Apple's In App Purchase feature for iPhone applications, introduced in iPhone OS 3.0, has been great for developers; it allows them to sell content within their applications, instead of creating entirely new ones. Now, Apple is allowing this feature in free apps; previously, it was restricted to paid.As announced at the iPhone OS 3.0 event, Apple claimed that "free remains free", referring to the fact that they would not allow In App Purchases in unpaid apps; it is unclear what caused this policy change. The news was announced in an email that went out to developers just earlier, stating, "In App Purchase is being rapidly adopted by developers in their paid apps. Now you can use In App Purchase in your free apps to sell content, subscriptions, and digital services. You can also simplify your development by creating a single version of your app that uses In App Purchase to unlock additional functionality, eliminating the need to create Lite versions of your app. Using In App Purchase in your app can also help combat some of the problems of software piracy by allowing you to verify In App Purchases."
Apple's announcement provides insight into why they're now allowing this, and it's certainly a good step for the App Store; as Wired reported, some developers have had issues with the only-paid model previously supported. Scarab, a company the sells digital magazines, wanted to offer a free application and then have In App Purchase for their issues. Unfortunately, they had to charge for the initial application download, potentially limiting those who would download their software to check it out for free. It's good that this problem has been solved, and it seems that developers agree.
Perhaps we'll start seeing a greater use of In App Purchase now, but, as always, only time will tell.
If I like it, I'll buy it, I'm not going to buy it because they've put an irritating message in, just like with alcoholic beggars on the street, do you give them money? Well, you shouldn't.
If I like it, I'll buy it, I'm not going to buy it because they've put an irritating message in, just like with alcoholic beggars on the street, do you give them money? Well, you shouldn't.
In a sense, the free demo is "paid for" by having that ad.
And yes, many iPhone apps will have a fullscreen popup ad that you have to dismiss before it will let you continue.
It isn't that bad, but honestly, if I had two apps that did the same thing, the one that DIDN'T have the annoying ad is the one I would continue to use, and I would delete the other.
Most apps don't have the annoying full-screen ad, but they may have an ad-banner on the screen someplace.
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