I reluctantly renewed my membership this year. The price is not the issue but rather the lack of value I'm getting from my membership. I admit that I have not published anything yet because of the amount of time it takes to create a great looking app. I'm a web developer by trade and I wanted to provide a value added service to my clients back in 2012. I have created several test apps since becoming a member in 2012 but I didn't publish anything. I'm was excited to see David's email at the beginning of the year that spoke of a renewed commitment but it seems like he has other priorities again this year. I'm also rather disappointed in the lack of developer meetings and Webinar scheduled in 2015.. ZERO. What happened to the buzztouch team? I renewed my membership primarily because I dont want to miss out on anything new and exciting that hopefully is on the roadmap. If not, this will be my last year of membership. David.. please make me excited about Buzztouch again!!

Couldn't agree more, I would like the feature where we could by more space on buzztouch so we could have more then 50 apps.

My personal testimony would rather be: "I gladly renewed my membership this year. The price is an issue but balanced by the high value I'm getting from my membership. I admit that I have published many apps yet in spite of the amount of time it takes to create a great looking app." Just a half-joke, sorry. I have some grunts too. But nothing that breaks the magic. Keep on rockin'!

I wouldn't worry 'too' much. David and I don't talk regularly, but from time to time, we do communicate, and he's probably more dedicated to BT now than anytime since it's inception. It's just most of the work is on the back end and for the most part goes unseen. But the improvements are there. The shift to Android studio is an example... BT isn't Google; for the most part it's just David and that covers both Android and iOS, as well as all the Backend php/mysql/server stuff that needs an update. A lot of stuff to deal with using two hands only. And just when you get things done, along comes another iOS or Android update that requires more modifications. Also, there is more to it, bigger things coming shortly, but my mouth is shut until the announcements at Buzzcon are made. But as a pragmatic developer I understand the frustration, but I have to say, regardless of the 'current' state of BT, I think it's a better deal than the competition. Keep your chin up. Patience will pay off in the longer run. Cheers! -- Smug

I'm not a coder, I'm not a developer. Yet, I have 3 apps in the Apple App Store and i just published my first app on Google Play (Thanks GoNorthwest & Smug). Somehow I managed this AND they are making money. The only thing that I can think of that got me to this point is Buzztouch and determination. Buzztouch is not just a platform for us non-developers to build apps on. Buzztouch is the group of people that helps us non-developers build apps. Then us non-developers help newer non-developers learn the shortcuts, and tricks of Buzztouch. For the price of admission, I think it's a great deal. No platform is going to give you a cookie cutter app and you just fill in your logo. If they do, I'm sure that the app will look just like every app from that platform. If you don't like the available plug-ins, build a new one and sell it in the plug-in market. If you don't know how to, ask. There is plenty to work with here. You just need a little imagination and the willingness to put in some time. Just my respectful opinion. Dave

Hi epicweb! Is there something in particular u are looking to build? A particular feature? Plugin? I know there is tons of backend work David is always updating,fixing,modifying etc... Lots of emails for very personalized help keep things super busy as well. Thousands and thousands of us are reborn all the time when we publish our BT apps. Maybe try getting an app on the market? I just published 3 apps for a client completely using BT and came out awesome. Got paid very well and the client is stoked. Let us know if u need any help finishing and publishing apps. I know for a fact BT loves suggestions and has open ears so let the ideas flow! ian

@epicweb and gang, Is it because you haven't seen my smiley face on the forums lol LA

Hi, I have not published anything this year yet, but i will happily renew my subscription to Buzztouch again. First and foremost because it is easy to use and I am quite happy with the plug-ins available, but also because I have never found a friendlier user-environment consisting of nice, helpful people. Every time I mess up or do something stupid, friendly help is around in a few moments. This is why I keep subscribing! Thanks guys! Kristian

Hi epicweb, I haven't posted much, dealing with my own projects and whatnot, but wanted to quickly say in regards to what you said: "I'm was excited to see David's email at the beginning of the year that spoke of a renewed commitment but it seems like he has other priorities again this year." I'm not sure if you have not noticed, but holy crap, Buzztouch, David, has been pushing out more things in the last 3 months than he has in over a year - easy. Other Priorities? I doubt he has a personal life right now, buzztouch is his #1 priority and it clearly shows. Check out some of the things BT has pushed out very recently: - The new Buzztouch website. - The move to Android Studio. - The screens.php speed increase. - Code Crush 2013. - BuzzCon 2015. - The BT_info.plist File Update. and currently Google Cloud Messaging, not to mention, the 50 other things on his plate. Keep in mind, the Code Crush and BuzzCon ones are not just announcements, he's working on curriculum, location, content/materials, equipment, and everything else that comes with hosting Buzzcon and a Code Training Weekend. Trust me. He's working on some big things, you just have to look. :-) Feel good that you renewed, because when next year rolls around, I'll guarantee you will do it again :-) Cheers. David.

The famous saying goes, "Good things come to those who wait". David has been keeping his promise. Slow and steady is better than fast and unstable.

Yeah.. I hear you guys. This is why this community is so great.. people sharing and contributing to the success of each other. All of your comments have merit and provide a different point of view of your feelings on Buzztouch. I'm sure David is extremely busy as are all of us. The purpose of this note was to provide some feedback on my current feelings / point of view of Buzztouch and why I struggled to renew my membership. My personal point of view is that if something is not evolving or improving than its going to die a slow death. I'm sure there are tons of things that require attention that we do not see but its the things that we do see that help us make decisions on membership renewal fees and if its worth the investment. I dont want to see Buzztouch go the way of many other companies. I want to be excited about Buzztouch.

