Carrier Coverage app developers react quickly to outrage of rooted users

[pyroscott]

Carrier Coverage was officially released on 6 Feb with the following disclaimer about rooted users:

IMPORTANT NOTE about ROOTED DEVICES! Although you will still be able to use the app and website flawlessly and your information will be collected/stored into the Carrier Coverage database, we will NOT be using rooted device information in terms of data reporting. There are too many variables and unknowns to accurately include this information at this time. I know many of you will be disappointed about this, but without accurate data, it totally compromises the potential accuracy - and therefore integrity of this project. And having reliable data needs to be priority #1.

 

By 7 Feb, after a rash of 1 star ratings by rooted users, they have already added

“** ATTENTION ROOTED USERS ** We will be updating the app THIS WEEK to offer support for rooted devices.” to the app description.

 

My thoughts, when I first read about the app, were that it could be an excellent tool to get an accurate depiction of coverage and not the estimation that the carriers provide. Once I set out to download and use the app, I was slightly disappointed that it excluded rooted users. It seemed counterintuitive that they would exclude the rooted users, as they are, in my opinion, the most likely to use the app heavily. Apparently rooted users are so excited about using this app, they are willing to spend the time to leave negative feedback. It sure worked, as Carrier Coverage was quick to react and start working on an update to include rooted users. I hope this minor mistake of not including rooted users from launch doesn’t discourage people from using the app and helping them collect data.