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How do you like your Lite Apps?

R

RazzleFnDazzle

Well-Known Member
I am thinking of a way of offering a free version with Ads and a paid version. There are currently 3 ways to go about this:

  • Two apps (one light, one full)
  • In app Purchase to unlock
  • Separate app that acts as unlock

I think the two app method is old fashion and not very user friendly. I was leaning towards an in app purchase to unlock, but that is only valid on one device and would need to be redone the next time the user buys a new device or a separate app that acts as an unlock. Essentially they download two apps. The one app is hidden and that is signaled by the original app that the user paid for it.

Which way do you like best?
 
As a user, I really don't mind how you do it..

As long as that when I've reset my device, or have purchased a new one, I can simply go into the play store and download the paid app, without having to type in activation codes etc. If it comes down to a choice of 2 applications, one where i need to activate individual applications on new devices and one where i can simply pay once, and then be able to transfer to a new device, then i'm going to buy the app that supports the second version

If I have to download 2 apps to do this, then thats ok.. but a single app would be nicer.
 
RazzleFnDazzle said:
I am thinking of a way of offering a free version with Ads and a paid version. There are currently 3 ways to go about this:

  • Two apps (one light, one full)
  • In app Purchase to unlock
  • Separate app that acts as unlock

I think the two app method is old fashion and not very user friendly. I was leaning towards an in app purchase to unlock, but that is only valid on one device and would need to be redone the next time the user buys a new device or a separate app that acts as an unlock. Essentially they download two apps. The one app is hidden and that is signaled by the original app that the user paid for it.

Which way do you like best?
Click to expand...

I have purchased apps with both these methods:
- Two apps (one light, one full)
- In app Purchase to unlock

I can't say that I am put off by the two apps. But it does lead to "do uninstall the free first? what about my settings?"

Regarding the in app purchase, that appears to be the least stressful to a consumer overall as long as the app upgrades correctly (keeps settings,no duplicate files, etc.). But I don't think it needs to be redone on devices. Cerberus can be installed on five devices and they clearly state that the account owns the license and will follow you to a new device. Of course, I installed Cerberus last month and haven't purchased a new phone since....
 
Thank you both for your responses.

As far as being able to persist the fact that someone did an in app purchase, that is possible but would cost me as the developer money to maintain. Unfortunately the amount of money I get from my app wouldn't offset the cost of making that persistent.

I'm leaning towards an unlock app. The reason behind it is it allows the user to maintain the fact they purchased the ad free version with out having to get rid of all their old settings in the lite version of the app. At the same time it is cost effective for me and I do not have to get some sort of data to persist the fact they unlocked the app. It is a slight more hassle to reinstall from scratch, but I'm hoping people don't mind.
 
2 Apps: 1 Lite, 1 Full. It may be old school, but I think it's the most functional and I definitely prefer it. The only thing I would say is, if you're doing it that way, make sure the user's app data from the Lite version is restored when he/she buys the Full. (I guess that goes without saying though).
 
In app purchase with PayPal because Google playstore does not work for all credit cards in many countries.
 
Im with Spikey here. Two apps, Lite and Pro and give Pro the ability to import the settings from Lite (if applicable) :thumbup:
 
If keeping track of IAP across multiple devices is too expensive on the dev side, then I would go with the 2 apps.

I would prefer the option of a free version and a separate unlock app to get the full version. The unlock app usually isn't that big so having both shouldn't be a deal breaker and that way you don't have to redo all your settings.

But having 2 separate apps, one free (maybe ad supported) and one full (no ads, maybe a few more options) is also fine. That way, users can try it out first to make sure it works on their device before paying for the full version, and they can then uninstall the free one to save space. Maybe even offer an option to backup settings in the free version and then restore them in the full one?
 
Also, I forgot to add that, if you decide to go ahead with the 2 Separate Apps idea, it means that illegally downloading your app for free would be a lot easier with websites like 4shared.com distributing APK. Files and similar things like that.
 
Yeah and unlock keys (from my past experience when i did use cracked apps, sorry) seem to be safer than a Pro app. Pirated unlock keys rarely work for long. I dont know why tbh.
It was this that made me finaly link my bank card to Play, no pirated unlock key for PowerAmp would work
PS bit off topic but i prefer how PowerAmp do their Lite version, fully functioning, no ads but a 14day limit. To me thats a good fair way to sell a quality app :)
 
As a user, I would like to have a fully working version for 7 to 15 days depending on what kind of app it is.