The way I look at things in general, it all depends on people's expectations of the company and how fast they need their apps in the Play Store or App Store. I renewed my membership because I feel that I finally found a company that I can actually speak directly to it's owner and all it's admins whenever need be. That to me is worth more than the actual app development platform itself. It's almost 3 years from when I first registered and I still haven't even made one app yet. But I think I need a little more training in that like a hands-on training workshop or something. That's where I'm at now.

Hi gang. Smiling and Cringing at the same time. For sure. I'm with @epicweb on this one. Things are brutal. Yes, I'm being blunt. All the love, and all the support, and all the amazingness that BT has been, and will continue to be is amazingly motivational for me and for others. BUT IT'S NOWHERE NEAR WHERE I WISHE IT COULD BE, SHOULD BE? BY NOW. THAT'S THE REALITY. I was talking to a business-minded friend of mine the other day (another therapy session for David!) and he was asking me about where I spend my time. What product do I work on? What product do I innovate the most on? I giggled a bit and listed out all the things I TRY to do, but can't seem to get beyond "keeping them alive" recently. -- BT Core for iOS. You dont' see changes often. There in there. I'm horrible at documenting them. Keeping this project happy in the compilers is no small feat. -- BT Core for Android. Same as above. I recently finished getting it up-to-speed for Android Studio. I'm sure I broke some stuff in the process. LOL. It's runs awesome on my gadgets, tons will break. Sigh. -- BT Self Hosted. This isn't too much work to keep alive (it's not been updated in awhile) but the BT API (that nobody sees) that does all the app packaging for the self hosters out there is a major time suck. -- The BT website itself. Zillions of rows of data. Zillions of goings on that never seem right. -- Forum, Developer Meetings, Hangouts, Helping folks learn. As you know, this is a "value add" but hasn't had much attention lately. For a few reasons. Maybe that's another forum post but the gist of this idea is that spending 10 hours a week "talking" and "meeting" and "organizing" things for those that are interested in my perspective, opinion, teachings it tough for the same 15 people each week. Giggle. -- BtGo!. The iOS version is nowhere near what I want. The Android version, that you haven't seen is further along (thank goodness there are no approval rules, I'm talking to you Apple). BtGo! is a big part of my future plans but it's painfully far behind. So five products, each arguably a full-time job. That's 5 jobs for a guy that hasn't had a job in a very long time. Which takes me to the last part... I'm hell bent on creating a living from BT. I'm 1% there. 99% to go. The landscape, the system, the innovations I want to introduce, and all the other time-consuming-day-to-day stuff is making this super difficult. The pace of change is increble. 5 years ago I made lots and LOTS of people super duper happy with a relativley simple solution. Years later, lots of "feedback" and we've all ended up with a very very complex thing called "BT." It needs to be simplified again, help more folks find smiles, with less headache. Doing that (simplifying the app making process) while also keeping it as flexible and powerful as the power-users expect and demand is no small joke. Starting all over again would be much much easier. I can't. I won't. But I do feel for Microsoft and others and how much effort they must put into supporting / fixing / maintaining legacy stuff. I wish I had their money to ease the burden. I don't. Lastly. The team. About two years ago I recruited some help. BT was going nuts, major major busy, tons of traffic, all things up-n-to-the-right. The people I recruited were amazing. They still are. I've asked them to chill, not take too much responsibility, don't hyperventilate over their orignal missions. Why? Because I'm not able to compensate them and it just isn't right that I would expect such a high amount of commitment for little to no compensation. I asked them to let me try to re-set this thing, get past some painful humps, then re-evaluate over time. I want to eventually PAY people to help BT grow. Volunteers are awesome, and I'm getting lots of help from some awesome volunteers. But an official parter / paid / leadership team is very different. Folks have livings to make, they can't be burdened by BT, necessarily. I'm ranting a bit here, and you can likely feel my emotion...I'm an intense guy and care deeply about NOT letting folks down (BT users). CONTINUING to make cool stuff, and ALWAYS ALWAYS fighting my way through the clutter that is today's mobile. There are a few more technical humps I need to get past before you begin to see anything special, new, innovative. But, rest assured, some new things are coming. Lets just hope they don't break anything we all love. Thanks as usual...this thread is a perfect illustration to why I'm so happy with my decision to do ONLY BT. Cheers from Monterey...

@David: Yes you are ranting but we are here for your therapy..lol I think @epicweb gets it. We have been here long enough but for a short time to see bt evolve, change, and go beyond expectations since I first started out here. Only a handful of people knew this but, I have been out of commission for the last few years because of taking care of my mother with Alzheimer's Disease, which she just died last September. I am still mourning over her! This time away from bt has given me my passion back for buzztouch! I am not here on buzztouch to make money and never had been, but I am here to help other members and guest to become the best App makers and developers they can be! @CSSZiegler: You speak directly to the owner of buzztouch? You must know someone..lol j/k LA

@LA, I meant it in a general sense

It was a joke @ CSSZiegler lol LA

Oh Ok. Cool!

Super informative post D, amazing things at work, and we appreciate every bit of it. Looking forward to the adventure. Let us know if you need anything. David.

Hats off to David!