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So, I got to play with this at best buy and I must admit, if I had 300$ to spend I might have left 300$ there at best buy and walked out with it.
This tablet was the most fun I've ever had playing on a tablet. I wasn't impressed by ipad, the galaxy s tab was cool, but not really "eye catching" in terms of being worth the price..
This sucker was smooth though.. it ran really, really smoothly. It was probably one of the coolest things I've seen.
The weird part is that I really had trouble finding a logical use for the pen. It is always nice to get more for what your purchase, but I am having trouble finding practical uses for it. I am sure if I got one I would think of more uses after the fact.
A few times I've used it to take notes. But mostly, I use it to show my friends how much better my tablet is compared to theirs. I think the latter is what HTC was going for.
I use it to quickly mark up power points and presentation notes when I do reviews at work.
So far I haven't found a use for it. Taking notes on the tablet does not appeal to me nor does drawing on screenshots.
I use it whenever I need a paper to write something on. Paperless for me. Only print it out when I really need it. Environmental friendly as well
Sent from my HTC Desire using XDA App
I use it to takes notes in my classes. I find the notes mobile app much easier to take notes with compared to the HTC notes app. Plus with honeycomb you can use the pen all throughout the tablet as apposed to only taking screenshots on gingerbread
Sent from my PG86100 using XDA App
I use it @ work (IT) for taking notes, since we are trying to go "green" in the office, it's my "see here ya go I'm going green"...and hopefully this means that work will reimburse me for it.
I never even thought about the possibilities involving roms.
Could be loads of fun.
Hm... wonder if ICS will have anything special for pen based tabs...
I design and manufacture parts for the auto racing industry.
I use the Flyers camera to take a photo of the area I’m working on then, note the dimension on the pic with the pen.
If need be I can take several shots from different angles.
I then return to my workstation’s cad program and I have all my info at hand.
It really helps me to visualize the part I’m working on.
For making a usable quick sketch and markups. I was surprised how much I started to markup screen shots of Web pages once I got used to the idea.
Sent from my HTC Flyer P512 using Tapatalk
I got the pen just because it was on sale for 39.99 and I had a 10 dollar reward certificate. I'm not really sure how much I'll use it but hope with the upgrade it'll be more useful.
Sent from my HTC Sensation 4G using xda premium
Make notes when reading eBooks.
Take a picture of office maps (fire routes work great) then mark them up for new network drops and whatnot.
I've started using it in place of anything I'd have used a paper notepad for. Extra cool that the notes are ocr'd and searchable.
Maybe one day I'll get around to drawing up plot diagrams, creating story arcs, and writing a book... Too busy for that right now though.
I use it to take notes. My daughter uses it for notes and to annotate her books for her English class using the reader that came installed on the flyer.
Everything. I am a recruiter for a consulting firm and take notes on my conversations with candidates - been using evernote for a few years so its a virtual database of people now. Also in grad school and use it to mark up powerpoints and sometimes record audio or the cam to capture diagrams on whiteboards. Used it at a family get together to find a pizza place with Google maps, pull up the menu, and write down (on the menu screenshot) our complete order - easily placed the correct orders and people were like "that is awesome". A life saving feature is accessing my home machine via logmein as well. I love this thing.
Sent from my PG41200 using xda premium
jlczl said:
I got the pen just because it was on sale for 39.99 and I had a 10 dollar reward certificate. I'm not really sure how much I'll use it but hope with the upgrade it'll be more useful.
Sent from my HTC Sensation 4G using xda premium
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Same here. I've heard a lot of good things were going to open up with the HC upgrade. I hope I'm not disappointed.
Sent from GrandAdmiral's HTC Flyer P512 using Tapatalk
I use it for my business and for note reason when I go on the road to sale insurance. I bring the terms and all up and underline the keypoints.
Sent from my HTC Flyer P510e using XDA App
I saw this on pulse in an android section. I thought it was ridiculous. shows how ignorant isheep are. I guess $500 for a tablet plus 150 for a dock is cheap. Also there are android phones that cost way more than the iphone.
http://www.cultofmac.com/158610/che...elitists-making-fun-of-android-instagrammers/
Does this surprise you?
