
Threadless is shutting their iOS app down next week - dvydra
https://itunes.apple.com/au/app/threadless/id428853321?mt=8
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dhendy
Hi. I lead the Digital team at Threadless and we're shutting down the app
because doing so allows us to spend developmental energy making the experience
of our main app better for everyone. It served the purpose at the time, but as
our focus shifted more into the Artist Shops platform over the last two years,
maintaining and updating the native app proved to not be the best use of time
or resources for the team. The web and phones have come a long way since we
launched it, and we feel that pulling it now is better than letting customers
use something that we're not giving our full attention to.

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jorblumesea
I really think having a dedicated native app is a huge hassle for most
businesses today. The web has come a long way and is no longer plagued by the
perf issues of old. I'd imagine having to support both, sync up features and
styles would get extremely difficult both logistically and financially. Far
easier to just have a responsive site and be done with it. Probably save a bit
of money on the payroll side too, frontend engineers are usually cheaper.

~~~
pritambarhate
The problem is most of the companies think that what they are doing is too
important for the user not to use the app. They think that Push Notifications
are the holy grail to keep people engaged and bring the users back.

It will be good if Google allows developers to list pure progressive apps in
the AppStore. Since for many non-technical users, PlayStore is how one is
supposed to install apps, decision makers think it's important to have the
apps.

~~~
wtvanhest
One thing I can't firgure out is why reddit is pushing me to use their app
when the site is better. I dont even understand why they want to.

~~~
suprfnk
A reason might be because it's harder to block ads in an app than it is in a
browser?

~~~
WildGreenLeave
As far as I know it isn't possible to block ads inside the Android Chrome
browser? Only way to do that is using your own DNS, but that would work both
on native and progressive apps.

Correct me if I'm wrong, I'd love to block ads inside my Chrome browser.

~~~
jorams
It's not possible in Chrome on Android, but it is in Firefox.

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dmerrick
Threadless has an iOS app?

I don't mean to be snarky, but I love Threadless and I had no idea, so maybe
that's why they're shutting it down.

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untog
Doesn't feel that notable. The friction of a native app download vs just using
the web means that an app is rarely the right answer for shopping. Makes sense
to ditch the app and focus on web.

~~~
cheneytsai
Time to build a Progressive Web App? ;)

~~~
Zeppin
If Apple supports progreasive web-apps this decade I'll eat my hat.

It does nothing for their business and cuts off their revenue streams. It's
simply a bad idea for them.

I'd be curious to see what WASM means for progressive web apps on Android,
however. There Google does benefit but it does weeken their platform by making
competing hardware like Samsung's Tenzen or the near-death Windows Phone far
more viable.

So the question becomes, is Google invested in Android specifically or simply
the existence of mobile that they can profit from?

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kneel
Threadless shirts are hands down the worst quality clothing I've ever bought
online. Great designs, terrible quality.

I didn't know shirts could be sewn up with so little material. Felt like I was
wearing a light handkerchief.

I instantly returned my shirt and had to cover shipping, sneaky bastards.

~~~
prawn
Must've changed since the early days when I bought 20+ of their shirts. Ended
up wearing most gardening, etc and never had any tear or feel flimsy at all.
Been many years since I bought from them though.

~~~
seattle_spring
They changed from American Apparel to in-house (read: crappy overseas garbage)
a few years back. Quality went down the drain, as did the fit.

~~~
ralfd
That is disappointing to hear. I have bought years ago from Threadless and the
American Apparel shirts still hold up well.

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garganzol
The more RAM devices have, the more widespread web apps will be. A lot of
niches, originally covered only by native apps, lost their luster for native
development. Web does it all nowadays. See things like Basecamp, Tidal - their
apps are web based and they work just fine on recent devices. By a pure
coincidence, those apps have an outstanding quality. So web stack is a thing
nowadays.

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strict9
Darn. Hope this isn't a reflection of their business health. Was hoping the
trend of individualized and/or unique clothes would swing back in their favor.

Can't remember the last time I wore a shirt that had a logo or graphic on it,
but think the world be slightly more interesting if people were just a little
more individual in what they wear.

Love their business model, technology and collaboration for something
tangible.

Edit: they still have it nice and big on their home page. And the landing page
seems a bit dated or neglected with the dislaimer "* iOS 7 only"

[https://www.threadless.com/app](https://www.threadless.com/app)

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beager
If you have a decent number of iOS users, why pull the app? Why not just let
it spin out into deep space, and stop supporting it with updates?

That's an honest question, by the way.

~~~
iamaelephant
They may have a decent number of downloads, but none of us knows how many
users they have. I don't know how long the app has been on the store, but it
only has 53 ratings which indicates very little engagement.

~~~
yeukhon
There is almost no incentive to rate app. They can't reward user and why
should someone leave a comment? This is why I like what Amazon does with
comment.... but if most of these are real users I think the app did a good
job.

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bnycum
Anyone know how they handled payments in the app? If it wasn't through Apple I
wonder if Apple was coming after them to get their 30%.

~~~
stouset
Apple only takes a cut from the sale of digital goods, not physical ones.

~~~
rubicon33
And even that can really fuck with a business. 30%.

~~~
stouset
Okay, but that has nothing to do with the original conversation we were
having.

~~~
rubicon33
I don't see how it doesn't? This was a discussion about a company shutting
down, and this particular sub-thread was regarding speculation that the
shutdown was the result of Apple 'coming after them' for their 30%... Your
comment that it was only for digital goods, while true, required further
elaboration that even that can be hard on a business. This comment is directly
related to the sub-thread's speculation on why Threadless shut down.

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DashRattlesnake
So what's the backstory? The only thing the page says regarding the shutdown
is:

> We will be shutting down the Threadless iOS App on June 5, 2017.

~~~
dvydra
I have no idea. I'm hoping by posting here I might find out too.

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bluthru
I wonder if Apple Pay for the web has something to do with this.

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Overtonwindow
They have an app‽ I've always used TeeFury for the quality.

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diziet
The app has had about 200k all time downloads~

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resist_futility
Same day as WWDC keynote? Coincidence?

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dafash
Harper

