[Macworld]

Post your comments for Growl shows that open source and the Mac App Store mix here

[NeoMaximuz]

Exciting!

[kabj06]

Hopefully this will stop retarded devs from including this with their software.

Hopefully this will stop retarded devs from including this with their software.

[bonesb]

Grrrrr.

"If you're currently running Growl 1.2.2 or earlier, download and run the Growl uninstaller prior to purchasing and downloading Growl 1.3 from the Mac App Store. Your preferences and settings should be untouched after running the uninstaller." Pay attention to this.

I found the update on the App Store before reading this, and downloaded v. 1.3 - there's no mention of the aforementioned caveat to uninstall v 1.2.x first. I ran my shiny new app, and the new app indicated that there's an older version and offered up a link to the uninstaller for the old version of Growl - which I did and ran it. Voila, the v 1.2.x is uninstalled. Annnnnd, so is my shiny new 1.3 that I just paid $1.99 for. Annnnnd, the shiny new app isn't showing up in my App Store "Purchased" apps. What a PITA. Grrrrr.

Edit: Had to reboot, now the App Store is allowing me to re-download the 1.3 version (left the OP intact). Mission Control is now showing a "GrowlHelperApp" with a ghosted question mark in the icon. Now Lion can start Growling...

This post has been edited by bonesb: 03 October 2011 - 01:22 PM

[d00d]

kabj06, on 03 October 2011 - 12:57 PM, said:

Hopefully this will stop retarded devs from including this with their software.

The devs are hoping that this new approach will help prevent obnoxious install techniques that were once commonplace. The only thing to watch out for is that apps that haven't been updated to use the new framework could possibly continually install the old version if a copy isn't installed.

[KesslerPeak]

It'd have been nice to see it mentioned a little earlier that this is only for 10.7. I got excited and went looking for it, but being on 10.6, I'm out of luck. Only saw it mentioned in the last 'graph that it's 10.7-only.

[jowie]

Why don't Apple just integrate this into OS X? If they would like to bring iOS features to the Mac, this one makes perfect sense because they have the framework for notifications already in place.

I'm a little skeptical about the move from System Preferences. The Mac App Store approval process may not allow this, but I think it makes perfect sense for system-wide utilities to be controlled via the System Prefs. The same thing has happened with both iStat Menus and Little Snitch, and I think it feels weird. Launch the app to change its settings, even though it's already running... Doesn't sit right with me.

[luomat]

KesslerPeak, on 03 October 2011 - 01:07 PM, said:

It'd have been nice to see it mentioned a little earlier that this is only for 10.7. I got excited and went looking for it, but being on 10.6, I'm out of luck. Only saw it mentioned in the last 'graph that it's 10.7-only.

If you're running an old version of Mac OS X and see an application listed as "Mac App Store only" your first instinct should be to look for what version it will run on, rather than expecting the author of the piece to pander to the fact that you can't be bothered to read the whole article before jumping into another app to download it.

As a matter of fact, I just tried to search for Growl in the Mac App Store store (before I read this article), and it doesn't even appear yet. I found the link at the end of the article *in the same paragraph* as the requirement for 10.7:

So you would have been better off to read the rest of the article for the link as well as the limitation.

[kimhill]

Growl doesn't show up in the App Store for me (I'm on Lion).

[d00d]

kimhill, on 03 October 2011 - 01:38 PM, said:

Growl doesn't show up in the App Store for me (I'm on Lion).

The link in the last paragraph should lead you straight to the Mac App Store page.

[TheFLP]

kimhill, on 03 October 2011 - 01:38 PM, said:

Growl doesn't show up in the App Store for me (I'm on Lion).

Um ... yeah. Ditto.

Edit: Seeing d00d's comment I went back to find the link. Yes, it works. But searching for Growl in the App Store didn't turn it up. Is there a caching thing going on with the App Store app?

It's so freaking slow that I always assumed it was a live connection.

This post has been edited by TheFLP: 03 October 2011 - 01:47 PM

[kimhill]

d00d, on 03 October 2011 - 01:43 PM, said:

kimhill, on 03 October 2011 - 01:38 PM, said:

Growl doesn't show up in the App Store for me (I'm on Lion).

The link in the last paragraph should lead you straight to the Mac App Store page.

Thanks for the tip- it worked. Strangely, the the app isn't accessible any other way for me.

This post has been edited by kimhill: 03 October 2011 - 01:46 PM

[d00d]

kimhill, on 03 October 2011 - 01:46 PM, said:

Thanks for the tip- it worked. Strangely, the the app isn't accessible any other way for me.

I've read that the only two ways to discover it currently are by browsing the Utilities category or by direct link. I can't confirm/deny at the moment.

[jowie]

d00d, on 03 October 2011 - 01:54 PM, said:

I've read that the only two ways to discover it currently are by browsing the Utilities category or by direct link. I can't confirm/deny at the moment.

It's very typical (on the iOS App Store at least) for Apps to be available in the store before they have made it into the search engine.

This post has been edited by jowie: 03 October 2011 - 01:58 PM