Sent from my Droid Razr using Tapatalk
I saw those articles. lmfao just goes to show how childish alot of IOS users are. they are hating the fact that Android has Instagram now. Android flood of instagram users will overtake apple users in a short period of time. Android has way larger user base. I got it on my Atrix. haven't really tried it out yet. seems like a bunch of b.s. really. so i want to see what the hype is over. I hope its not just some dumb filters as I've had those and more alot longer on android in general. seems like some kind of picture sharing thing mostly between users. overrated IMO.
also funny is how the most popular iPhone model is the free 3gs iPhone offered by at&t. lol. how can we be poor if they using a free phone..lol
monkey10120 said:
I saw this on pulse in an android section. I thought it was ridiculous. shows how ignorant isheep are. I guess $500 for a tablet plus 150 for a dock is cheap. Also there are android phones that cost way more than the iphone.
http://www.cultofmac.com/158610/che...elitists-making-fun-of-android-instagrammers/
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lol...what a fun read. Thanks for the link.
I'll not get too worried due to this. Only hipsters use Instagram and think they are "real" photographers. Yeah right.
In fact, no self respecting Android user will and should use Instagram. Camera360 beats it any day, anyway. Instagram is for spoiled brats and hipsters who think android owners live in a ghetto and live on food stamps.
Sent from my MB870 using XDA
litetaker said:
I'll not get too worried due to this. Only hipsters use Instagram and think they are "real" photographers. Yeah right.
In fact, no self respecting Android user will and should use Instagram. Camera360 beats it any day, anyway. Instagram is for spoiled brats and hipsters who think android owners live in a ghetto and live on food stamps.
Sent from my MB870 using XDA
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Click to collapse
never knew "real photographers" use iphones insead on full DLSR cameras. going to have to get rid on my sony a55 now. And maybe with that money i will be able to buy diner tonight because i am out a food stamps. lol
This is horrible. What pisses me off the most about Apple is that they outsource their manufacturing and claim that it is to keep the cost of their product down, yet I believe they have the highest priced devices. Secondly they create a standard for the outrageously priced devices when they could EASILY shave 30 to 40 percent of the price on ALL of their mobile products if not ALL of them products. And, what's the worst part of all is that the mobile market is exponentially growing, meaning the two grand you dropped on your current phone/tablet setup will be obsolete in 3 to 6 months. Rather than really fine tune a product, they continually shell out new devices with "better" specs. Kinda ridiculous the way they produce products, even Android is guilty of this. It's bad for the consumer, but great for the companies. I mean why create a solid product that stays current for at least a year when you can make devices obsolete after three months which in turn will guarantee that at least a greater percentage of consumers will repurchase the newest devices at a quicker pace. Whatever happened to companies providing what is best for the consumer and not what makes the most amount of money in the shorted amount of time!
Oh well, it is what it is. Before you know it there will be an entirely new type of gadget out that replaces the smart phone/tablet all together and then the cycle repeats but with higher prices and shorter device life spans. Actually, to be honest, I am suprised that we aren't forced into purchasing firmware upgrades... Hmm, maybe I shouldn't of said that, I could totally see a CEO reading this post and going ZOMG GREAT IDEA $50 to update your device!
In any event, kudos to Cult of Mac for reporting on this, given that they're describing a large part of their own audience.
Ever jealous of being behind I see.
even if the iPad3 would cost half of the prime i wouldnt buy it.
man i hate the apple ecosystem and its hipster fanboys!
and whats up with the 'professional' photo-editing lol..
buy a real cam for that !
We didn't get Instagram, we got an emulator for the magical phone. Now we can carry all that smug self-importance in our pocket whenever we want to feel rich. 2 stars though because the voice recognition sucked and the photo filters made me feel ironic.
Sent from my Transformer Prime TF201 using XDA Premium HD app
I am not going to read that article...
But I do have to say that when people buy an iPhone, they don't just buy a phone. They buy into a highly proprietary culture that promotes thoughtless spending.
Android? Well just comparing how easy it is to get refunds for purchases on Play vs App Store should give us all a good idea.
garbagedump481 said:
We didn't get Instagram, we got an emulator for the magical phone. Now we can carry all that smug self-importance in our pocket whenever we want to feel rich. 2 stars though because the voice recognition sucked and the photo filters made me feel ironic.
Sent from my Transformer Prime TF201 using XDA Premium HD app
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Click to collapse
LOL! That is funny!
