 7 calls to action to purchase or download -- on my standard HD screen, I can have two pairs on my screen at a time, with the third just barely outside the top or bottom of the viewport. It's extremely redundant.

The contrast between the green headings and the white background is also a bit low. I understand that in this case it's your app's primary icon colour, but it's more difficult to read than it needs to be, especially combined with the light-weight font.

I will a/b test the buttons. I have a feeling there'll be a lot less left by the time I'm done with it :).

I'll play around with the color. Perhaps adding subtle shadows will help.

I want to chime in and say that, while I like the product itself (seems pretty cool), having the call to action after literally every paragraph of text feels desperate to me. It's like you can't speak a sentence without saying 'are ya gonna buy it yet?'. And if you asked me what would hook me in a bit better, I think it would be to flesh out the header above the fold first so it has a stronger impact and obviates the need to go in as much detail further down the page.

For another example, the graphic doesn't appear so clear and the main text doesn't feel very prominent. I feel like it lacks a sense of physicality that I'd want to feel from seeing a screen being shared to another device (a screenshot doesn't really hit the spot for me).

> having the call to action after literally every paragraph of text feels desperate to me

Sorry about that. I'll reconsider the placement of the buttons.

> I think it would be to flesh out the header above the fold

As in, alluding to the fact that ScreenTime imitates an external webcam and things like that?

> I feel like it lacks a sense of physicality that I'd want to feel from seeing a screen being shared

Would putting the screenshots inside a monitor help? What about animating the screenshot? Like a gif of the two users doing things on their own screens?

Thanks for taking the time. I appreciate it :)

I'm not comfortable giving you a specific solution because I'm just telling you what I personally feel, and it's up to you to receive the feedback from me and the others offering it and decide how you want to address it. It's feedback, not advice.

Truly, I don't know what exactly I'd prefer from you because I don't know you or your product in any intimate way, so while I might tell you what I would have liked to see it doesn't mean I know that it's overall better than what you have.

Fair enough. Thanks nonetheless.

Also the perspective on your screenshots are off. They get larger as the get further away. This is really disorienting.

Also try and throw them in to an iMac, it looks much nicer.

I couldn't get the perspective transform to work correctly. I'll try again.

Having “Buy for $10 / Download Trial” on every example is a bit weird, especially since you’re describing use cases, not features.

Also, are you aware we can already do this from Messages? If you have someone’s Facetime contact you automatically have their Messages contact. So what’s the advantage of paying for a third-party app that does the same as a native free feature?

Yes, I'm aware :)

You can use this in the middle of a regular FaceTime video call. Plus, the other person can be on an iOS device.

Hmm I would have thought screen sharing was a native feature of FaceTime. Great idea to add it if it's not already there. If you don't want me to buy it, is there somewhere I can leave my email address so I can find out when I should buy it :)

I'll ping you when it's ready (very soon). My email's on my profile page.

It's not a native feature of FaceTime, but it is a native feature of macOS--specifically iMessage.

Just start an iMessage conversation, then click "ask to share screen" or "invite to share screen" from the Buddies menu.

https://i.imgur.com/vRtuIQM.png

That doesn't work if the other person is, say, on an iPad.

Apple already has screen sharing via iMessage. This looks really cool, but probably unnecessary.

That looks like a pretty nice app! A good candidate to get sherlocked though ;)

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