Apple earlier had to post two versions of their applications on their store, the paid and the free (called lite) version. They have taken care of this functional glitch by allowing developers to integrate functionality through which one can upgrade one’s lite version to the paid version without going through the App Store.
A relief to many
The download of the two versions has now been merged with each other, providing relief to many. Apple has been known to have a strict policy against the demo version of any application, even though “lite” are available. This had made Apple unpopular and look harsh in a market where Android is providing users with a trial period of an application. If the users do not like it, they are given a refund.
To compete with such a user-friendly a marketing strategy, the least Apple can do is provide a demo version.
Free versions!
The new development could help the Apple store look more streamlined as developers now do not have to post two versions of every application. Apple, of course will still be taking the same cut from the developers for the paid versions, irrespective of whether the App Store was involved in the transaction or not.
It comes as great news for both consumers and geeks alike, as developers will now be allowed to give away free versions of their applications. They will also be able to unlock the advanced features of the applications as and when users desire them to be added, and voila, the whole procedure is within the apps.
The free-to-paid applications are like to hit the market in the next few weeks, and a heavy downpour of applications is expected.
This announcement comes close after Apple released upgrades for iPhone and iPod Touch on the 9th of this month, which took care of several functionality and software issues that the devices were suffering from. This included sorting out the “coma mode” which was a state where the smartphone refuse to wake up.
Apple’s App store was launched in July, 08 and since then has made a remarkable journey. It can boast of over 85,000 applications for iPod and iPhone Touch, apart from 2 billion downloads.
Microsoft had tried to emulate Apple’s idea of having a store for applications but could not deliver. Around October 19, Apple is set to reveal their sales figure where the samrtphones are concerned. The smartphones had sold around 3 million units in the first three days of their release, thus the announcement is much awaited for.
App store vs real world
This urban legend is all over the Internet that somehow not being able to "try before you buy" is out of sync with the rest of the industry. Please tell us what products on the market (in any industry except music) can you try before you buy? In computer software only low-end shareware software gives buyers a limited time to try out the full feature set. Apple still doesn't allow that ( you can't write software that disables features it originally came with). Walk into any store that sells software and look at the boxes not only does the software cost 10x more but each one has a sticker either on the box or on the cd that say essentially , "you break this seal, you own it and it's not returnable". So where does this expectation come from for a .99 program. In fact, tell me ANYTHING that cost under $10 that you can "try before you buy"!
Second, the apple app store is grossly dysfunctional because it has created an environment where nearly all apps end up selling for .99 because their "top xxx" lists are based on volume instead of ratings or revenue. Any useful iPhone app takes just as much effort to build as the equivalent PC app. yet iPhone apps sell for one tenth (or less).
You may say this is great for consumers but, now thatthe gold rush is over developers are leaving the ranks of iPhone development in droves or pushing it to backburner "hobby" status because they cannot make a living selling iPhone apps. Yes, there are some who have done well but even they will say that is mostly due to the "goldrush" environment which ended several months ago.
Bottom line is that unless there are some major changes in the way Apple runs the app store you are going to see a bifercation of software - good apps written by large corporations like CNN who don't expect to make a profit and considerf it advertising, or low quality apps written by hobbyists. It's happening now.
Still amazes me that someone feels they need to "try out" a 99 cent app before they buy it but they'll send texts at 20 cents a pop or buy a $5 latte every morning.
WingSpinner
iPhone developer ( at least for now)
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