Invite Listing no longer shows expired (older than 7 days) Invites

[[Member GEWO…]]

12 hours ago, opentype said:

Not all functionality is baked into the specific app version. They can also change things on their server and influence how the app works for all users.  

Ah, I did not mention also that when I open the app, it actually tells me that it has been 'updated'.  I see advises on the board that user stop updating the app to avoid the issue - so just mentioned that such advise do not work, if Smule do not want to allow.

[[Member Isa_…]]

On 6/7/2023 at 12:04 PM, GEWOK said:

Ah, I did not mention also that when I open the app, it actually tells me that it has been 'updated'.  I see advises on the board that user stop updating the app to avoid the issue - so just mentioned that such advise do not work, if Smule do not want to allow.

I think it depends on individual's setting on their phone.  If you selected the automatic update it will update it automatically.  As I mentioned previously, My main account has been updated to the new version now I cant join the expired OC's but I also have another account in which I didn't update  I can still join the expired songs see attached screenshot (just tried it a minute ago).

[[Member Glas…]]

On 6/6/2023 at 7:27 PM, Wishchip said:

Anyway, here's a petition that I've seen floating around. Someone said there was one that had over 67,000 signatures (!), but this one's only at 651.

https://www.ipetitions.com/petition/let-old-ocs-be-joinable-again

Ok thanks I did sign this and it was showing 800+ signatures at the time

[[Member Marz…]]

https://www.change.org/p/smule-duet-invites-7-day-expiration-should-be-revoked

[[Member Duet…]]

On 6/1/2023 at 1:18 PM, Wishchip said:

Hello. I'm a non-VIP iOS user and I can confirm that I can no longer join ANY expired song. Hopefully it's just a glitch.

Well, shoot! I’m not currently vip, and I have a whole list of songs I missed due to being on vacation. I checked a couple of them, and it appears that I can still join them. Maybe I don’t have the latest update? I’ll make sure not to get it.
 

And also, am I understanding it right, that this change only prevents non-vip users from joining expired invites? If so, Smule might have just found a way to force me into signing up for the full year subscription 😂

[[Member duoj…]]

4 hours ago, DuetWithAlli said:

And also, am I understanding it right, that this change only prevents non-vip users from joining expired invites? If so, Smule might have just found a way to force me into signing up for the full year subscription 😂

Sadly, as far as I know, this affects both VIP and non-VIP users, so I'd hold off on that subscription for now 🤣. It also seems like it's primarily taking place on iOS platforms first. I'm an Android user, and can still join old OCs. Though I do know quite a few iOS users who can still join old OCs as well, so it may be a gradual rollout.

[[Member Duet…]]

 

21 hours ago, duojet24 said:

Sadly, as far as I know, this affects both VIP and non-VIP users, so I'd hold off on that subscription for now 🤣. It also seems like it's primarily taking place on iOS platforms first. I'm an Android user, and can still join old OCs. Though I do know quite a few iOS users who can still join old OCs as well, so it may be a gradual rollout.

 

Thank you for the info. I’m an iOS user, and still able to join old OCs. I’ll definitely hang onto the old version for as along as possible. And I’ll definitely not sign up for vip until I’m good and ready for it.

[[Member BWFa…]]

I just noticed this and this is the worst change they could have done. Hopefully they will reverse this. Absolutely ridiculous decision.

 

[[Member BWFa…]]

Any way to get a hold of the older version for ipad?

On 6/10/2023 at 9:48 PM, BWFan16 said:

I just noticed this and this is the worst change they could have done. Hopefully they will reverse this. Absolutely ridiculous decision.

 

 

[[Member Wish…]]

1 hour ago, BWFan16 said:

Any way to get a hold of the older version for ipad?

 

Maybe if the iPad is old enough, it will do one of those "we can't download the latest version of this app, but we can give you the most recent version your device can handle" messages?

[[Member Duet…]]

I don’t know, I kind of like this change. My followers joined my OCs often, but it was rare for anyone else to join. One of the last invites I made had a surprising number of joins, and this may be why. With the popular (expired) invites no longer showing up in search results, my invites have a chance to be seen. 

If lose the ability, I will miss joining old OCs from my friends when I’ve run out of bookmarks, and being able to find old solo invites that I could sing when I don’t have VIP. But if people are actually joining my songs, it may be worth having VIP again. 

So I’m still going to wait it out and see what happens.
 

 

[[Member ItsM…]]

May be Smule can extend the expiration of invites to be little longer like upto 14 days. This will give enough room for bookmarked songs to join. Also for Smule as a company it solves the purpose of the expiration feature. Rather, if Smule decides to completely remove the expiration like before, then rather don't expire it at all 🤣

[[Member The…]]

I don't see what they (or anyone else) gain from making them expire. If people don't want their old OCs to be joined, they can just close them themselves.

[[Member open…]]

1 hour ago, The Minty Clinch said:

I don't see what they (or anyone else) gain from making them expire.

As mentioned, it could create a useful sense of urgency, potentially leading to more activity. 

Another effect worth considering is that non-expiring invites disproportionally favour the best singers on the app. If I look up a song and can choose from hundreds of OCs, I am going to scroll through the old OCs and look for the best singers. So, they will get more and more joins while the average singers might not get any joins, which can be rather frustrating for them. If there are only 2 or 3 OCs available, it’s unavoidable that people will join these OCs. I can certainly see how that could improve the experience for many Smule users. 

[[Member The…]]

2 hours ago, opentype said:

As mentioned, it could create a useful sense of urgency, potentially leading to more activity. 

