Re: How to know how many users/downloads a program has

de Toke Eskildsen 04/28/2006 10:47

FirstName LastName wrote:

> Is there a way to know how many people are using a app without
> using registration schemes?

Counting downloads only works if the software is never distributed on
one of those DVD's that many computer magazines deliver with their
product.

One fairly non-intrusive counting method is by update checking. When
the program is first started, an unique ID is generated. This could be
hardware based or something simple, such as the current time or just a
random number. The user is presented with the option of automatic
checking for new versions, and is told about the counting thing.

When the program checks for updates, it calls a server-side script:
http://mysoftware.invalid/updateCheck?id=myuniqueid . This also has the
added value that it represents active users, not just registered ones.

Hmm... I think I'll add that to my freeware program...

The idea could be extended, so that a third option (the two other
being "check for updates" and "do not check") could be to inform the
author once.