
How to launch when the app directory rejects you - jsmoov
https://directmemo.io/blog/how-to-launch-when-the-app-store-rejects-you?ref=HackerNews
======
warp
If the slack app store rejected it, how can they still sign up customers for
it?

So I guess the slack app store is just a directory, and you can still
integrate with slack without being listed in their app store?

The article would be a bit easier to understand if it explained this.

~~~
adamzapasnik
AFAIK Github apps work the same way. Additionally, you need to meet a specific
number of customers (I think over 200) to apply to be listed in their market.

~~~
evanelias
Exactly correct. In theory, GitHub's app marketplace offers developers a
separate option for "unverified listings", which have "no minimum install or
user count requirements", but requires your app to be free.

However, when I submitted a new app as an unverified listing last year, I
received a rejection email stating they were only "looking for apps with at
least 25 installs". I attempted to appeal (based on their marketplace system's
text directly stating there was no minimum user count), but I received no
response, and none of the ~dozen engineers I personally know at GitHub were
able to help.

I can still make my app available, and implement a third-party billing system,
but without a marketplace listing it's much harder to gain exposure and users.

All in all, developing a GitHub app was an _extremely_ frustrating experience,
especially since GitHub extensively makes internal use of my open source
project upon which my GitHub app was based.

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Taylor_OD
Yikes. Love the app idea. I hate the first use case shown. I've never gotten
anything helpful from a CEO/manager slacking me, "How are you doing?" At best
I have to stop doing what I'm doing and respond relativity quickly so I seem
attentive to this superior. Normally there is no purpose to the interaction so
it just feels like wasted time and more wasted time due to context switching.

At it's worst it turns into a checking in conversation with some critique that
would be better suited for a phone call or in person meeting.

Advice to CEO's/Managers: The how are things going slacks do not feel like a
personal chat. Create a culture where people will ask for help and guidance
when they need it and let them do their work.

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atarian
I don't quite understand why someone would use this instead of @general. Just
to make it sound more personal?

~~~
michaelt
Every means of corporate communication is part of the noise treadmill.

The old way has too much noise and not everyone gets all the messages. The new
way _seems_ to have solved those problems. The new way becomes the 'standard'
way of doing things. Then the new way has too much noise and users are forced
to adopt noise-reduction. Then the process repeats...

That's why companies have posters on notice boards, posters in kitchens and
toilets, company-wide e-mails, department-wide e-mails, an intranet, e-mailed
newsletters, an in-house magazine, mandatory slack channels - and now, a tool
to send slack PMs in bulk.

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ryandvm
Went through a similar experience with our own Slack app. We had created a
fairly popular app called "Export" for exporting channels from Slack in a
variety of formats. It was an approved Slack app for several years before
being summarily expunged from the directory when Slack changed their terms of
service.

Surprisingly, not being listed in the Slack App Directory is not a death
sentence. It just means you have to invest in alternate discovery channels.

Speaking of, the link for Slack Export is:

[https://export.fountstudio.com/](https://export.fountstudio.com/)

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darepublic
I don't like it when companies make you accountable to messages made on slack

~~~
isochronous
I don't either, but if it's going to happen, I'd MUCH rather those messages be
sent directly to me via DM rather than being just @channel or @general blasts.
At least with DMs it's obvious that I've been sent a message that I need to
read.

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cvs268
At first sight, the ability to mass DM individuals on Slack, with all the
recipients hidden from each other, just sounds wrong.

However, as Slack positions itself as the new email, and once we remember that
email has had bcc since forever, this app/feature no longer appears so
sinister anymore.

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gjsman-1000
The post title is a bit misleading. Most people hear "App Store" and think of
Apple/Google, but this is actually referring to the Slack App Directory.

~~~
bzb3
I'm not going to flag it because I'm against censorship, but yes, this is an
absolutely terrible title.

~~~
laurent123456
Isn't flagging just to bring the post to a moderator's attention? (who can
then decide what to do) At least that's how I've always understood it.

~~~
bzb3
If many people flag a post or a comment, it disappears, pending moderator
action. Which is a bit unfair if the wrong title was a honest mistake.

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jsmoov
Looks like the post ended up being removed for no other reason than the title
:/

Would you mind upvoting the new submission:

[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=23780314](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=23780314)

Thanks for the comment!!

~~~
cvs268
Please limit these mass identical msgs to ur app only. Plz don't spam HN.

Cool idea. Clearly there's a market for it. But stop trying to force ur way
onto the HN top. Makes U look desperate and attaches a negative feeling to U
and ur app/use-case (Hardly wht U want)

------
adamzapasnik
As someone who has a Slackbot in the Slack App Directory
([https://retrochat.xyz](https://retrochat.xyz)) I can see why Slack is
hostile. The reason is most likely UX.

On the other hand, I have to command the author for their lead research and a
nice blog post. Way to go :)

