At the end of last week, Apple allowed the purchase of additional content directly from free apps. iPhone owners will be able to download programs for free, and purchase additional features, content or subscribe to paid services for a fee. It is believed that this will help Apple to influence the level of piracy.
Developers of free apps got this opportunity when Apple allowed them to use the StoreKit API. Cupertino is confident that both developers and iPhone owners themselves will benefit. Firstly, developers will no longer have to create two versions of each application – paid and free. Just a free application will offer additional services, features and products for a fee. Secondly, if the user decides to switch to the paid version of the application, he will not have to delete the old version of it and re-register in it and enter his data. Thirdly, developers will have the opportunity to charge a higher fee, because, according to statistics, users are willing to pay more for the application if they try its free version first.
But there are also enough skeptics. They pay attention to the fact that if a person already uses the previous paid version of the application, in order to replace it with the "free+" version, it is necessary to register again in the updated application and pay again. Also, Apple's policy at the moment does not allow users to offer demo versions of applications with a limited trial period or a reduced number of levels, with the possibility of further acquisition of new levels or lifting the time limit. You can only sell additional functions. In addition, the introduction of a payment service into an application is less convenient for developers than simply creating a paid application, in technical terms. Among other things, it will not be very convenient for owners of Apple communicators to search for applications in the App Store. While earlier developments were divided into two lists – Top Paid (the best paid applications) and Top Free (the best free) – now new products based on the "free +" model do not fit either the first or the second category.
At the moment, as one could understand, the innovation causes very contradictory feelings among the developers themselves. And how do you feel about this idea?
