Dark Patterns

I’m somewhat torn because the quality of the actual content is actually quite good. The news feed is great, with timely stories and information. The stats are outstanding. I would use it regularly if it wasn’t so evil…

The problem is that they’ve not just added annoying ads (which they also have), but the seem to have figured out a way to periodically push you out of their application and into the App Store to view whichever app they’re (presumably) paid to hock.

I didn’t think this was possible without direct user input (i.e. actually clicking on an ad) however I tested this by viewing one of their stories and just waiting. Sure enough a few seconds in I was shunted over to the App Store to view something completely unrelated to anything.

The development community often refers to these as “Dark Patterns” and there’s some good sites out there to show you where developers are abusing users with this type of greedy, manipulative coding. The Squawka developers would do well to stop treating their users as a disposable source of income if they’re serious about fostering a community of Football enthusiasts.

Unfortunately I can’t condone this type of abusive behavior, so I won’t be continuing to use this application even though I do think they have valuable content. Hopefully they’ll see the light and remove their dark patterns. If they do, I’ll be the first to come back…

Minotauromachie about The Squawka Football App