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> even $0.99 is "expensive" for most people these days In my experience, this is not really true - most people (including myself) just cannot find these apps a

> even $0.99 is "expensive" for most people these days In my experience, this is not really true - most people (including myself) just cannot find these apps and instead see only subscription ones which seems to be the new trend. The last 7 apps I downloaded on iOS wanted a $5-10/mo monthly subscription, and I literally _cannot_ purchase the app. And I'm talking about really basic zero-infrastructure apps: - 2 transcriber apps that use iOS's native speech recognition functionality only (no server). - A Snapchat equivalent that puts beards and other funny things on a picture of your face. - A photo collage maker. - A photo effects editor. - An app that turns live pictures into gifs (really?)

musicale 6y ago
> most people (including myself) just cannot find these apps and instead see only subscription ones which seems to be the new trend. Yes!! The App Store search function is useless. I want affordable paid apps without ads, subscriptions, or IAPs.
- andrekandre 6y ago
  i cant tell you how many times i could not reactivate an in-app-purchase when getting a new mac; might as well just paid upfront... i think apple really messed up iap by having the dev-side do all the transactions/authentication...
- inapis 6y ago
  This really kills discovery. Seeing an upfront price without the ability to trial the app really dissuades the user. On top of it, refunds are tedious to obtain and you can do it only so many times.
kalleboo 6y ago
As a developer, Apple is heavily, heavily pushing us to adopt subscriptions, even for apps where it makes no sense. We get contacted by developer relations folks several times a year, they even dragged us to a seminar to espouse the joys of subscriptions. We do a camera app. All we want is clearly-marked trial versions (not "free apps with in-app purchases", users think that's bait-and-switch and give you 1 star reviews), and upgrade pricing. Apple refuses to adopt those.
- valuearb 6y ago
  Subscriptions always make sense because it aligns developers costs with customer usage. Small developers were dying trying to support apps forever on one time purchases. Subscriptions enable developers to be compensated for maintaining and upgrading their apps. Trial versions are a bad user experience. Upgrade pricing would be nice, but fir most apps isn’t really necessary since subscriptions solve the same problem in a better manner.
  - spencerflem 6y ago
    I would be much happier paying to upgrade on my own terms than being held hostage every month with subscription fees. Subscriptions add up fast and for most things if the app is good enough now I don't care too much about continuing support.
    - TeMPOraL 6y ago
      And even if subscriptions are small, the hassle of tracking them adds up fast too, because each subscription is an unnecessary relationship with a third party, a relationship I don't want to have. When I buy bread, I don't enter into a relationship with the baker or the supermarket. I want the same to be true of software.
      - ocean12 6y ago
        I refuse to use them, even when it pushes me back to the default apps that came with the device.
  - wilshipley 6y ago
    Customers hate subscriptions, and small developers don’t like them much, either, because they create the expectation that the app will be upgraded very regularly. This expectation is fine for companies like Adobe, who are going to be cranking out a new version on a regular basis. But it’s onerous to a smaller developer. My understanding is Apple is now discouraging developers from using the subscription model unless their app has periodic new content / updates, but I haven’t confirmed this yet. -Wil Shipley

musicale 6y ago

> most people (including myself) just cannot find these apps and instead see only subscription ones which seems to be the new trend. Yes!! The App Store search function is useless. I want affordable paid apps without ads, subscriptions, or IAPs.

andrekandre 6y ago
i cant tell you how many times i could not reactivate an in-app-purchase when getting a new mac; might as well just paid upfront... i think apple really messed up iap by having the dev-side do all the transactions/authentication...
inapis 6y ago
This really kills discovery. Seeing an upfront price without the ability to trial the app really dissuades the user. On top of it, refunds are tedious to obtain and you can do it only so many times.

kalleboo 6y ago

As a developer, Apple is heavily, heavily pushing us to adopt subscriptions, even for apps where it makes no sense. We get contacted by developer relations folks several times a year, they even dragged us to a seminar to espouse the joys of subscriptions. We do a camera app. All we want is clearly-marked trial versions (not "free apps with in-app purchases", users think that's bait-and-switch and give you 1 star reviews), and upgrade pricing. Apple refuses to adopt those.

valuearb 6y ago
Subscriptions always make sense because it aligns developers costs with customer usage. Small developers were dying trying to support apps forever on one time purchases. Subscriptions enable developers to be compensated for maintaining and upgrading their apps. Trial versions are a bad user experience. Upgrade pricing would be nice, but fir most apps isn’t really necessary since subscriptions solve the same problem in a better manner.
- spencerflem 6y ago
  I would be much happier paying to upgrade on my own terms than being held hostage every month with subscription fees. Subscriptions add up fast and for most things if the app is good enough now I don't care too much about continuing support.
  - TeMPOraL 6y ago
    And even if subscriptions are small, the hassle of tracking them adds up fast too, because each subscription is an unnecessary relationship with a third party, a relationship I don't want to have. When I buy bread, I don't enter into a relationship with the baker or the supermarket. I want the same to be true of software.
    - ocean12 6y ago
      I refuse to use them, even when it pushes me back to the default apps that came with the device.
- wilshipley 6y ago
  Customers hate subscriptions, and small developers don’t like them much, either, because they create the expectation that the app will be upgraded very regularly. This expectation is fine for companies like Adobe, who are going to be cranking out a new version on a regular basis. But it’s onerous to a smaller developer. My understanding is Apple is now discouraging developers from using the subscription model unless their app has periodic new content / updates, but I haven’t confirmed this yet. -Wil Shipley