Why runtime costs after 2 years?
In an ever-changing online environment, it is essential, especially for smartphone apps, to get updated continuously and adapt to changing standards or technologies. Since online citizen science projects are per definition interactive user-oriented applications, it is essential to provide ongoing maintenance to the software they run on for stability, safety and also compatibility over a more extended period.
Life cycles of online software and especially smartphone apps are very short. To prevent your apps from becoming unusable on new operating system versions, getting clunky, or functionalities simply breaking down after a while, we have chosen to offer SPOTTERON as a Software as Service (SAS) model. That way, we can take care of all projects on the platform during their whole runtime while also being able to keep prices low.
WHY RUNTIME COSTS AFTER 2 YEARS?
We always keep your smartphone apps updated.
Every project on the SPOTTERON platform receives regular updates with improvements, patches and even new advanced features and extensions.
We provide constant stability & safety.
The life cycle of smartphones and their operating systems is very short and changes need to be made to all apps constantly for stability and security reasons.
It ensures low costs by distributing efforts
Being able to provide regular patches because of our subscription model means one app does not have to pay for already existing features on the platform.
We automatically take care of new standards
Technical, design or legal standards can change during the runtime. We automatically take care of those changes without additional fees.
Software as Service (SAS) or subscription-based services is a growing standard since they ensure a hassle-free service for the partner without additional costs coming up during runtime because of necessary adaptations. Also, it enables us to run all your Citizen Science apps and projects without user tracking for ad profile building or third-party ad networks. Read more about SPOTTERON privacy policy here: Privacy & Data Safety
EXAMPLE SPOTTERON UPDATE RELEASES 2016/2017
On average, we provide around one update per month for all Citizen Science apps running on the SPOTTERON platform. Minor updates (displayed in grey) include improvements and bugfixes for the apps, while major updates (in colour) also bring new features to all apps. Milestone releases (1.0 and 2.0) are major steps in the development and mark new main versions of SPOTTERON.
WHAT HAPPENS AFTER THE OFFICIAL RUNTIME
We have established a routine called the “extended runtime” to be able to keep your project alive even after the official runtime is over. After the subscription period ends, we automatically provide a four weeks free cooldown period in which all four parts of a project - Android app, IOS app, interactive map and administration interface - continue to run normally.
After the cooldown period, we can keep the interactive map, in which all project users are able to participate and submit data, and your administration interface access online for a small monthly fee of € 50,- (Package L; excl. VAT if appliable) for unlimited data hosting, web-app updates and support. With an additional website, the regular monthly fees for package L are € 90,-, also including patching, support and maintenance of the project's CMS-based website.
During the extended runtime, we still keep your project ad-free and without user monetizing or third party ad profile tracking.