I’ve worked on some big product launches. Every time there’s a major update, developers have to think about which features to port over an

Removing features is a shitty move

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Style Pass

2021-06-09 09:30:03

I’ve worked on some big product launches. Every time there’s a major update, developers have to think about which features to port over and which to drop.

Sometimes it is hard. It’s a moderately well used feature, but complicated to get running on a new environment. If you keep it – that’s a huge extra cost, for marginal utility. If you drop it – die-hard users will complain.

So we come to Philips Hue. I’ve long been a fan of these smart lights. They’ve just released a completely redesigned version of their app. And, over on LinkedIn, the designers and product managers are congratulating each other on a job well done.

One of the app’s best features was their Android Widgets. I had a row on my homescreen with buttons for each room. Tap the bedroom – lights go on. Tap it again – lights go off. Perfect!

The new version deleted all the widgets, with no way to recreate them? Why? Because the iPhone app can’t have widgets, so no one gets them. I wish I was joking.