The current Hopscotch app greatly disappoints me. There’s always been issues with Hopscotch, and no app is ever perfect, but some of the more recent (last few years) choices the apps developers have made have left me unsatisfied and frustrated with Hopscotch both as an app and as a platform.
Paywall
As I’m sure everyone here is aware, the app has put absolutely everything behind a paywall. It is now impossible for a kid to even try out coding without a subscription to the app. I find this decision to be pretty upsetting, and contradictory to the message Hopscotch is trying to send to its users.
In the Shark Tank episode where Samantha talks to the sharks about Hopscotch, she makes a point to advertise 2 things:
- Hopscotch app as a way to make money
- Hopscotch app as an app and coding language that is accessible to ANYONE
I’d argue neither of these things are true anymore, with the addition of the paywall.
Seeds
Samantha makes a huge point to mention seeds as a form of currency, comparing making a game on Hopscotch to a lemonade stand, or mowing someone’s lawn. I am not 100% sure of the percent of users using seed blocks to gain seeds from games, or what the ratio of seeds to USD is, like how many seeds = 1 USD to cash out, or if that’s even an option in app yet (to cash out), but if only a small percentage of users are even using this feature, and the cash out rate is fairly low, then little to no one will actually be making money from this, especially if you’re required to pay 10 dollars a month just to produce said game in the first place.
The seeds currency reminds me a lot of Roblox, and their currency, Robux. In Roblox users over the age of 13 can apply for a developers program if they have over 30,000 robux earned, to cash out roughly every 300 robux to 1 USD (300 Robux costs roughly 4 USD for a user to purchase, so about 25% of that is given to a developer). This isn’t terrible, however it does of course lead to Roblox users being over worked and underpaid, and has also lead to multiple lawsuits over how Roblox profits off of child labor (take a recent lawsuit in February of this year, for this exact reasoning).
I personally have used Roblox to make Robux, (however, not exchanged to real money) and with the years I’ve spent (albeit, inconsistently) of work put in I’ve only ever been able to make about 400 Robux over my 2 years (only slightly more than 1 USD). I don’t care to checkout my money, anyways, but I think either app (Roblox or Hopscotch) advertising itself as an “easy way to make money” is false advertising if not straight up lying, because both apps make it incredibly difficult to make even a tiny bit of cash, leaving the apps profiting off of overworked kids who make little to nothing from their hard work or effort. This isn’t entrepreneurship, this is a scam.
I’d argue Hopscotch is even worse than Roblox, because while Roblox developers can develop for free, assuring at least some form of profit if they do get accepted to the developers program, Hopscotch is now charging its users 10 dollars a month or 80 dollars a year to even code a project completely for free or learn to use their language.
Accessibility
In the Shark Tank Hopscotch episode, Mark asks if any older iPhone can use it, and specifically mentions it being accessible to minority communities. Hopscotch is not as accessible to minorities, or anyone who’s poor, or just doesn’t know to understand Hopscotch, behind a 10 dollar a month paywall. Allowing only financially well off families to access the resources to learn to code is incredibly contradictory to this message of accessibility and inclusivity.
I understand the need to make money and value as a company and as an app. I also understand that Samantha is no longer CEO of Hopscotch so maybe bringing up what she’s said is silly. But I also understand that putting the most basic of features behind a paywall is not the way to gain a user base who are able to learn about coding in an accessible environment.
Moderation
There is also an issue of a lack of proper moderation on the Hopscotch app. This was more an issue pre-subscription based Hopscotch, back when there was a much larger user base of users who weren’t as interested in coding, and a larger user base in general. I do think the subscription requirement has helped at least to somewhat fix this issue. I’m talking about COF, swearing and inappropriate language, inappropriate drawings, virtual dating on the Hopscotch app, etc.
However, these issues still SOMEWHAT remain, albeit not to the extent, and I think they can be fixed with other ideas that don’t involve a paywall.
Here are a few of these ideas (that I think the Hopscotch app could benefit from regardless):
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A stricter filter. Currently the filter can be easily bypassed with dots between words and very simple misspellings. For example, if the word “parrot” was filtered, I could just type “par.rot” , “p#rrot”, “p@rrot” or “parot”, and with all of those you would still know what I’m talking about. The filter should be updated to include the versions of words with dots in between and account for basic misspellings that couldn’t be anything else. Same with @ for the letter A and the # symbol, and similar ways of censoring words. The filter is too easily bypassed and has been for years, is in need of an update.
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A trust level system similar to the one on the forum implemented onto the app. New users can have one or two projects manually approved before gaining a basic level, which would include a lower cool down between posting projects. (Say, an hour or so). Maybe these users wouldn’t have access to the “newest” tab either. With enough projects posted and time on the app they could gain a member status where they could gain access to the newest tab, get less of a cooldown, etc. and eventually a regular or some sort of equivalent with little to no cool down between projects and full features. The issue with this, is it would require much more moderation than what I’m assuming the Hopscotch app currently has. This could maybe be fixed with volunteer moderators, similar to how the forum has volunteer leaders.
