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I have zero tolerance for advertisements. We don’t have “free to air” tv, nor use any services otherwise delivering advertisements. I’m more than happy to pay f

I have zero tolerance for advertisements. We don’t have “free to air” tv, nor use any services otherwise delivering advertisements. I’m more than happy to pay for content, eg; Netflix. I also actively purchase content via iTunes (movies, music). Apps, however, and that overall ecosystem are near dead to me. I don’t accept anything with “in-app purchases”, and even struggle now to find the “Pay once and own” category - though I so don’t use my devices in ways this impacts me. I’m sure there’s apps that deliver this experience (in app purchases) in what I believe is an ethical manner - and it sucks to rule them all out because of a bad bunch. I don’t have constructive feedback on how to improve this, either. My experience in this whole space has resulted in my rather locked down environment. And I’m extremely happy with it. I’m also happy to provide further information to others, should they wish to deliver what I believe is a safer environment for myself and my family.

function_seven 8y ago
You probably know this, but in case you don't: A lot of apps that have "In-App Purchases" will have one that unlocks the ad-free version of the same app. Instead of the publisher listing two separate versions of their app in the store, they list just the one and handle the crap-free process using IAP instead. BUT... then there are those apps that promise to remove the ads for $1.99 or whatever, but still have an ads-for-loot scheme. That's infuriating.
- Cthulhu_ 8y ago
  Yup, not to mention other in-app purchases for vanity items, xp boosters, etc. AAA games have those too nowadays (notably Assassin's Creed Odyssey, which has actively been designed to have a poor, plodding experience unless you pay extra for boosters - just like most mobile games).
  - mikewhy 8y ago
    Those transactions have been in AC games for years. What happened with Odyssey is they made an absolute slog of a game.
- VLM 8y ago
  At least for Android that's not individual and arbitrary, it's an official google policy to crack down on "repetitive content" apps. https://play.google.com/about/spam-min-functionality/spam/repetitive-content/ https://play.google.com/about/spam-min-functionality/spam/re... Too many people were playing vertical spam games to flood competitors off search result pages, so now instead of WTF levels 1-10 and WTF levels 11-20 or WTF free (with ads) and WTF paid (no ads) we have to have everything in one big complicated app presumably with IAP. Deep in the IAP fine print Google does state "Developers must not mislead users about the apps they are selling nor about any in-app services, goods, content, or functionality offered for purchase." so if you bother to report the fraud, Google will possibly react.
hesarenu 8y ago
There might be no ads on Netflix, but Netflix have their ads on other network like Youtube.
ihuman 8y ago
> don’t accept anything with “in-app purchases”, and even struggle now to find the “Pay once and own” category How do you expect the apps to make money if they can't show you ads or charge you money? Selling your data?

function_seven 8y ago

You probably know this, but in case you don't: A lot of apps that have "In-App Purchases" will have one that unlocks the ad-free version of the same app. Instead of the publisher listing two separate versions of their app in the store, they list just the one and handle the crap-free process using IAP instead. BUT... then there are those apps that promise to remove the ads for $1.99 or whatever, but still have an ads-for-loot scheme. That's infuriating.

Cthulhu_ 8y ago
Yup, not to mention other in-app purchases for vanity items, xp boosters, etc. AAA games have those too nowadays (notably Assassin's Creed Odyssey, which has actively been designed to have a poor, plodding experience unless you pay extra for boosters - just like most mobile games).
- mikewhy 8y ago
  Those transactions have been in AC games for years. What happened with Odyssey is they made an absolute slog of a game.
VLM 8y ago
At least for Android that's not individual and arbitrary, it's an official google policy to crack down on "repetitive content" apps. https://play.google.com/about/spam-min-functionality/spam/repetitive-content/ https://play.google.com/about/spam-min-functionality/spam/re... Too many people were playing vertical spam games to flood competitors off search result pages, so now instead of WTF levels 1-10 and WTF levels 11-20 or WTF free (with ads) and WTF paid (no ads) we have to have everything in one big complicated app presumably with IAP. Deep in the IAP fine print Google does state "Developers must not mislead users about the apps they are selling nor about any in-app services, goods, content, or functionality offered for purchase." so if you bother to report the fraud, Google will possibly react.

hesarenu 8y ago

There might be no ads on Netflix, but Netflix have their ads on other network like Youtube.

ihuman 8y ago

> don’t accept anything with “in-app purchases”, and even struggle now to find the “Pay once and own” category How do you expect the apps to make money if they can't show you ads or charge you money? Selling your data?