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Yep, the app store really, really needs a section for games that are ad-free and that don't have any consumable in-app-purchases. Angry Birds was a really nice

Yep, the app store really, really needs a section for games that are ad-free and that don't have any consumable in-app-purchases. Angry Birds was a really nice game, and I'd love to let my kids play it, but it just isn't playable any more. It's so full of crap. Ads, in-app-purchases, loads of shit. I'd easily pay 10€ to get back the original version of Angry Birds that I bought in 2010 or so, but that version is gone for good. There are some games that aren't full of crap. Monument Valley, Alto's Adventure, Pinout, Blyss, Canabalt, Glider, Paw Patrol, Duplo Trains are some ad-free games that I can recommend. I'd love to have some kind of curated list of ad-free games. The games that Apple promotes / features in the store are usually less obnoxious, but I'm not sure if there's a way to search for them. Since Apple has removed the affiliate payments for apps, I don't think there's an easily monetisable way to build a recommendation website for ad-free games, but it may be possible to build it as a volunteer effort?

Double_a_92 8y ago
> I'd easily pay 10€ to get back the original version of Angry Birds that I bought in 2010 or so, but that version is gone for good. You can still find old APKs of it on the internet. I had to use one because the updated game has become unplayably slow on my 2015ish phone.
fouc 8y ago
Perhaps we need to consider if something is wrong about this culture of constant upgrades. Not just phone apps, but other applications too. Upgrades are actually hostile to the end user. There's nothing to counter the incentives of companies to keep sneaking in more ways to squeeze money out of their users. Interestingly thinking back, I remember when I first discovered Chrome's aggressive autoupdate and I felt disquieted. Now I have a better sense that it's fundamentally not to the benefit of the end user. Actually there's some benefits for web developers, which tricks them into becoming part of this culture, and heavily pushing for these newer browsers with their built-in autoupdates now.
- ryandrake 8y ago
  Problem is, most software upgrades are all-or-nothing. You can’t just take the good (security fixes, better performance, etc.) and leave the bad (reduced functionality, new worse UI, more ads). It’s in my view a major unsolved problem in software.
saagarjha 8y ago
> The games that Apple promotes / features in the store are usually less obnoxious, but I'm not sure if there's a way to search for them. It’s not great, but you could look for Apple Design Award winners, which are usually ad-free.
kbcool 8y ago
What do you expect? App developers to work for free? As is it's already a lottery as to whether you'll make less than minimum wage or equivalent for your time spent developing an app where you've taken a huge risk and foregone a possible $200k per annum job. Ads are as a result of people not being willing to pay for apps. It's the consumer's fault things are the way they are. Enjoy wallowing in your own filth. Edit: Not directly pointed at your comment, just the general attitude here which I would have thought would have more intelligent people in it but clearly not.
- icebraining 8y ago
  Not pointed at comment at all - parent specifically stated a preference for payment. Frankly I'm not sure who your comment is supposed to target here.
- TeMPOraL 8y ago
  > Ads are as a result of people not being willing to pay for apps. It's the consumer's fault things are the way they are. You can't blame one side. Customers would totally pay for apps if no free ones were available, but the moment an app developer releases their product for free, everyone else finds themselves in a huge competitive disadvantage, and have to follow suit. If you want to blame customers for picking the best offers, then also blame producers for making these offers in the first place. > As is it's already a lottery as to whether you'll make less than minimum wage or equivalent for your time spent developing an app where you've taken a huge risk and foregone a possible $200k per annum job. If it's such a shitty value proposition, then well, don't do it. Personally, if the choice is only between no apps and the garbage fest we have now, I say let's axe the entire ecosystem. Or at least change the rules so only three types of applications are allowed: 1) one-time payment, full version, no advertising garbage; 2) subscription-based, full version, no advertising garbage; 3) free forever, no in-app payments or advertising garbage.
  - watwut 8y ago
    I don't think it is that simple. Many people would not pay for games, full stop. Not even if there would be alternative. And they did not paid for games in the past. Note that it was free games that breached to demographics of people who never expected to like games. And I am personaly in that group. I did paid for some games now, but only after I played a lot for free which allowed be to gain trust and recognize better what I am looking for. As long as all games were paid, I was not playing and had no way to learn about the game before spending money - meaning first few bad games buys me it is not for me and that was it. Same frankly with games for kids. I bought some, very few, but buying tablet games is something I see as waste of money.
bpizzi 8y ago
> Angry Birds was a really nice game IMHO it was a really bad game. However, to me again, it was a really nice piece of addicting software.
nkrisc 8y ago
I think I still have the original Angry Birds game installed on a ~10 year old iPod touch I have laying around. I'll have to make sure to preserve that now, if it's impossible to get older versions of games like that.
- Larrikin 8y ago
  Hopefully you've kept that device off the internet. Tyler paid for version I have was updated to gimp the game, so not only do you have beat the previous level you also need a certain amount of coins that do not transfer between levels. You can of course buy them. I tried playing after discovering how terrible Angry Birds 2 was. There away are still unlimited lives and as far as I can tell the other older spin off games haven't had their mechanics changed.
  - nkrisc 8y ago
    Good point, and I definitely would anyway because I'm sure it's got many unpatched vulnerabilities and issues.
secabeen 8y ago
Amazon's Freetime unlimited store is entirely ad-free apps, and bans in-app purchases, from what I can tell. It's only available on Kindle Fire devices, but it's a good option. (I think a big part of that is that you pay $3/mo for access) The versions of Angry Birds there are ad-free and in-app-purchase-free.

