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OK, instead of answering in every Thread here: These apps have existed for many years now and the "business model" behind them has changed over the times. Thes

by deng 3y ago

OK, instead of answering in every Thread here: These apps have existed for many years now and the "business model" behind them has changed over the times. These apps are available on Google Play and F-Droid. Originally, the apps were completely free, and there was a "Thank You" app which you could purchase on Google Play. This "Thank You" app does almost nothing, it only allows you to change the color theme of the apps and is more meant as a "donation app" for the project. Then, in 2018, the author decided to develop "Pro" versions of the most popular apps: Gallery, Calendar, Contacts, File Manager, etc. They can be bought on Google Play. These apps are still fully open source, you can build them yourself if you want, but much easier: they are still published on F-Droid, including the "Thank You" app. Understandably, the author does not really advertise that everything he does is available completely for free on F-Droid. If you install it from there, please consider to donate. I find these apps to be usually excellent and have used them for years.

thijser 3y ago
It seems the apps starting to enforce upgrades to pro in ~February of this year. On the AppBrain page you can see the rating nosedive from 4.6 stars (out of 5) to less than 2: https://www.appbrain.com/app/simple-gallery/com.simplemobiletools.gallery https://www.appbrain.com/app/simple-gallery/com.simplemobile...
- prmoustache 3y ago
  > It seems the apps starting to enforce upgrades to pro in ~February of this year. Only when installed from Google playstore.
  - p0w3n3d 3y ago
    Yeah but the price is symbolic... and maintaining app on Android, even without adding any features, requires some work to catch up on the changes made to the system
    - readthenotes1 3y ago
      Unfortunately, the charge to my credit card would not be merely symbolic.
- screamingninja 3y ago
  Developer's response to several of the negative reviews complaining about their data being held hostage: > Hey, it is just a tiny one time payment, you will never have to pay again :) lf you uninstall the paid app within 2 hours, you are automatically refunded. If you want a refund anytime later just contact us While I understand and respect the developer's desire to monetize, creating a set of expectations and then pushing an update to require payment for accessing local data feels like ransom. Have to be careful with the trust users place in you.
  - andrepd 3y ago
    Data hostage? All of these apps feature easy and painless import/export of data to an open format.
    - screamingninja 3y ago
      I do not have personal experience and it appears that the f-droid versions have no anti-features, but those comments at Play store were specifically talking about their data being held hostage.
brucethemoose2 3y ago
Nothing wrong with that. Mindustry (a tower defense factorio supcom-ish game) follows a similar model. Its paid on Steam, its free and GPLv3 on GitHub (and Android), and there don't seem to be many complaints about it. IMO more closed source devs need to follow this model, or the "open source but proprietary" model that's working for Barotrauma.
- RobotToaster 3y ago
  > "open source but proprietary" model that's working for Barotrauma. It's source available, not open source.
- makapuf 3y ago
  I think aseprite does the same, which is cool, but I find its build scheme a bit complex, depending on not so simple to build libraries. I'm not proficient enough with the tech stack used but it seems unnecessary complex. Eh, I prefer the guy/gal to be paid. (Edit: typo)
sva_ 3y ago
> Understandably, the author does not really advertise that everything he does is available completely for free on F-Droid. If you install it from there, please consider to donate. I find these apps to be usually excellent and have used them for years. It's the same with OsmAnd
- sam_lowry_ 3y ago
  OsmAnd~ in F-Droid is the free build of OsmAnd+ from Google Play, IIRC.
  - feitingen 3y ago
    I bought the Google Play version and can confirm it's not the same as the F-Droid one.
    - moelf 3y ago
      https://f-droid.org/en/packages/net.osmand.plus/ https://f-droid.org/en/packages/net.osmand.plus/ it literally is (see `.plus`); in fact, if you install from F-droid, and then open Google Play to look at OsmAnd+, `Install` button is gone, just `Open`
      - contact9879 3y ago
        that doesn't necessarily mean they are the same app, just that they are using the same name
    - blendergeek 3y ago
      What are the main differences?
- JeremyNT 3y ago
  It's a decent model. I actually wanted to support osmand financially, only at the time the only way I could find to do so was through the play store, which I didn't want to use. I've tried the simple apps and they are ok, but there are so many good alternatives on fdroid they don't stand out in any way.
ghastmaster 3y ago
> Then, in 2018, the author decided to develop "Pro" versions of the most popular apps... That's when I started getting notifications to get the pro version every once and a while, even though I had bought the thank you for $15. It would have been nice to get grandfathered. I was and still am thankful. They are great apps for me.
- user_7832 3y ago
  Yeah, similar thing for me. I spent a good bit (probably ~Rs 30 of my Rs 50) Google Play Balance on the thank you app as I loved the idea. When I saw the "paid" versions, even though I got all of them when they were free in the introductory period it left a bad taste in my mouth. (If you're wondering how someone had so little money to spend/disposable income try being a kid in a third-world country.)