To give you an example, Smart Audiobook Player is something similar. The guy offered full working app for certain number of days and thereafter a limited functionality. I liked it very much. I used it and loved the app so I bought before the expiry date.
Only thing, I did not like about him is, he informed that to the user AFTER the app was installed. I would have preferred to know it before I downloaded the app. So I paid the least amount to purchase it ($1, if I remember correctly) otherwise would have happily paid $3 or something (Bronze, silver and gold license). Its been a while so don't remember correctly the price tags that he put.

I personally hate ad-supported and now use Ad-block, so if you put ads in it, you are not going to get anything from me and I am going to hate you for hogging my data.
 
I have a moral issue with ad block.. id rather pay to remove ads but sometimes there isnt an ad-free version available so what can we do? Viewing ads is a perfectly fine way to pay for a service imo.
We do it with tv all the time (although id rather have ads that are targeted to my interests)
Can i ask the OP though (or any Play Store dev' reading) if someone uses an ad blocker, do you, the dev still get payed by the advertiser?
I.e: do you get a payment for a) every download of your app
B)every viewing of an ad. Or
c) every time a user taps on that ad?
Do ad blockers directly rob you of money?
 
As a friendly user, i would go with the two app method, reasons?
Because in app purchases can be bought and not paid for using the app "Freedom" the user has to be rooted to use it and using google play store 3.x.x...

ok down to the two apps,

1)the free version, ads and all, with limitations?... In the app redirect the user to buy the license key for yur app, this should be somewhere in the settings or after a couple times the app has been launched. suggestions for the license key, dont make it easy for the Google license verification to be removed alot of people dedicate time to pirating apps! also dont let the Lite app to be easily fooled into thinking that the license key is installed. they need to share same uid.

or yu can go for the lite and full app which i personally dont like, if i install the full app i have to restore all my past settings and reconfigure it. Unless u make it like other apps, create a backup of the settings and everything that should be transferred to the full app and let the full app read it off of the data file which should be in the sdcard.

i think this post might be a lil confusing. if u need me to clarify please ask :)
 
I vote 2 apps. It has never been a problem for me.

The in-app purchases make me a little nervous for several reasons:
1 - what if the app is "spoofing" google play to lure me into giving me password.
2 - Normal google play purchase doesn't ask for password. In-app purchase sometimes does for some reason. I have 2-step verification and never sure which one it wants. Getting an application specific password requires me to go onto a computer and hunt down a specific web page to request the number be texted to my phone.
 
funkylogik said:
I have a moral issue with ad block.. id rather pay to remove ads but sometimes there isnt an ad-free version available so what can we do? Viewing ads is a perfectly fine way to pay for a service imo.
We do it with tv all the time (although id rather have ads that are targeted to my interests)
Can i ask the OP though (or any Play Store dev' reading) if someone uses an ad blocker, do you, the dev still get payed by the advertiser?
I.e: do you get a payment for a) every download of your app
B)every viewing of an ad. Or
c) every time a user taps on that ad?
Do ad blockers directly rob you of money?
Click to expand...

I am sorry, I am not buying moral issue argument. If somebody has unlimited data, that is one thing but those of us who use limited data, I am in no mood to waste my bytes.

And arguing same to the ads on TV is not logical either because I don't have time for watching the ads on TV. I rarely watch channels where there are a ton of advertisements. And now, I have minimum channel set that my cable company offers so as to keep giving me high speed (50mbps and in Europe, I used to have 200mbps) internet for the least amount. I have a subscription of Hulu Plus and I am still looking for a provider where there are no ads at all.

If I would be a developer, I would take data issue into consideration. Android, as it is, uses data like crazy and cell phone companies make a ton of profit on data, so why put profit in their pocket than my own pocket? I would sell my app for cheapest possible price tag and have higher number of purchases.
 
Mate im not agreeing or disagreeing with u tbh lol. Its a grey area to me. Playing devils advocate, you could either turn data off while using that app or just not use it but i know what youre sayin :)
Thing is that we really are spoiled for software on android. Its mega cheap to buy.
Id just like to know if it was mainly the devs who got Ad Block removed from the market or was it the advertisers. I wana know how the advertising works and i wana know that by using an ad blocker that im not directly stealing from a dev who i respect :)

I think if google allowed the developer to decide the refund period for their app, there would be less need for Lite apps with ads etc. 15mins is a silly limit imo
 
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