Some people like the Google toolbar. I don't use it personally (nor would I ever choose to), but that doesn't mean it doesn't hold value for other people.
That said, two facts for you:
1) We don't gain any kind of advertising revenue from this app, nor do we serve adds through this app on behalf of third parties. This app is specifically intended to be a value-add for our users.
2) Apture really is one of our most popular third party apps, and apps are entirely opt-in. You'll see that through your own lens, of course, but through ours it means that, when Apture shuts down, our users will lose one of the features that they enjoy using through our service.
> Some people like the Google toolbar. I don't use it personally (nor would I ever choose to), but that doesn't mean it doesn't hold value for other people.
So, if you don't like the Google toolbar, you simply don't install it in your browser.
With Apture, you don't get to choose. If you like it, it's only available on some websites. If you don't, you have to go through some adblock or privacy block rigamarole to prevent it (and other clones, like yours) from interfering with your ability to select text on the web.
It is a prime candidate for functionality that should be provided by the browser, not the website. Sure, it can be nice to do a mockup in JavaScript to demonstrate and experimenting with the functionality without patching your browser. But it shouldn't be something that random webmasters are enabling on a whim, because they think that their users just might like it. That's akin to bundling Google Toolbar with some random software that someone's downloading, just because you think that they might like it.
Just so we're clear, by users, you don't mean actual people sitting in front of web browsers, you mean CloudFlare Customers. In general, people using web browsers despise the Apture services - particularly when they can't be overridden, or if they are poorly done (The stupid popups interfering with web browsing behavior - particularly on small mobile screens).
Just because it's popular, doesn't mean you should be doing it. On the flip side, if you do it in an _elegant_ manner that allows the individual using their web browser to regain control over this behavior - win-win all around.
Yes, you are correct. Our users are the site owners, and their users are the ones who encounter Apture and similar "apps" in the wild. This is why, as I've said in other replies, the suggestion that we provide an easy opt-in / opt-out mechanism is well taken.
I _want_ to make this something that is elegant and useful, not just from the average internet-goers perspective, but also from the perspective of my peers and colleagues (and luckily, I'm in a good position to do so). I'm glad that some of the readers here have been willing to offer constructive and valuable suggestions about how I can do that :)
What you guys are doing would be the equivalent of Geocities offering a one-click-install animated rainbow GIF background for websites... Just because lots of the Geocities customers would have chosen to install such a 'product' doesn't make it a good idea for the users down the line ;)
Of course it's not your place to determine how your customers interact with their users, which is the point most people in this thread seem to be missing. This is good marketing for CloudFlare, plain and simple; if the users of your customer's site don't like it they can complain and/or stop using the site.
>> Apture really is one of our most popular third party apps
Site operators are not always the best group to determine what makes an overall good browsing experience. In this case, I agree with the other posters that the service changes the nature of a browsing experience in a way that is unwelcome.
I remember when blink and marquee tags were popular among site owners.
One of my clients still has a marquee (with jquery upgrades) and I installed it on their site for them. Does that make me evil?
If cdata's customers site visitors don't come back then this will feed back through the chain - cdata is making the tool not using it; blaming gun makers for murder, etc., etc..
That said, two facts for you:
1) We don't gain any kind of advertising revenue from this app, nor do we serve adds through this app on behalf of third parties. This app is specifically intended to be a value-add for our users.
2) Apture really is one of our most popular third party apps, and apps are entirely opt-in. You'll see that through your own lens, of course, but through ours it means that, when Apture shuts down, our users will lose one of the features that they enjoy using through our service.