Can’t use the test cards after payment
Bargain
Response from developer
Thank you! We're not allowed to state the price in the app as that's controlled by Apple and their App Store, but we do keep the price low. For a small developer as we are we can't give it away for free, but do want to be as fair as possible (we love our A/V too!). Hence why we opted for test before you buy. And then shared that in-app purchase with Apple TV so that all users can run on both iOS and Apple TV versions with one purchase.
Works great.
Rip off
Great App for the price
Response from developer
Thank you for your review! We've added even more tools to the original app over the years to offer more, and everybody has aways been able to get those upgrade for free too. My goal was to offer some of the best tools you could get, but also ones that keep being added to over time too. I don't think anybody else has ever done this before.
Portrait only; hasn’t even been proofread or even spell-checked
The app itself riddled with typos, misspellings, and other errors and apparently hasn’t been proofread even once.
On top of all that, the developer thinks it’s OK to require the user to (detach their iPad from its Smart Keyboard or rearrange its cover and) pick their iPad up from its landscape mounted position and hold it vertically for this app that has no reason not to support landscape. This app is specifically for use with an Apple TV, so the most natural position of an iPad is likely on a table, in landscape orientation, in front of the user facing a large display. Dictating orientation is rude enough, but dictating portrait for this particular app is worse.
Response from developer
The app was written initially for the iPhone and iOS, not Apple TV as that came much later. I did keep the same purchase model so that if you had bought iOS you could run on Apple TV, but Apple TV only started allowing apps like this after V4. Yes, it is hard to keep track of different Apple TV versions, especially when V2 and V3 looked the same and with V4 and V5 differing only with the latter supporting 4k. You may find some British spellings of some words as I'm UK based but I do try to follow US spellings where possible with this app. Many hours have been spent proof reading, but I'm not perfect and sometimes things do get through. You can email us any time if you're not sure about anything in particular. It's not always easy to support both portrait and landscape modes. A lot of work goes in to getting the main screen work the way it should, and rotating that to landscape sometimes breaks what we've tried to do. What you're not seeing is the amount of layers and interface objects that are being laid up to present to you. My use-case is someone in their home-theatre sitting on their comfy sofa using their iPad to set up their TV. I tend not to imagine someone sitting at a desk to set up their home cinema. I will look into landscape options, but this may take some time to do as it won't be easy. And as always you can email me and I do reply!
Useful
Response from developer
Thank you! It's always great to hear my app has help someone get the most out of their home theatre!
Ummm how much? OHHHH it’s $4.99!
Someone, like myself, only just now, might do a random search for “4K or “Test” on Apple TV, locate this app, attempt to use it, find your in app purchase, attempt to see what it would cost to do so, only to see NO PRICE LISTED. They might then attempt to locate the app on their iPad.. which would be a fruitless venture as the app is not on iPadOS. Finally they might grab their iPhone and search there and FINALLY find that the app costs 4.99$ since iOS actually shows you the cost of in app purchases prior to making the purchase, where as Apple TV prompts a user to enter their password before proceeding. Perhaps the price is shown after that step before committing, but many, myself included are not likely to blindly take that chance until going through the steps I just outlined above.
So do us and yourselves all a favor, please. We understand you have to eat. Ya know, so do we. We get it. But be forthcoming about what you want for this service somewhere, ANYWHERE, in the description! On the landing page via Apple TV, in the info section upon using the app. Let ppl know what it’ll cost them. Is 4.99 fair? I think so. Will others? Who knows, that’s how this works. But you certainly have a much better shot at actually selling this useful app by disclosing its cost rather than chasing users away whom aren't willing to roll the dice during a blind Apple TV check out without entering their password first.
Think about it.
Response from developer
App Store rules prevents me from stating the cost, as that is what Apple does for you. I can't code this in because the prices varies between regions. I want users of the iPhone/iPad version to have access to the Apple TV Version without making another purchase so I have to follow the same in-app purchase model. You're effectively getting far more access than if you just bought for Apple TV when you also have the ability to also access on iOS devices too. Personally, I think that's great! And unlike previous testcard systems on disc I've updated the app to include more features and more testcards without going back to the original purchasers for any additional fees. Again, I think that's a huge advantage. I'm trying to be as fair as I can, trying to give customers a lot of value for the purchase price, but I do have to work within the App Store rules and one rules is that Apple provides the costings for the app to users.
Dreadful - Don’t waste your money
Too complicated
Response from developer
We've tried to simplify the menus based upon your feedback, thank you! One of the aims of the app was to offer a huge variety of different testcards that allow you to test your system with repeatable tests. Sometimes just one of those is exactly what you need for your system!
Deceptive advertising
THX Tuneup is completely free and does a great job.
This company doesn't even let you know what they want for their service.
Bad policy in my opinion.
I didn't even bother to use it because of this.
Hopefully others will follow suit and cause this company to re-think its policy.
Response from developer
We're a small company that is trying to bring the best for A/V because we love our system. We know it's frustrating when you buy something only to find that it's not suitable. Since the app requires a connection to the screen, and some people will buy not realising this, we felt the fairest way was to allow you to test before making a purchase. Before making that purchase, Apple will tell you the price but under app-store rules we can't hard code those prices in to the app, sorry. We can't make the app free - we've got to eat too! We looked to the test DVD and Blu-Rays and wanted to offer a better solution. Unlike those, when an update comes out, you get it automatically. We think it's a better way. Test DVDs and Blu-Rays are excellent as they have a huge variety of testcards and I hope we've done the same with the app.