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A block or mute button. That way if a user doesn’t want to see posts from a specific use they don’t have to, can also help to avoid drama and similar issues. Also, a “report user” button, instead of only being able to report individual projects.
Seeds (continued)
My other issues with seeds include the “most planted” tab, which does not represent projects with actual effort made to them, but rather anything people donate money to. Right now, the majority is made up of art and doodles, and a post of someone asking people to pray for their friend who got their appendix removed. The minority are actually well coded projects with effort put into them. This is basically the trending tab but instead of based on likes it’s based off a paywall and seeds. Similarly, I know the followers count on Hopscotch was removed quite some years ago now, but the plant count publicly displayed on profiles can still easily serve as a symbol of status and divisor.
New Users and Ways to Make Money
I am grateful the Hopscotch platform is not charging old accounts for a subscription and letting us use features we’ve had for years. I am someone who has used Hopscotch since 2016, and my most recent and current account (Here1Am) since 2020. I am not someone who is super passionate about coding, I’ll admit it. I am probably one of the Hopscotchers who knows the least about coding, despite all my years on the platform. My code based projects are all simplistic and underwhelming compared to many of the complex and masterfully made projects you can find on the app. But even I remember when in middle school being put in a STEM class, and another 2 times I would go to coding summer classes, being ahead of most my peers because of what I had learnt through the Hopscotch app. I knew what X Y Z coordinates were and RGB and HSB and basic coding formulas and skills, and I was able to pick up on the newer coding they taught us much easier, too. At one point after a coding workshop in the summer after 7th grade, the lady teaching it went up to my dad to tell him how she was amazed by my skills, which were still very rudimentary, but basically that I had greatly outshined others in the workshop and that she was glad to see more girls interested in coding (I am transgender now, though, but at the time I do remember there being only 1 other girl in the workshop- that’s another great thing about Hopscotch, is that it isn’t gendered and has some features that appeal to young girls especially, in an otherwise male dominated field). This is not me trying to brag about my 7th grade accomplishments, I’m 17 and in college now and am probably not going to do anything too in depth with coding for the rest of my life, but this is just to show how much Hopscotch can and does help average kids to excel and get ahead of their peers, preparing them for a future in coding if that’s what they choose to pursue. I’m 100% sure that if I had cared more and put more effort into coding that I could’ve excelled even more. However, if Hopscotch had been behind a paywall when I first downloaded it, I would’ve never used it, and never gotten that chance to try out coding and get ahead, or gained any of the knowledge I had.
In my years with Hopscotch, I have purchased a subscription multiple times for a month or two at a time, and I’ve also purchased seeds on numerous occasions as well. I’m not sure exactly how much money I’ve put into the platform, but I’d say at least 40 dollars. Now, however, with the current set up behind a paywall, I am honestly uncomfortable to pay any amount of money knowing that new users aren’t welcomed for free and knowing the way seeds are being advertised.
I do understand the need for money. If Hopscotch was put no longer behind a paywall, there’d definitely need to be alternate ways for the app to profit. So, I’m going to suggest a few:
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Keep the subscription, but make a few more features free, so that new users aren’t left with an ultimatum of paying for forever or never being able to learn to code. For example: new users only have access to the “lite” coding keyboard, or new users can only make X amount of projects a week, etc. I understand something similar was tried to be done back in 2020 or 2021 with the 15 free projects for new users, I think that should be avoided, but maybe up to 15 a week or something, rather than just a finite number making the app completely unusable after a certain point.
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Make an annual or bi annual donation goal with a way of donating in-app, or on a trusted website. Archive of Our Own, a fandom writing website, does this annually to keep their website running without ads or subscription. Of course, Archive of Our Own does have a more adult user base, and a much larger user base in general, than Hopscotch. However, I personally would feel much more comfortable donating directly to the company than buying seeds or subscribing, especially knowing I don’t really care for either feature. It could be advertised both on the app and forum. There could also be awards offered for donating, if you donate a lot get access to certain features, or physical merchandise, or maybe an online workshop, or something. Even if there wasn’t a set goal, and just an easily advertised “donation” button, I feel at least a decent amount of money could be made from this, at the expense of no user who can’t afford to pay.
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Physical merchandise. I do remember at one point Hopscotch sold shirts I don’t know if they still do that, or if my memory is deceiving me, but maybe a Hopscotch store could have benefit.