by deng 3y ago

thijser 3y ago

It seems the apps starting to enforce upgrades to pro in ~February of this year. On the AppBrain page you can see the rating nosedive from 4.6 stars (out of 5) to less than 2: https://www.appbrain.com/app/simple-gallery/com.simplemobiletools.gallery https://www.appbrain.com/app/simple-gallery/com.simplemobile...

prmoustache 3y ago
> It seems the apps starting to enforce upgrades to pro in ~February of this year. Only when installed from Google playstore.
- p0w3n3d 3y ago
  Yeah but the price is symbolic... and maintaining app on Android, even without adding any features, requires some work to catch up on the changes made to the system
  - readthenotes1 3y ago
    Unfortunately, the charge to my credit card would not be merely symbolic.
screamingninja 3y ago
Developer's response to several of the negative reviews complaining about their data being held hostage: > Hey, it is just a tiny one time payment, you will never have to pay again :) lf you uninstall the paid app within 2 hours, you are automatically refunded. If you want a refund anytime later just contact us While I understand and respect the developer's desire to monetize, creating a set of expectations and then pushing an update to require payment for accessing local data feels like ransom. Have to be careful with the trust users place in you.
- andrepd 3y ago
  Data hostage? All of these apps feature easy and painless import/export of data to an open format.
  - screamingninja 3y ago
    I do not have personal experience and it appears that the f-droid versions have no anti-features, but those comments at Play store were specifically talking about their data being held hostage.

brucethemoose2 3y ago

Nothing wrong with that. Mindustry (a tower defense factorio supcom-ish game) follows a similar model. Its paid on Steam, its free and GPLv3 on GitHub (and Android), and there don't seem to be many complaints about it. IMO more closed source devs need to follow this model, or the "open source but proprietary" model that's working for Barotrauma.

RobotToaster 3y ago
> "open source but proprietary" model that's working for Barotrauma. It's source available, not open source.
makapuf 3y ago
I think aseprite does the same, which is cool, but I find its build scheme a bit complex, depending on not so simple to build libraries. I'm not proficient enough with the tech stack used but it seems unnecessary complex. Eh, I prefer the guy/gal to be paid. (Edit: typo)

sva_ 3y ago

> Understandably, the author does not really advertise that everything he does is available completely for free on F-Droid. If you install it from there, please consider to donate. I find these apps to be usually excellent and have used them for years. It's the same with OsmAnd

sam_lowry_ 3y ago
OsmAnd~ in F-Droid is the free build of OsmAnd+ from Google Play, IIRC.
- feitingen 3y ago
  I bought the Google Play version and can confirm it's not the same as the F-Droid one.
  - moelf 3y ago
    https://f-droid.org/en/packages/net.osmand.plus/ https://f-droid.org/en/packages/net.osmand.plus/ it literally is (see `.plus`); in fact, if you install from F-droid, and then open Google Play to look at OsmAnd+, `Install` button is gone, just `Open`
    - contact9879 3y ago
      that doesn't necessarily mean they are the same app, just that they are using the same name
  - blendergeek 3y ago
    What are the main differences?
JeremyNT 3y ago
It's a decent model. I actually wanted to support osmand financially, only at the time the only way I could find to do so was through the play store, which I didn't want to use. I've tried the simple apps and they are ok, but there are so many good alternatives on fdroid they don't stand out in any way.

ghastmaster 3y ago

> Then, in 2018, the author decided to develop "Pro" versions of the most popular apps... That's when I started getting notifications to get the pro version every once and a while, even though I had bought the thank you for $15. It would have been nice to get grandfathered. I was and still am thankful. They are great apps for me.

user_7832 3y ago
Yeah, similar thing for me. I spent a good bit (probably ~Rs 30 of my Rs 50) Google Play Balance on the thank you app as I loved the idea. When I saw the "paid" versions, even though I got all of them when they were free in the introductory period it left a bad taste in my mouth. (If you're wondering how someone had so little money to spend/disposable income try being a kid in a third-world country.)