Another effect worth considering is that non-expiring invites disproportionally favour the best singers on the app. If I look up a song and can choose from hundreds of OCs, I am going to scroll through the old OCs and look for the best singers. So, they will get more and more joins while the average singers might not get any joins, which can be rather frustrating for them. If there are only 2 or 3 OCs available, it’s unavoidable that people will join these OCs. I can certainly see how that could improve the experience for many Smule users. 

I guess so, but all that is irrelevant to me personally. I don't smule to get likes, 'gifts' or joins from randoms.

[[Member real…]]

Before this new team in smule came in about a year back, invites used to expire in a week. They decided to open up all invites permanently, and for a short time all old invites showed up in your current invites.. many people had hundreds of open invites  in their Invites tab.

Now they’ve rolled it all back to the way it used to be. Most changes this new team made were wrong.. it just takes them months or a year to realize. While they’re at it, they should go ahead and undo the changes they’ve made to the layout as well.

[[Member The…]]

10 hours ago, realyquick said:

Before this new team in smule came in about a year back, invites used to expire in a week. They decided to open up all invites permanently, and for a short time all old invites showed up in your current invites.. many people had hundreds of open invites  in their Invites tab.

Now they’ve rolled it all back to the way it used to be. Most changes this new team made were wrong.. it just takes them months or a year to realize. While they’re at it, they should go ahead and undo the changes they’ve made to the layout as well.

How do you know there's a new team? Who are they? And are they animal, vegetable or mineral?

[[Member Wish…]]

On 6/13/2023 at 2:54 AM, opentype said:

As mentioned, it could create a useful sense of urgency, potentially leading to more activity. 

Another effect worth considering is that non-expiring invites disproportionally favour the best singers on the app. If I look up a song and can choose from hundreds of OCs, I am going to scroll through the old OCs and look for the best singers. So, they will get more and more joins while the average singers might not get any joins, which can be rather frustrating for them. If there are only 2 or 3 OCs available, it’s unavoidable that people will join these OCs. I can certainly see how that could improve the experience for many Smule users. 

I think you mean "most popular" singers. Hahaha.

I get what you're saying, and it's a fair point, but that's not really relevant to me either, honestly. I think taking away eternal OC's favours the most popular singers and the most popular songs.

The really popular users are often trending and/or promoted by Smule on their app and across their socials, regardless of what feature Smule has taken away from us. So to your point, having a 7-day limit creates a sense of urgency for people to join the most popular singers while they can. And because of this, perhaps they won't have time to join the less popular singers before the week is out.

Now if I'm looking to join someone on "Unholy" by Kim Petras and Sam Smith, I won't EVER have any problem finding an OC, because the song seems to be super popular and I always see invites opening. But if I'm looking to join someone on "Unholy" by KISS, well then I can just go fly a kite, because the last time that song was open was months ago. For someone looking to join an obscure or less-than-popular song, the 7-day limit really sucks.

And $mule's answer? "Open the song yourself!"*
*paid VIP subscription required.

[[Member The…]]

If it were a free app, we wouldn't really have grounds for our gripes, I guess. But we (some of us) pay, so I think our voices should at least be listened to, if not acted upon.

I've enjoyed uploading almost 2,000 songs, many of which have and will only ever be opened by my good self. But if One day someone should feel like joining my Cornershop b-side or Tinariwen album track, then it's nice to know they can (or should I say, could)

[[Member Wish…]]

4 minutes ago, The Minty Clinch said:

I've enjoyed uploading almost 2,000 songs, many of which have and will only ever be opened by my good self. But if One day someone should feel like joining my Cornershop b-side or Tinariwen album track, then it's nice to know they can (or should I say, could)

Non-VIP members can open songs they've uploaded, but the invite is only open for 2 days. Talk about creating a sense of urgency.

[[Member The…]]

12 minutes ago, Wishchip said:

Non-VIP members can open songs they've uploaded, but the invite is only open for 2 days. Talk about creating a sense of urgency.

As much as I hate paying, I could not  imagine smuling as a non-VIP. Obviously only VIPs can upload, but I guess you mean ex-VIPs?

[[Member Wish…]]

18 minutes ago, The Minty Clinch said:

As much as I hate paying, I could not  imagine smuling as a non-VIP. Obviously only VIPs can upload, but I guess you mean ex-VIPs?

Hmm, I guess I'm technically an ex-VIP, as I let my subscription lapse in 2021. Since 2022 (as an ex-VIP / non-VIP), I've been uploading songs and opening those myself, with the invite closing after 2 days.

I wonder if users who were never VIP would be able to upload and open their own songs? Interesting...

[[Member The…]]

7 minutes ago, Wishchip said:

Hmm, I guess I'm technically an ex-VIP, as I let my subscription lapse in 2021. Since 2022 (as an ex-VIP / non-VIP), I've been uploading songs and opening those myself, with the invite closing after 2 days.

I wonder if users who were never VIP would be able to upload and open their own songs? Interesting...

That's interesting. I thought only VIPs could upload, but I haven't been a NVIP in 5 years

[[Member Wish…]]

2 minutes ago, The Minty Clinch said:

That's interesting. I thought only VIPs could upload, but I haven't been a NVIP in 5 years

Yeah I was very surprised to find that out. I mean, I guess I'm technically working for Smule for free by uploading content. So maybe the ability to open your own songs with only a 2-day invite period is their way of throwing those uploaders a bone, regardless of their subscription status?

Though most likely it's a glitch. Pffft.

[[Member The…]]

10 minutes ago, Wishchip said:

Yeah I was very surprised to find that out. I mean, I guess I'm technically working for Smule for free by uploading content. So maybe the ability to open your own songs with only a 2-day invite period is their way of throwing those uploaders a bone, regardless of their subscription status?

Though most likely it's a glitch. Pffft.

Everyone who uploads is working for smule for free. And more than likely breaking copyright law while doing so. Hey ho...