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Ads. I understand Hopscotch has been ad free for, forever now. And I am eternally grateful for that. That’s why I think, if ads were implanted, they should be 100% optional. Maybe instead of paying to for a “set image block” for one project, a user could watch a certain amount of ads to use it for that project. Similar with other features, with a max amount of ads a user can watch for one day or week. I do however really hate ads, but then at least it’d be a way of keeping basic features free. Similarly, comic fury, a comic posting website, lets its users who post a comic decide if they want ads displayed when they post or not. If they click yes, they get ads to fund the website, if they click no, they gain an ad-less experience. If something similar was added to Hopscotch, where a user could decide if they want to see, say, a pop up ad in the corner of their screen (that can be turned off at any point), knowing it helps to keep the app free, I would personally click allow ads and I’m sure many other users would as well, while also leaving the option there for users or parents who don’t want them or their kids to be subjected to ads 24/7. I would also be much more willing to accept ads as part of Hopscotch knowing that they are 100% optional.
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Multiple layers of a subscription. An unnamed social media website that the forum won’t allow me to name, but is a communications app and website, has its own subscription based service called “nitro”. It has 2 layers to it, nitro basic and full. The basic is only 3 dollars a month, with a limited amount of extra features, where the full version includes every feature and is 10 dollars a month. Basic, for Hopscotch, might include the basic features like changing for a pfp, maybe access to the full coding keyboard, and maybe 5 or 10 seeds a month. If only a certain amount of projects per day or week were made free, (see idea 1 on this list), then basic could up that number while keeping it limited. Then, the full subscription would allow every feature. The price could be similar to nitro basic, 3 dollars a month, allowing a more affordable way for new users to experience the app, and then maybe more of a gateway to paying for the full subscription later on. Still, if this is added, I would like to still see some features available 100% for free so that new users who aren’t ready to pay aren’t left in the dust.
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Make more certain features able to be a one-time forever purchase. FlipaClip (an animation app) has a thing where, you can buy every feature for a full version of the app for one set price, or just buy one feature. I personally have only bought 2 features from FlipaClip because I don’t need all the features, but the 2 that I bought I now have forever. I felt much more comfortable buying these features knowing I would have them permanently and not have to constantly pay a subscription. Examples of features like this for the Hopscotch app could be: a one-time purchase to forever be able to change your pfp, maybe themed character packs (sort of like the Halloween or winter characters) could be purchased to be used in any project, or a one-time forever purchase to be able to use the beta editor, rather than everything be set on one subscription that you have to pay over and over again, these features can be tied to an account forever. I’m not sure on the details of this.
Other
YusaMac also had his own suggestions here: 🍃 How Hopscotch can make lots of money without the sadness but his focused mostly on buying and selling tutorials. I do think this could also be added.
I had a lot of points to make, and the way I’m typing I know I’ve said some things out of order, in a way that might not make sense, so forgive me, I also haven’t gotten good sleep recently, but I’ve had these thoughts for over a year, and even mentioned most of what I’m talking about in earlier discussion in another topic, Dear Hopscotch Team , that mentions a lot of the same issues I’m mentioning, and more. The reason I’m making this topic is partially to re-spark that discussion (and others similar) and bring up many and more issues that weren’t mentioned there and to discuss ways Hopscotch can improve. Especially now that there’s a new CEO (hi Rodrigo), hopefully we’ll see actual change being made. Most people do agree that there is a larger issue with the current Hopscotch platform as seen through the poll on that topic, and these issues have been discussed for over a year, so the fact that STILL NOTHING HAS BEEN DONE is honestly frustrating to no end.
I care about Hopscotch a lot, even if I no longer use it as much as I once did. It is an app that means a lot to me and I want new generations to be able to learn and grow from it the way I was. I would not be expressing these concerns if not from a place of deep love for the platform and all that it’s done for me and for others.
Please share any other feelings here, any mods or anyone who works directly with Hopscotch share your feelings and thoughts, and let me know what will be done (if anything) to fix what has been an app on the decline in terms of a lot of things. This is my version of an open letter and a call for change.
I’m going to have a few polls here to gauge others opinions:
- I am unsatisfied and not okay with the way the Hopscotch app currently treats its new users
- I am satisfied and fine with the way the Hopscotch app currently treats its new users
- Neutral/unsure
- I think the way seeds are advertised as a way to make money is an issue
- I don’t think the way seeds are advertised as a way to make money is an issue
- Neutral/unsure
- I think the Hopscotch app needs a stronger filter
- I don’t think the Hopscotch app needs a stronger filter
- Neutral/Unsure
- I think the Hopscotch app would benefit from trust levels similar to that in the forum
- I do not think a trust level system should be added to the Hopscotch app
- Neutral/unsure
- If Hopscotch had 100% optional non-invasive ads, I would be willing to turn ads on to support the app
- I would not turn ads for Hopscotch on, but like the idea
- I do not like the idea of ads for Hopscotch in any capacity
- Neutral/unsure
- I would feel more comfortable donating money directly to the Hopscotch platform than buying in-app purchases
- I would feel more comfortable buying in-app purchases
- I do not want to do either
- Neutral/unsure
considering that 7500 seeds costs 375 dollars … way worse than Roblox
