I took the time out of my schedule to reach out to Xojo this week to discuss the issues I have with API 2.0 and other topics. It was a fruitful, if somewhat disappointing, conversation with Geoff. Like Anthony from Graffiti Suite I am cautiously optimistic that some of the worst issues third party developers have with API 2.0 might be alleviated. Really we won’t know until we see their solution
One of the topics that I brought up was that these issues (the new Event names and marking anything from API 1.0 Deprecated – even though they’ll be around for a many years to come) were brought up early and often in the beta program. I said that honestly, it made us feel that our input is not valued. Geoff’s response is that the beta testers that brought these issues up is a small subset of the overall beta program and what they (Xojo) didn’t realize was those beta testers have other Xojo developers behind them (other Xojo developers) that aren’t in the beta program. They assumed that most of our users were using the most recent version of Xojo.
So, in other words, the biggest, most active users of their development tool, that are in the beta program because they want to be and need Xojo to work because of THEIR clients, their concerns could be ignored. It means the professional Xojo users aren’t considered a part of their target audience.
Wow. That is stunning to tell someone that has been in the beta program for (probably) over fifteen years that their input doesn’t matter. The three pro licenses that I’ve been purchasing year after year for over a dozen years doesn’t matter. The many years of blog posts promoting the product don’t matter. The thousands of hours of streaming video training about the product don’t matter.
I’ve been going to Xojo Developers Conference (XDC) for years. I’ve spoken at all of them since 2004. The conferences are expensive enough to attend that really it’s only the professional users that attend. There are some citizen developers that attend but mostly it is people that make a living off of using Xojo in some way. Maybe this is why XDC is now being marketed as Xojo.Connect? Targeted for citizen developers? I don’t know but it’s not any less expensive.
I asked Geoff if they’ve ever asked why long-term users stopped renewing. The answer was no. They did it years ago with people that signed up to download Xojo but never purchased. They couldn’t find a pattern which I totally get. Heck, I’ve downloaded and discarded dozens of development tools over the years just to kick their tires. But not knowing why someone stopped paying you $700 year after year? Seems like it would be an important thing to know.
I’ve been around a long time and have remained friends with some of those former Xojo developers. Some leave because of long-term bugs. It is disheartening to report a bug that affects your app that gets ignored for years on end. Granted not all bugs are equal but a show-stopper bug is just that. When your bug is ignored it’s pretty easy to check out.
Some leave because Xojo isn’t as RAD (Rapid Application Development) as it is billed as. Database driven applications (which I would say is what most businesses need) is pretty bad (hence why we’ve had our own library forever). Why use Xojo if it’s not RAD?
Some leave because there is a lack of capabilities in the product. iOS (but also true for all targets) is painfully lacking in capabilities that force you into learning complex declares. There are no built-in controls for Date, Time, Timestamp, or numbers only Text Fields, exporting to PDF, no ability for applications to have a report editor, a good grid, etc. Some of this is because Xojo is the lowest common denominator between Mac, Windows, and Linux (for desktop) and doing these things cross-platform is really hard.
Some leave because of the lack of options. Xojo has a tiny 3rd party add-on market. You only have a few options (if any) for some things or you make them yourself. Users hate reinventing the wheel. Xojo itself doesn’t do much to promote or help the 3rd party market. Other development tools have significantly more options to choose from.
Regardless, there are probably a ton of reasons why people leave. I suspect that most come down to some variation of the above. These are also the same reasons why new users will walk away too.
Citizen developers can walk away from Xojo with hardly a second thought. They’ve invested practically nothing in the tool. When you’ve been in the Xojo ecosystem for many years apparently we’re taken for granted because the cost of moving is so high. But who are the cheerleaders for the product? Who helps new users in the forums? The less active the community the harder it’s going to be to get those new citizen developer sales. I see this as a negative feedback loop.
I’ve been a Xojo consultant for over over sixteen years. I guess I’m not their target audience. Is anyone?