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Comment by jeff18 | Hacker News Reader

We are currently beta testing an app that will organize your downloads and provide updates in a central spot for Humble Bundles (like the Amazon Marketplace), which should be ready for the public in the next couple of days.

Additionally, the apps themselves will notify you if there is an update, akin to how Sparkle works on Mac OS X (Adium, et al. use this).

Finally, you can download updates from our website similar to how it works for PC.

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> We are currently beta testing an app that will organize your downloads and provide updates in a central spot for Humble Bundles

I'm sorry to be a downer here, but this really bothers me. The Android Market is built such that 1) each version of each app has reviews, 2) each version has permissions, 3) updates for all of my apps come from the same place, 4) the apps come from a single trusted source, signed, and 5) I could continue forever listing the advantages of the Market.

> Additionally, the apps themselves will notify you if there is an update

No, no, no! One of the main advantages of modern app distribution is that we don't have 100 apps each telling us to update. We have one OS that manages this and updates according to our preferences. I understand that you consider your app distribution needs special, but each time a large, active and popular company/developer does this, it hurts the platform as a whole.

Edit: I purchased Osmos on the Market, at full price, yesterday. I love the game and I'm very happy with it! I'm already addicted. For feedback from here, I'd like to add that I'm very happy to have bought it on the Market and that I wouldn't consider getting it from somewhere else, even if it's cheaper, if that means circumventing the market. What if you release an update that causes a problem? How will I know if I cannot easily access the Market reviews to make sure that the new version is at fault? Alternatively, what if I drop offline someday and attempt to play Osmos, only to find that there's an update? Having the Market version I don't have to worry about that since the app will (according to my preferences) already have updated itself. Anyway, keep up the good work and I thank you very much for Osmos!

The Market doesn't allow gift codes, there's simply no way to do anything like the Humble Bundle on Android without sidestepping the Market. Your blame should be at Google, not the Humble Folk.

Also, if you absolutely must have centralized distribution for each and every app, there are other platforms that are more than happy to provide that.

I think ultimately the solution is for the Humble people to talk to Google - and to Apple, for that matter - and say "we do this thing, it makes a lot of money, how can we do it through your servers?". If they can get the owners of the official marketplaces interested then something will happen.

They could add a slider to control the percentage of your purchase prize which goes to the App Store owner. Except you can't adjust the slider, since it's fixed at 30%. Ouch. I'd much rather continue giving those 30% to the EFF.

I could see Google forfeiting their 30% if it went to charity.

> I understand that you consider your app distribution needs special, but each time a large, active and popular company/developer does this, it hurts the platform as a whole.

They are special. :)

> 2) each version has permissions

Side-loaded apps still have permissions.

I agree on all your other points, though I don't know how a project like this could be made to work with the android market model.

It would be slightly weird to have the humble bundle in a walled garden on a platform that allows to live without the walls. I couldn't buy the bundle on Market (since my device doesn't have it).

(On a tangent:) The market-URLs for android apps all over the web are annoying enough already (esp. for free apps - just put up the darn .apk file somewhere, at least as an alternative!)

There's nothing stopping you from buying the apps on the Market, and using the Humble Indie Bundle website solely to donate to the charities. Beauty of a pay-what-you-can model.

Complain to google, it's not possible currently.

I love this business model. As a customer it makes me feel like such a winner through every aspect of this transaction. I give myself a deal on quality DRM-free games that I can play on a phone AND on Linux. I wish you crazy amounts of success.

Just a question: have you tried this with apps? You could bundle apps according to theme.. so you could have a Photography Bundle, Office Bundle, Fitness Bundle... etc

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