It seems to me that we, as users of Homey, depend on eager and clever people voluntarily and for free developing necessary apps. I’m thinking of all these apps, which make people pay a lot for e.g. Homey Pro, such as e.g. Verisure, where the developer nicely asks for financial assistance. I really think Athom should pay him for this work, and not us as customers.
Or am I completely wrong? 
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There a few reasons, but the most important 1 is legally it is very difficult to pay people worldwide a salary (as that is what it would be called).
Lots and lots of different legal rules would apply
Maybe now that they are under LG it would be a bit easier, but don’t think it will happen, even LG has different branches around the world because of this reason.
There are plenty of ways of paying people without first taking them on as employee.
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Great option, I want money so I design an app that I want to have…
Guess that takes me not a volunteer anymore. 
I think it is more complex than just start paying a volunteer.
It’s much more complex to take on someone as an employee then to pay them as what basically is a contractor/freelancer.
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I don’t think the answer is related to the complexity. As far as I can tell Athom never considered paying community developers. An occasional Homey sweater seems to work for them and they seem fine with the risk related to being dependent on external and voluntary resources.
But perhaps with the LG takeover things are changing a bit. When Homey Pro came out I asked Athom to send me one so I could continue to develop my apps. My Homey 2016 was getting sluggish but as I don’t use Homey anymore I wasn’t planning on replacing it myself. I was told I should ask the companies for which I develop the app to pay for it which, especially at that time, was a wrong attitude considering their place in the market. But just recently I was given a Homey Bridge to test with without any hassle.
In the end I don’t want to be paid for this hobby but I want to be facilitated so I can keep on enjoying the hobby instead of being annoyed by it. So IMO if the Verisure developer needs that money to continue development Athom should consider helping him. It’s in both their interest.
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Agreed, but what I can’t get my head around is that people who spend hundreds of euro’s (or any other currency) on smart devices do not want to directly support the developers who helps them use the devices on their Homey by doing a simple donation.
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So true @DaneedeKruyff!
I have always supported developers by making a donation here and thereso I very much agree!
Have donated you a few beers again now!
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Because most users think exactly like the topic starter. Meaning, I bought an expensive piece of hardware, why would I have to pay community developers for apps to use it. That should be Athom’s job. So it’s a bit of a catch 22 for us community developers I guess … 
I have been pretty much an app developer from day 1 with a peak of around 10 apps (most of these now transferred) but I never received many spontaneous donations. I once tried forcing users of the Xiaomi Mi Home app to raise enough money for a Homey Pro and in return I would upgrade the app to SDK3. That generated some donations but those users where strongarmed and pretty much didnt have any alternative. 
In my experience the only way to get some proper reward / appreciation out of this is finding a company that is actually aware of their independence of community developers and that is willing to invest in it. I have received multiple devices from companies worth hundreds of euro’s, most of them before they hit the market, I have early access to firmware to test with. And am actually being involved in product development. One of these companies bought me a Homey Pro when I only mentioned that I asked Athom for one but was declined. This involvement is what still makes it enjoyable for me. I gave up on Athom and the Homey users a long time ago (but who knows, perhaps Athom is indeed shifting course).
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Glad that I helped with the pledge/bounty thread, but you didn’t force anyone, right. We just start discussing that topic and it helped I believe
I am getting less enthusiastic to spend more time/effort. In the early days it was an achievement to get 10k installs which today seems not so special anymore. Not to mention the diagnostic mails from users complaining “it” doesnt work and demand/expect “solutions” to their own problem.
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I just wanted to jump in and say; your feedback is always welcome! 
I’ve already had some great discussions with a few community developers, gathering their insights and ideas. But I’d love to hear from more of you guys as well. Your input is incredibly important, so please don’t hesitate to reach out—whether it’s through a post in this thread or a direct message. I’m always here and eager to listen! 
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Why should they pay when the developers are choosing to spend their time doing it? If developers want to be paid then they need to set a price for their solution. Shareware/Freeware has distorted people into thinking all software should be free.
As for Atom paying then they would be in charge of the products solution telling the developer what features need to be included as they are just not going to pay someone to do whatever they want with their solution.
Where? How? Who’s going to pay?
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I think the model used for smart-phone apps might be a solution here. Smart-phone App-developers decide the price and the organizer of the App Shop (in this case Atom) gets a share (or decide not to). That model has worked well ever since Steve Jobs launched the first Iphone, and is still going strong.
Personally, I’m happy with the current system. It means I can try an app to see if it does what I want and, if I like it, I donate, if not I uninstall it.
I develop all my apps for myself and then publish them for others to use, so the time taken to write the app is primarily for my own benefit. I must admit, I do then add support to the app for other devices / features for users even though I don’t have them. I also spend several hours each day supporting users, but that’s what a community is about, we all help each other.
I feel much more involved in Homey than any other product and that’s why I love it so much.
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Maybe the main question is: Who has to pay:
- The consumer (Homey user)?
- Homey (Athom/LG)?
- The manufacturer of the supported devices?
Answering those questions is complex. However, it’s basically not fair when developers do a great job while others get the ‘revenues’ (consumers, Athom, manufacturers). Of course, this is not an issue when it’s a developers hobby, but it’s also not correct to assume it’s always a hobby and this can also change overtime.
Assume an app starts ‘small’ but becomes ‘very complex’ (e.g. due to Homey-updates) and it will cost more than time available to maintain and update the app? What happens when a developer discontinues maintaining the app and users face the consequences (e.g. no longer supported app)? And since LG owns Athom, will developers continue their loyalty (I remember Startpagina: thousands of volunteers maintained the pages but the majority stopped when the company was sold to VNU)?
What is the Althom policy about all this?
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I’d like to elaborate on this topic. As the Partnerships Manager at Homey, my role involves bringing all the brands you know and love onto our platform.
When I approach new brands, there are several ways they can integrate with the Homey platform. They can either use their internal resources and developers to build and maintain an app, or they can choose to outsource this development.
We collaborate closely with a few development agencies that specialize in building apps for brands. These agencies are usually compensated either by us or directly by the brands.
If there is already a community-built integration available, I always reach out to the community developer to see if they’re interested in making the app official. At this point, I connect them with the brand, and they manage the development together. This approach allows the developer to collaborate directly with brands they’re passionate about. In return, the developer is free to request samples or compensation for their work.
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There is perhaps a bit of a misunderstanding about why I started the thread. I have no problem contributing to a developer of something I want. But there is one company behind the products, which indirectly makes a lot of money from free work. Because the more we contribute to the voluntary and for them free work, the more attractive their product becomes, so they can make more money and presumably also raise the prices. That’s why I think this is a bit wrong.
But of course, if they had paid for the development, then they probably would have set a price for using the apps as well…
Maybe those who develop an app should have had a small fundraiser each, then there would have been easier to contribute, a bit organized and with some transparency around sums contributed (but of course without any names). If that is possible. Just a thought. 
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Experience has taught us that this will very likely not gain any significant amount of money. Lots of apps have a “Donate” option, but if you ask developers how much they get from those it will be “peanuts”.
I don’t blame users because they spent a significant amount of money on a device that promises to support more than 50,000 devices, and they aren’t generally willing to pay anything extra for that.
It would be nice if the Athom founders would, for instance, set up a fund with their newly acquired wealth from which they can support app developers…
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