…said everybody… about everything… since always.
In a recent review of Vault, one of my apps in the App Store, a dissatisfied user provided myself, and the rest of the iOS user base with a pretty enlightening review. This is the review, verbatim:
it’s a good app it really is but I want to be able to have more vaults open without paying besides that it’s really good
That’s right folks, Vault is not a 5-star app, because you have to pay for the premium features.
Sigh…
This is a sad state of affairs for the App Store, it’s users, and it’s developers. The app market has become so wrought with outsourced, knock-off apps, that an unstoppable supergerm of entitled users has been created. They shy away from apps and features that don’t come for free, to the point of complaining that an app is good but it’s just not free enough.
As a user, what exactly do you think is going on here? Maybe that some super secret band of charitable developers and designers is out to quash your every app desire, expecting nothing in return from you?
NO!
Free comes at a cost
When the developer of your favorite “free” app folds up from lack of financial support from it’s users, you’ll be left to find yet another “free” app to suck the marrow from. It’s in your best interest, to have the best interest of the developer in mind. By buying in, you’re investing in the future of the app. If you’re not buying in, but still using an app… you’re a boat anchor.
Seriously, if you landed here and you’re guilty of this sin, you need to know one thing… This free functionality that we developers are offering is just as free as the half-bite of sushi you get at Whole Foods. Have you ever wolfed down a bite or two of that free sushi and told the chef “I’d eat more of this if it were free”? No one’s expecting you to survive on this modicum of sushi, it’s there to show you how good Whole Foods sushi is, SO YOU CAN BUY IT.
Bottomline, if you’re a regular user of an app, BUY IT. Reward the team behind the product and support it’s future development. Don’t live below the purchase price threshold just to save yourself $2 dollars. In the long run, you aren’t doing yourself any favors.