Wait For It

The latest episode of Systematic features a very brief discussion between Brett Terpstra and Dr. Drang about app reviews. In it Dr. Drang states how he rarely writes app reviews because he feels he needs to spend more time with an app before reviewing it. This is a sentiment I heartily endorse and try to follow here.

I love app reviews and how-to guides as much as the next nerd. But a lot of what I read feels like rushed enthusiasm and stories that frame experiments as conclusions. App reviews are particularly notorious. I read a lot about how Mailbox completely changed the experience of email. Personally, it would take me at least 6 months of use before I could make that declaration.

Some people want “reviews” on launch day though.1 They want conclusions within hours of a new app release. However, when I look through my bookmarks, I see that I ignore launch day reviews and gravitate toward longer story arcs.2 I want to hear from someone that abandoned iPhoto 12 months ago, not last week. I want to know how well Twitter replaced RSS six months down the road not the day after you deleted your feeds. Tell me what your task list looks like 9 months after leaving OmniFocus.

I’ve been guilty of some knee-jerk conclusions myself. I’ve posted tips or tricks that I abandoned soon after writing about them. I’m embarrassed of those posts, even if others find them useful. They were not lies but at the least they were dishonest.

I try hard not to fall prey to those frailties. I don’t like to review apps or services unless I’ve used them extensively. Some of my most time consuming posts were my Task Management Vision Quest and my Feed Reader Reviews. The majority of the work was actually using the apps and services. But I feel confident in my recommendations.

I’ve been asked why I don’t write about the latest hot service or amazing new app until it’s out of vogue. I guess I just don’t mind waiting for the pay off (or even waiting to see if there is one).


  1. Very soon you will see a launch day post about a new text editor for iPad here on Macdrifter. In a preemptive excuse, I will say that I have used the beta version of the app for over 6 months. ↩︎

  2. I do differentiate between a review and a feature run-down. I like feature run-downs. ↩︎