I recently tried setting Apple Business Manager for our ≈20 people SME.
The first step was "Domain Lock/Capture" which takes over all Apple accounts for a specific domain.
I've never had a worse experience from Apple.
The process is buggy, filled with foot-guns and dead ends. It expects huge amounts of work from users who have had their account for more than a few weeks and are expected to remove a lot of their personal data before their account can be migrated (e.g. do you know how to delete all your Health data?). The process is also impossible to cancel.
Phone support was par for the course, e.g. tickets escalated to the abyss, suggestions to restore workstations to factory settings, etc.
Our company has been using Intercom for customer support for the last 7 years.
We went through several pricing changes but the bottom line always remained that pricing was usage-based.
Over the weekend, we received an email noticing us that:
- we would be forcibly migrated to seat-based pricing
- the change would happen automatically in 30 days
With our current usage of their product, this will result in us paying 3 to 4 times our current expenditure.
I'm old enough to have been through several rug pulls like this, but the magnitude of the change imposed on us and the very short notice definitely stand out.
Since these forced migrations are being rolled out quietly without any public announcement, it seems worth giving this a little due publicity. If your company hasn't yet received such an email, and you're on an old plan, this is likely coming at you fast.
I would welcome recommendations for alternative usage-based customer support solutions. We are considering moving to AWS Connect. It has usage-based pricing, and my experience with AWS gives me some confidence they will not be turning their pricing over its head any time soon.
Actually, since the RN team unbundled RN and handed maintenance of non-core libraries (e.g. filesystem, keychain, gestures...) to community maintainers, a lot of these libraries have lacked maintenance, and could really use more maintainer time.
The following example comes to mind. react-native-fs is the most popular lib for filesystem I/O. From Android 10's release in Sep 2019 until Feb 2022, all file overwrite operations on Android 10 and later would result in the file getting corrupted if the new file was smaller than the pre-existing one. Related issue: https://github.com/itinance/react-native-fs/pull/890
That's a very long 2 year and a half.
My intuition to explain this situation is that the intersection of these two is very small:
- orgs using RN, and thus willing to maintain it
- orgs staffed with experienced Java/Kotlin or ObjC/Swift developers with the good understanding of native Android/iOS APIs needed to maintain RN libraries
For what it's worth, Starship also does this(https://starship.rs/config/#command-duration), with the possibility to only trigger notifications for tasks running more than N seconds.
A good approach used in industrial/embedded applications: use a read-only root volume. If you don't write to your SD, you don't wear it out and have no risk of file system corruption either. It's quite a lot of work though, since most packages assume they're installed on a writeable file system.
TestPass helps outdoor companies connect with outdoor enthusiasts by making their equipment easily available for test runs and rental. We solve logistics, scheduling, or payment so brands don't have to. We're already profitable and work with major brands (Scott, Cannondale, Specialized, Petzl...) across 25 countries.
// You:
a Lead Software Engineer to take ownership of engineering, and a Full-Stack JavaScript Engineer to work and learn alongside. Both positions require proficiency in building and maintaining modern full stack Javascript web applications. Both positions are onsite in Paris, France, and allow some remote work.
The ideal candidate for Lead Software Engineer will also have:
-experience running small-to-average engineering teams and the desire to take a manager role, shaping the culture, tools and processes, and training younger colleagues.
// Stack:
Microservices-based architecture, ES2017, Node+Express, GraphQL, AngularJS, Mongo+Mongoose, Heroku, Sentry,… We maintain a RaspberryPi-hosted embedded version for our clients who use TestPass away from cellular (e.g. mountain glaciers!).
Next: React/Vue, tests+CI, embedded app overhaul
// Team:
We're a 4-person team in Paris, France, half of which works remotely: 2x Full-Stack JS, 1x Product Manger, 1x CEO. We have a fast product delivery pipeline and strive to grow an efficient, sane and sustainable work environment with proper work-life balance. Team includes a former pro mountain biker, and a former employee #2 of Stootie (300k MAU, 11M€ raised). Frequent opportunities to travel to outdoor-related destinations (e.g. Swiss Alps, French Riviera, US Rockies) where we attend & support sports/outdoor events on a regular basis. Benefits include 5 weeks paid vacation and full health benefits
// Interview process:
Phone call / coffee [30 min] >> Interview [2 hrs] + small assignment >> Onsite w/ team [half-to-full day]
TestPass helps outdoor companies connect with outdoor enthusiasts by making their equipment easily available for test runs and rental. We solve logistics, scheduling, or payment so brands don't have to. We're already profitable and work with major brands (Scott, Cannondale, Specialized, Petzl...) across 25 countries.
// You:
a Lead Software Engineer to take ownership of engineering, and a Full-Stack JavaScript Engineer to work and learn alongside. Both positions require proficiency in building and maintaining modern full stack Javascript web applications. Both positions are onsite in Paris, France, and allow some remote work.
The ideal candidate for Lead Software Engineer will also have:
-experience running small-to-average engineering teams and the desire to take a manager role, shaping the culture, tools and processes, and training younger colleagues.
// Stack:
Microservices-based architecture, ES2017, Node+Express, GraphQL, AngularJS, Mongo+Mongoose, Heroku, Sentry,… We maintain a RaspberryPi-hosted embedded version for our clients who use TestPass away from cellular (e.g. mountain glaciers!).
Next: React/Vue, tests+CI, embedded app overhaul
// Team:
We're a 4-person team in Paris, France, half of which works remotely: 2x Full-Stack JS, 1x Product Manger, 1x CEO. We have a fast product delivery pipeline and strive to grow an efficient, sane and sustainable work environment with proper work-life balance.
Team includes a former pro mountain biker, and a former employee #2 of Stootie (300k MAU, 11M€ raised).
Frequent opportunities to travel to outdoor-related destinations (e.g. Swiss Alps, French Riviera, US Rockies) where we attend & support sports/outdoor events on a regular basis.
Benefits include 5 weeks paid vacation and full health benefits
// Interview process:
Phone call / coffee [30 min] >> Interview [2 hrs] + small assignment >> Onsite w/ team [half-to-full day]
The first step was "Domain Lock/Capture" which takes over all Apple accounts for a specific domain.
I've never had a worse experience from Apple.
The process is buggy, filled with foot-guns and dead ends. It expects huge amounts of work from users who have had their account for more than a few weeks and are expected to remove a lot of their personal data before their account can be migrated (e.g. do you know how to delete all your Health data?). The process is also impossible to cancel.
Phone support was par for the course, e.g. tickets escalated to the abyss, suggestions to restore workstations to factory settings, etc.
Be warned.