Apps Script – Converge

After writing the previous post, I thought I’d share another script I use, this time to respond to user feedback for my Chrome apps.

All the feedback links in the apps, and the link on page that opens when they are uninstalled, direct to this form.

Chrome apps' feedback form — Chrome apps’ feedback form

The problem

On submission, the form adds a row to a spreadsheet with each of those input fields in a separate column. Google provides a notification option for whenever the form is submitted. However, the default email sent by Google is quite useless:

The default notification email requires a click-through to see the changes. This is sad enough on the desktop. On mobile, it’s completely useless – requiring me to open a big spreadsheet to see just one new row of data!

Continue reading How I read and respond to user feedback

I have 7 Chrome extensions and apps and, as a chronic numbers addict, I like to keep track of their user numbers (WAU), and ratings.

I use a spreadsheet (Google Sheet) to collect the data, and analyze trends, and catch (to diagnose) outliers. The same spreadsheet also functions as a JSON-providing backend for data being funneled elsewhere (e.g. for user numbers on this page).

While the analysis part, and the JSON-feed worked well, the data collection part was painful. Google doesn’t provide an API to fetch extension data, so I’ve had to fill the data manually into the spreadsheet every day!

For a long time, I used to open my Chrome Web Store (CWS) developer dashboard every morning, and one-by-one fill in the numbers into the spreadsheet cells. While this was relatively easy, if menial, on the desktop, it’s quite painful on the phone – copying numbers between two apps on the small screen.

Continue reading How I automate fetching Chrome Web Store user counts & ratings