Social media really brings out the stupid in people. We used to think about something before sharing it with the world but now people share it with the world before thinking about it. It is because there always seems to be an audience (the internet) available. This is not the only case. (Incoming Hunger Games Spoiler) A while ago when the Grammys were on there was the whole "I would let Chris Brown beat me any day" tweets. Then when the Hunger Games movie came out there was the whole "I don't feel so bad about Rue anymore after finding out she was black".
Tempie007 said:
even if the iPad3 would cost half of the prime i wouldnt buy it.
man i hate the apple ecosystem and its hipster fanboys!
and whats up with the 'professional' photo-editing lol..
buy a real cam for that !
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Same here couldn't have said it better!
Sent from my Transformer Prime TF201 using XDA Premium HD app
Who cares what a bunch of iDiots think?
I'm sure you'll all enjoy my comment on the article.
Master race transformer prime/htc one x owner reporting in. What's it like still using a dual core device guys? I mean I have pictures from 2006 but I'm sure you all could refresh my memory with your pictures from your lower resolution cameras on your redundant 'retina' displays?
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lol all their rage right now.
What I get from this is Apple users blindly buy apps and hope they work for what they want it to do (As there is no refund). With Android I'm going to look for the free app if i'm looking for a specific function. If it does it well, then It might entice me to look into the paid version to see what extras you get if you pay for it. There are a lot of crap apps, and you kinda have to test them all to find the best one that works for you. It's annoying when there are no free apps on Apple to test what you want to do, and if the app you bought isn't what you thought it was or has problems, you can't refund. Sucks!
I really hate waking up, reading a thread and finding out Im poor.
I really need to talk to the IRS and get my 30 sum thousand dollars I sent them last year back.. do they not know Im poor?!?
What else can the Apple gods tell me??
Sent from my Transformer Prime TF201 using Tapatalk
robproctor said:
This is horrible. What pisses me off the most about Apple is that they outsource their manufacturing and claim that it is to keep the cost of their product down, yet I believe they have the highest priced devices. Secondly they create a standard for the outrageously priced devices when they could EASILY shave 30 to 40 percent of the price on ALL of their mobile products if not ALL of them products. And, what's the worst part of all is that the mobile market is exponentially growing, meaning the two grand you dropped on your current phone/tablet setup will be obsolete in 3 to 6 months. Rather than really fine tune a product, they continually shell out new devices with "better" specs. Kinda ridiculous the way they produce products, even Android is guilty of this. It's bad for the consumer, but great for the companies. I mean why create a solid product that stays current for at least a year when you can make devices obsolete after three months which in turn will guarantee that at least a greater percentage of consumers will repurchase the newest devices at a quicker pace. Whatever happened to companies providing what is best for the consumer and not what makes the most amount of money in the shorted amount of time!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Apple has kept a pretty consistent 1 year release schedule. Also why would you expect a company to lower their prices when they are selling their products as fast as they can? They arn't charities.
The new app is awesome. It offers many new features and flexability. Only one major problem for preexisting Android users. Now you have to pay to access over the internet while preexisting Apple users do not. http://support-splashtop2.splashtop.com/entries/21825816
*Update*
Seems they have deleted that post (or blocked me one or the other). Now they are offering 1 year free Access Anywhere to preexisting customers. Looks like there are a bunch of people that are upset https://play.google.com/store/apps/...yLDEsImNvbS5zcGxhc2h0b3AucmVtb3RlLnBhZC52MiJd
*Update 2*
I am satisfied with the resolution offered by Splashtop. Personally I think the added features make it the best remote client for Android.
Does the new app offer any significant changes? I only just got around to trying the one included with the Asus stuff, it's pretty neat.
Yes, usability is greatly improved.
1 Year Free Access Anywhere
Is anyone taking them up on the one year free offer?
Yatyas said:
Is anyone taking them up on the one year free offer?
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Click to collapse
I will if they change it to a "For life" deal, just like what they have for iOS users. Everyone should get onto the app page and give it one star, and post their disapproval all over Splashtop's page until the backlash makes them realize how wrong they were to pull this on us, and how bad this was for their reputation.
Is this year free deal only in the U.S? I don't see it anywhere in the description? In Canada btw.
Edit: see it now, its under any negative review. But honestly they should give us lifetime for free as well
hutty45 said:
Is this year free deal only in the U.S? I don't see it anywhere in the description? In Canada btw.
