4 ms·

> free apps apparently are an uphill battle in walled garden ecosystems. How so? I manage well over 10 App Store Connect and around 7 Android Play Store accoun

> free apps apparently are an uphill battle in walled garden ecosystems. How so? I manage well over 10 App Store Connect and around 7 Android Play Store accounts all with 1-3 apps in them, all free, no IAP, no cut for Apple. I've never felt like it was an uphill battle. While the app review process is incredibly flawed, I haven't experienced anything that paid apps or apps using IAP run into as well. As in, free apps aren't "targeted" in any way I can see.

nativeforks 1y ago
Appreciate your perspective — and I agree, technically, free apps can be published without issue. But from my experience (and others I've followed in the FOSS space), the “uphill battle” isn't about being blocked or targeted — it’s more about discovery, sustainability, and alignment with the platform’s incentives. On stores like Google Play, the design favors apps with ad revenue, IAPs, or growth metrics — not minimal, ethical apps with no monetization. Free, privacy-respecting tools often get buried or flagged for things like lack of user engagement, sparse permissions, or not following monetization guidelines (like not using Google’s billing). That’s why I released my app, MBCompass, on F-Droid first. It's where users expect simple, ethical apps — and where visibility isn't tied to commercial strategy. So yeah, free apps aren't “targeted,” but the environment isn’t really designed to support or surface them either.
- joshstrange 1y ago
  Ahh, yes. Getting customers or even showing up in search is a whole different ballgame. Thankfully, I don’t have mess with any of that. All the apps I oversee are companion apps to another service. I’m not trying to attract people _on_ the AppStore to my app. People get the app because they use the service.
  - nativeforks 1y ago
    That makes a lot of sense — but apps like mine in the “Compass” category really struggle to stand out among countless bloated, ad-filled apps with hundreds of millions of downloads.
    - skeledrew 1y ago
      What's the incentive to "stand out" though if there is no monetization? It seems to me if there is no motive beyond just publishing an ethical X, then if users find it, they find it, and if they don't, they don't. And those looking for ethical apps (by your implied definition) will probably find it too; I've found a decent amount by filtering out apps with ads and IAP. Although TBF I use Aurora Store, and am unsure if the filter is available in the native Play Store app.

nativeforks 1y ago

Appreciate your perspective — and I agree, technically, free apps can be published without issue. But from my experience (and others I've followed in the FOSS space), the “uphill battle” isn't about being blocked or targeted — it’s more about discovery, sustainability, and alignment with the platform’s incentives. On stores like Google Play, the design favors apps with ad revenue, IAPs, or growth metrics — not minimal, ethical apps with no monetization. Free, privacy-respecting tools often get buried or flagged for things like lack of user engagement, sparse permissions, or not following monetization guidelines (like not using Google’s billing). That’s why I released my app, MBCompass, on F-Droid first. It's where users expect simple, ethical apps — and where visibility isn't tied to commercial strategy. So yeah, free apps aren't “targeted,” but the environment isn’t really designed to support or surface them either.

joshstrange 1y ago
Ahh, yes. Getting customers or even showing up in search is a whole different ballgame. Thankfully, I don’t have mess with any of that. All the apps I oversee are companion apps to another service. I’m not trying to attract people _on_ the AppStore to my app. People get the app because they use the service.
- nativeforks 1y ago
  That makes a lot of sense — but apps like mine in the “Compass” category really struggle to stand out among countless bloated, ad-filled apps with hundreds of millions of downloads.
  - skeledrew 1y ago
    What's the incentive to "stand out" though if there is no monetization? It seems to me if there is no motive beyond just publishing an ethical X, then if users find it, they find it, and if they don't, they don't. And those looking for ethical apps (by your implied definition) will probably find it too; I've found a decent amount by filtering out apps with ads and IAP. Although TBF I use Aurora Store, and am unsure if the filter is available in the native Play Store app.