4 ms·

subscription camera app seems like peak comedy to me

furyofantares 2mo ago
Definitely not peak, my kid asked for a Rubik's Cube solver app which turned out to be subscription based, then wanted to tune her Ukelele with an app which turned out to be subscription based.
- dxdm 2mo ago
  Gotta keep up with pitch inflation! https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Concert_pitch https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Concert_pitch
- ChrisMarshallNY 2mo ago
  That's what makes me sad about the current Tetris game, on iOS. One of my favorite games ever, and I'd gladly pay for an ad-free version, but they don't have it. I assume there's much more money to be made with ads, over subscriptions.
  - bookofjoe 2mo ago
    A penetrating observation that feels true. Too bad.
  - furyofantares 2mo ago
    Oh, the Rubik's Cube app has both actually - the subscription gets rid of the ads you have to watch to get more solves.
  - cloudfudge 2mo ago
    I think there's money to be made with both, but there's more money to be made by not maintaining two separate models, so ads win.
    - smugma 2mo ago
      It's not that rare for games to offer a "remove ads" option for a few bucks. That model doesn't require a lot of extra "maintenance". I think a few bucks for ad-free brings in more money for most developers, but that still pales in comparison to a recurring subscription model (or models where people keep spending in-app on consumables).
  - jval43 2mo ago
    Play the Gameboy version. I bought every single official Tetris version and they all suck in conparison. Gameboy emulators are now available again in the iOS app store or even as a a web app. Or just play on real hardware.
- da02 2mo ago
  Did you buy it or show them a better way of doing it?
  - furyofantares 2mo ago
    Man, you don't want to know. But I guess I've answered you anyway.
- pastor_williams 2mo ago
  This sort of nonsense is what I think will drive adoption of AI for personal apps. Tell it to create a ukulele tuning app and you get one without ads without subscription that you can make work exactly how you want. I wonder whether this is something that only privacy and tech oriented folk will do and care about our whether it will be adopted generally.
  - Gigachad 2mo ago
    The source of this problem is that it costs $99/year + the churn of having to keep up with the latest ios api updates to have an app for iphones. Which kills the normal free software that would have filled this role. As well as the fact that the subscription apps can pay for adverts to sit at the top of the search results. Once governments force Apple to allow sideloading we should get some kind of f-droid for ios which only lists open source user respecting apps.
    - imhoguy 2mo ago
      Meanwhile Google is going to block apps sideloading in Sep 2026, including F-Droid installed.
  - rjh29 2mo ago
    Only applies to Android. Apple make it deliberately expensive to publish apps and deliberately annoying to run your own apps locally (have to refresh every 7 days).
- ironman1478 2mo ago
  Metronome apps are paid now or have an 'ad' tier. I took my money and spent it on a real metronome.
- asdff 2mo ago
  This is why some hardware is still supreme. I've had the same Korg chromatic tuner for 20 years and would not be in the least bit surprised if it goes for another 40.
PaulHoule 2mo ago
There is Halide which I find completely uninteresting because I have a Sony A7iv. (Funny my latest piece of “gear” I am learning to use is a selfie stick because I can do stuff like https://mastodon.social/@UP8/tagged/selfie https://mastodon.social/@UP8/tagged/selfie and I don’t see third party apps really improve on the official camera)
VladVladikoff 2mo ago
There was some video on reddit that I saw the other day where a man struggled to take a photo with his camera app because it kept popping full screen ads in front of everything else.
- andai 2mo ago
  Resume viewing... resume viewing...
hoppp 2mo ago
Yeah, at that point it's better to buy an external lens for the Iphone. Single purchase and better pictures.
- account42 2mo ago
  Or an actual camera that can afford more area for a non-miniature sensor.
p1necone 2mo ago
Apple customers are just built different.

Definitely not peak, my kid asked for a Rubik's Cube solver app which turned out to be subscription based, then wanted to tune her Ukelele with an app which turned out to be subscription based.

dxdm 2mo ago
Gotta keep up with pitch inflation! https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Concert_pitch https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Concert_pitch
ChrisMarshallNY 2mo ago
That's what makes me sad about the current Tetris game, on iOS. One of my favorite games ever, and I'd gladly pay for an ad-free version, but they don't have it. I assume there's much more money to be made with ads, over subscriptions.
- bookofjoe 2mo ago
  A penetrating observation that feels true. Too bad.
- furyofantares 2mo ago
  Oh, the Rubik's Cube app has both actually - the subscription gets rid of the ads you have to watch to get more solves.
- cloudfudge 2mo ago
  I think there's money to be made with both, but there's more money to be made by not maintaining two separate models, so ads win.
  - smugma 2mo ago
    It's not that rare for games to offer a "remove ads" option for a few bucks. That model doesn't require a lot of extra "maintenance". I think a few bucks for ad-free brings in more money for most developers, but that still pales in comparison to a recurring subscription model (or models where people keep spending in-app on consumables).
- jval43 2mo ago
  Play the Gameboy version. I bought every single official Tetris version and they all suck in conparison. Gameboy emulators are now available again in the iOS app store or even as a a web app. Or just play on real hardware.
da02 2mo ago
Did you buy it or show them a better way of doing it?
- furyofantares 2mo ago
  Man, you don't want to know. But I guess I've answered you anyway.
pastor_williams 2mo ago
This sort of nonsense is what I think will drive adoption of AI for personal apps. Tell it to create a ukulele tuning app and you get one without ads without subscription that you can make work exactly how you want. I wonder whether this is something that only privacy and tech oriented folk will do and care about our whether it will be adopted generally.
- Gigachad 2mo ago
  The source of this problem is that it costs $99/year + the churn of having to keep up with the latest ios api updates to have an app for iphones. Which kills the normal free software that would have filled this role. As well as the fact that the subscription apps can pay for adverts to sit at the top of the search results. Once governments force Apple to allow sideloading we should get some kind of f-droid for ios which only lists open source user respecting apps.
  - imhoguy 2mo ago
    Meanwhile Google is going to block apps sideloading in Sep 2026, including F-Droid installed.
- rjh29 2mo ago
  Only applies to Android. Apple make it deliberately expensive to publish apps and deliberately annoying to run your own apps locally (have to refresh every 7 days).
ironman1478 2mo ago
Metronome apps are paid now or have an 'ad' tier. I took my money and spent it on a real metronome.
asdff 2mo ago
This is why some hardware is still supreme. I've had the same Korg chromatic tuner for 20 years and would not be in the least bit surprised if it goes for another 40.

PaulHoule 2mo ago

There is Halide which I find completely uninteresting because I have a Sony A7iv. (Funny my latest piece of “gear” I am learning to use is a selfie stick because I can do stuff like https://mastodon.social/@UP8/tagged/selfie https://mastodon.social/@UP8/tagged/selfie and I don’t see third party apps really improve on the official camera)

VladVladikoff 2mo ago

There was some video on reddit that I saw the other day where a man struggled to take a photo with his camera app because it kept popping full screen ads in front of everything else.

andai 2mo ago
Resume viewing... resume viewing...

hoppp 2mo ago

Yeah, at that point it's better to buy an external lens for the Iphone. Single purchase and better pictures.

account42 2mo ago
Or an actual camera that can afford more area for a non-miniature sensor.

p1necone 2mo ago

Apple customers are just built different.