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Click to collapse
The year free is only if you had previously purchased Splashtop HD or THD. All new users (iOS or Android) have to pay for Access Anywhere. The offer was given in the user reviews on Google Play. It is their response to the backlash of existing customers.
Thank you for your feedback and support. We understand you have bought Splashtop HD. If you can send an email to [email protected] with your Splashtop ID and Gmail address used to purchase Splashtop HD, we will proceed to give you 1-year Anywhere Access Pack for free. Thank you again, Mark Splashtop CEO
hutty45 said:
But honestly they should give us lifetime for free as well
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Click to collapse
Exactly. We have to put the pressure one for 100% equal treatment for Android and iOS users alike, no compromises.
Make your voices heard on their FB page: http://www.facebook.com/Splashtop
Yatyas said:
The year free is only if you had previously purchased Splashtop HD or THD. All new users (iOS or Android) have to pay for Access Anywhere. The offer was given in the user reviews on Google Play. It is their response to the backlash of existing customers.
Thank you for your feedback and support. We understand you have bought Splashtop HD. If you can send an email to [email protected] with your Splashtop ID and Gmail address used to purchase Splashtop HD, we will proceed to give you 1-year Anywhere Access Pack for free. Thank you again, Mark Splashtop CEO
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks yah I see it now, didn't think to look in the in the reviews. And I own THD so I'm not pleased about having to pay again for this. Already left a review stating this. Thanks though!
Maybe I'm missing something but what is the big difference here?
I have Splashtop THD and the only thing I noticed different is that it offers pinch/zoom.
agentjonnyb said:
Exactly. We have to put the pressure one for 100% equal treatment for Android and iOS users alike, no compromises.
Make your voices heard on their FB page: http://www.facebook.com/Splashtop
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah! Equal treatment! We have to force them to make the app $2.99 on Android!
I would easily pay $2.99 to get a lifetime subscription like previous iOS customers get.
Instead, I get the app for free but have to pay $.99 per month or $9.99 per year once my free year is up.
Somehow they thought this was a good marketing plan?
They try to give reasons such as how in the iOS app store it was made as a replacement app so they are forced to give lifetime subs to previous customers. How is that now supposed to be OUR problem?
---------- Post added at 10:37 AM ---------- Previous post was at 10:20 AM ----------
hairdewx said:
I would easily pay $2.99 to get a lifetime subscription like previous iOS customers get.
Instead, I get the app for free but have to pay $.99 per month or $9.99 per year once my free year is up.
Somehow they thought this was a good marketing plan?
They try to give reasons such as how in the iOS app store it was made as a replacement app so they are forced to give lifetime subs to previous customers. How is that now supposed to be OUR problem?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
WOW.
It looks like they are burning the midnight oil. I sent an email at 1am PST and within 30 minutes they responded:
Thanks very much to be a loyal user. we do appreciate your continuous support.
We've enabled LIFETIME anywhere access for your account, enjoy!
it's really appreciated if you can rate us with 5 star.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It looks like they are starting to see why people are reacting so adversely. All we want is consistency.
I purchased Splashtop THD, have Splashtop HD that came with my ASUS TF201, and also have Splashtop Mobile purchased through the Amazon app store.
So I emailed them a few days ago, and they just responded saying they are giving me 2 years free. A little strange since some are getting lifetime, others a year, and I'm getting 2 years. But I'm ok with that, there will probably be a new version out before the 2 years is up anyways. So email them personally, they'll give you something.
They gave me lifetime as well. When they also explained that iOS users have to pay to download the app, it made more sense of how in the long run, the costs to both parties should be comparable. It seems that each new version would cost iOS users $$ to download, while our subscriptions guarantee us free downloads of any new versions that are released. It would be better however, if they can fix the problem and use the same exact model for both parties. Overall, I feel they are doing the best they can now with the difficulties presented to them, and hopefully it all get fixed soon.
Where do I find my Splashtop I'D?
Sent from my ASUS Transformer Pad TF700T using xda app-developers app
Chameleon Launcher for Tablets available in the market for $10.00. https://play.google.com/store/apps/...wsMSwxLDEwMiwiY29tLmNoYW1lbGVvbmxhdW5jaGVyIl0.
johnnyutah22 said:
Chameleon Launcher for Tablets available in the market for $10.00. https://play.google.com/store/apps/...wsMSwxLDEwMiwiY29tLmNoYW1lbGVvbmxhdW5jaGVyIl0.
