I can only speak for myself, but when I'm looking for apps, the hierarchy of needs is something like:

1. Does it solve the underlying problem

2. Am I a standard or outlier user of the product

3. Does it make it easy to get it / use it

4. Is it from a company/developer that I like

I'm obviously not going to use an app that doesn't solve the original goal. Beyond that, some examples of things that have made me go chasing for other alternatives:

1. Updating the app isn't automated -- I use a window manager on Windows where updates have to be manually downloaded and run, and every time I update I google if there's a viable replacement.

2. The app has a bunch of fluff -- I'm currently trying a couple new apps for logging infant activity like diaper changes / feeds, and 90% of the options can do the task but are covered in other buttons/options/reports that I do not care about.

3. I'm clearly not the target audience for the developer -- I use Anydesk for remote management of some Windows desktops but all their plans are clearly enterprise/prosumer-focused and I'm actively preparing for them to kill off my plan level or break the functionality.

Great tactics, thanks for the input.

What are your opinions on a user hosted store vs something like the Mac App Store or Windows Store?