
Apple opens "Try Before You Buy" section in App Store, Step to fight app piracy - donohoe
http://9to5mac.com/app-store-try-before-you-buy
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sshumaker
Apple needs to build in proper software support for app trials. You shouldn't
need two copies of the apps in the app store (each with their own ratings and
comments). You should be able to purchase the full version of the app and keep
your existing data (tricky to do unless the developer builds in code to send
your data to the server and load it back into the paid version of your app,
since apps can't share data).

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tomstuart
You're right that trials should be represented as a first-class concept in the
App Store, but right now the best solution is already fairly elegant: in-app
purchases for free apps. That lets you sell the upgrade to the full version
from inside the trial version, and avoids any issues with data migration.

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credo
I hope they also introduce a real "try before you buy" option for all paid
apps that wish to support a trial period.

Today's new feature seems like a promotion of apps that offer a "lite"
version. It makes "lite" apps more discoverable, but doesn't come close to
offering a trial option (and I'm not sure why 9to5mac believes that making a
few free apps discoverable will help "fight app piracy")

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pkaler
It looks like it's more of a curation strategy. It looks like they want to
reduce the amount of noise in the App Store by getting rid of the Free vs Paid
Apps split. The first step was allowing In-App Purchase for Free Apps.

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dlsspy
Lack of this prevents me from buying _tons_ of apps. The idea of spending
money with no promise of ROI is pretty hard for me.

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jsz0
I'd like to see the addition of videos to go with screenshots on the app
description pages. A good video walk through is sometimes better than a lite
version or a time bombed trial. It would be fantastic for games.

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fragmede
The solidly financial reason for Apple to do this would be to fight refunds.

No idea if there are app-return-rate numbers, but doing refunds isn't a cheap
process.

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ben1040
Under what circumstances does Apple even issue refunds? The app store terms of
service is pretty clear within the first few paragraphs that all sales are
final.

<http://www.apple.com/legal/itunes/us/terms.html>

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drewcrawford
That may be true, but in practice Apple issues refunds to anyone who asks.

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SoftwareMaven
My understanding of this is that the developers have to pay 100% of the
refund, even though they only got 70% of the revenue. Does anybody know if
that is, in fact, the case?

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xsmasher
That was not the case for me. I've seen some refunds in my financial report,
but apple only took their 70% back, not the full 100%.

There _is_ a scary clause in the agreement which says they _could_ do that,
but to my knowledge they never have. All of the scary blog posts on the
subject were worried speculation, not actual applications of that policy.

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rmc
This is worrying. Apple have a history of treating developers badly with the
App Store. They might start enforcing that rule someday.

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loewenskind
>Apple have a history of treating developers badly with the App Store.

Citation?

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companionsphere
I really hope this practice extends into all app stores. It would only be bad
for people who make bad apps.

