It has only been a matter of weeks since the team at Mixed Media Labs asked people to back their latest venture app.net. At the time, many wondered whether they had a product or was the whole thing just an idea. In response, Alpha was released to early backers of the project.

Roll forward to today and we have in impressive array of clients to choose from. Admittedly they not only look similar to each other, they also look similar to a certain Twitter client for OS X. But, what we are seeing is a healthy competition between developers to become the de-facto app.net desktop client.

app.net clients

What surprises me though is the pace at which both the clients and the platform have developed. This is testament to the tools and frameworks that we now have at our disposal, but even more so to the developers that use them. And, whilst the screenshot above shows the three desktop clients I have installed, there are currently 118 different applications listed as being in development on the directory of third party apps. I’m sure there many more who have not chosen to list themselves.

But, this fast paced development has its consequences. People have come to expect, and in some cases, demand perfection. We are forgetting that what we are using is not just a work in progress but a stack of incomplete products each built on top of the next.

Those of us who can’t call ourselves developers need to remember that we are testers and that we have a job to do. So here is my ask, next time you find an issue with your app.net client, head on over to the GitHub page for your client (App Directory) and raise an issue. If the issue has already been raised, provide additional details. Together we can support the developers who are working to try and bring this platform to life.