Double_a_92 8y ago

> I'd easily pay 10€ to get back the original version of Angry Birds that I bought in 2010 or so, but that version is gone for good. You can still find old APKs of it on the internet. I had to use one because the updated game has become unplayably slow on my 2015ish phone.

fouc 8y ago

Perhaps we need to consider if something is wrong about this culture of constant upgrades. Not just phone apps, but other applications too. Upgrades are actually hostile to the end user. There's nothing to counter the incentives of companies to keep sneaking in more ways to squeeze money out of their users. Interestingly thinking back, I remember when I first discovered Chrome's aggressive autoupdate and I felt disquieted. Now I have a better sense that it's fundamentally not to the benefit of the end user. Actually there's some benefits for web developers, which tricks them into becoming part of this culture, and heavily pushing for these newer browsers with their built-in autoupdates now.

ryandrake 8y ago
Problem is, most software upgrades are all-or-nothing. You can’t just take the good (security fixes, better performance, etc.) and leave the bad (reduced functionality, new worse UI, more ads). It’s in my view a major unsolved problem in software.

saagarjha 8y ago

> The games that Apple promotes / features in the store are usually less obnoxious, but I'm not sure if there's a way to search for them. It’s not great, but you could look for Apple Design Award winners, which are usually ad-free.

kbcool 8y ago

What do you expect? App developers to work for free? As is it's already a lottery as to whether you'll make less than minimum wage or equivalent for your time spent developing an app where you've taken a huge risk and foregone a possible $200k per annum job. Ads are as a result of people not being willing to pay for apps. It's the consumer's fault things are the way they are. Enjoy wallowing in your own filth. Edit: Not directly pointed at your comment, just the general attitude here which I would have thought would have more intelligent people in it but clearly not.

icebraining 8y ago
Not pointed at comment at all - parent specifically stated a preference for payment. Frankly I'm not sure who your comment is supposed to target here.
TeMPOraL 8y ago
> Ads are as a result of people not being willing to pay for apps. It's the consumer's fault things are the way they are. You can't blame one side. Customers would totally pay for apps if no free ones were available, but the moment an app developer releases their product for free, everyone else finds themselves in a huge competitive disadvantage, and have to follow suit. If you want to blame customers for picking the best offers, then also blame producers for making these offers in the first place. > As is it's already a lottery as to whether you'll make less than minimum wage or equivalent for your time spent developing an app where you've taken a huge risk and foregone a possible $200k per annum job. If it's such a shitty value proposition, then well, don't do it. Personally, if the choice is only between no apps and the garbage fest we have now, I say let's axe the entire ecosystem. Or at least change the rules so only three types of applications are allowed: 1) one-time payment, full version, no advertising garbage; 2) subscription-based, full version, no advertising garbage; 3) free forever, no in-app payments or advertising garbage.
- watwut 8y ago
  I don't think it is that simple. Many people would not pay for games, full stop. Not even if there would be alternative. And they did not paid for games in the past. Note that it was free games that breached to demographics of people who never expected to like games. And I am personaly in that group. I did paid for some games now, but only after I played a lot for free which allowed be to gain trust and recognize better what I am looking for. As long as all games were paid, I was not playing and had no way to learn about the game before spending money - meaning first few bad games buys me it is not for me and that was it. Same frankly with games for kids. I bought some, very few, but buying tablet games is something I see as waste of money.

bpizzi 8y ago

> Angry Birds was a really nice game IMHO it was a really bad game. However, to me again, it was a really nice piece of addicting software.

nkrisc 8y ago

I think I still have the original Angry Birds game installed on a ~10 year old iPod touch I have laying around. I'll have to make sure to preserve that now, if it's impossible to get older versions of games like that.

Larrikin 8y ago
Hopefully you've kept that device off the internet. Tyler paid for version I have was updated to gimp the game, so not only do you have beat the previous level you also need a certain amount of coins that do not transfer between levels. You can of course buy them. I tried playing after discovering how terrible Angry Birds 2 was. There away are still unlimited lives and as far as I can tell the other older spin off games haven't had their mechanics changed.
- nkrisc 8y ago
  Good point, and I definitely would anyway because I'm sure it's got many unpatched vulnerabilities and issues.

secabeen 8y ago

Amazon's Freetime unlimited store is entirely ad-free apps, and bans in-app purchases, from what I can tell. It's only available on Kindle Fire devices, but it's a good option. (I think a big part of that is that you pay $3/mo for access) The versions of Angry Birds there are ad-free and in-app-purchase-free.