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Man look at some of those reviews...I really want to like/try this app, but not for $10.00 at this stage. Maybe once they've worked out the issues. Definitely has potential.
guardzero said:
Man look at some of those reviews...I really want to like/try this app, but not for $10.00 at this stage. Maybe once they've worked out the issues. Definitely has potential.
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Click to collapse
For $10 its way over priced. The amount of widgets is so small that it doesn't justify the cost.
10 bucks, what is that?? All those overpricing comments makes me wonder, who are writing these comments..?
Who that can afford a prime, but not an app with the price of a frozen pizza?
Well I can honestly say that its worth it, yes the app is still going through its teething phase, its just come out of beta, but there's been some huge improvements since the beginning and their support has been top notch. I backed the project via Kick starter, hence I've been playing with it since the first beta release. A whole lot of new widgets are inbound very soon and I particularly like the "Make a widget" widget, it allows you to specify a particular URL to keep track of a particular website, this is excluding the browser specific widget that should be coming soon.
$10 might seem costly for an app, especially one that is still hasn't got all of its features yet, but definitely worth looking at in the near future when they've worked out all the kinks and added some more useful widgets
Sent from my GT-N7000 using xda premium
DarkWader said:
10 bucks, what is that?? All those overpricing comments makes me wonder, who are writing these comments..?
Who that can afford a prime, but not an app with the price of a frozen pizza?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It's not about being able to afford $10 bucks, but what you're getting for that $10 bucks. If an app isn't worth $10 bucks then it's not worth $10 bucks. The reviews speak for themselves about the quality of the experience you're getting for that $10 bucks. Like I said before it has potential to be worth that amount but currently it just isn't at this point. Barely cracking a 3 out of a 5 start rating when I can easily see many of the other launchers are offering a better experience (nova launcher, go launcher, apex launcher, etc) at a much lower price. Granted, none of those launcher are being as ambitious as the chameleon launcher is trying to be, but it's not an excuse to say this launcher is worth $10 at this level. I actually really liked the idea of chameleon launcher and still do. It's just not ready for prime time yet.
DarkWader said:
10 bucks, what is that?? All those overpricing comments makes me wonder, who are writing these comments..?
Who that can afford a prime, but not an app with the price of a frozen pizza?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Feel free to send me $10 then if its nothing to you. But seriously would you spend ten bucks to have all the widgets you already have for free? For my purposes I'm not going to spend 10 bucks for 1. a complete launcher replacement that doesnt have 3/4 of the widgets I currently use. 2. An incomplete product. If this was final and it had all the bells and whistles...fine, 10 bucks...take my money. But its not there yet.
Seriously you'd pay $10 for a frozen pizza? You sir do not know good pizza.
I think that a lot of the bad reviews are from when the app was initially put up on Play. It was available to the public, but it would only authenticate for people who had supported the project on Kickstarter. A lot of other people downloaded it and were pissed that they couldn't get it to work, even though it was clearly stated that it was only for the Kickstarter supporters.
Personally, I think it's got a bit of distance to cover before it is perfect, but it's totally usable at this point. I've been using it as my daily driver launcher for the past few days, and it's working great. The new widgets should be coming soon, and there are several developers working on additional widgets that will be available outside of the normal Chameleon pantheon.
ZebTheCalvinist said:
I think that a lot of the bad reviews are from when the app was initially put up on Play. It was available to the public, but it would only authenticate for people who had supported the project on Kickstarter. A lot of other people downloaded it and were pissed that they couldn't get it to work, even though it was clearly stated that it was only for the Kickstarter supporters.
Personally, I think it's got a bit of distance to cover before it is perfect, but it's totally usable at this point. I've been using it as my daily driver launcher for the past few days, and it's working great. The new widgets should be coming soon, and there are several developers working on additional widgets that will be available outside of the normal Chameleon pantheon.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If you sort the comments by date, you can see they mostly are from the last couple of days.
Sent from my HTC Sensation XE with Beats Audio using Tapatalk 2
Chameleon for Tablets is on sale in the market for $3.99 today, 60% off.
Sent from my Transformer Prime TF201 using Tapatalk 2
As an early backer I am pleased to see someone has finally seen some sense. IMO this is a fine launcher and totally unique in that it fully utilizes the real estate available to tablets like ours. It has big potential too in the way the widgets have been opened up to to community development.
Unfortunately, someone high up in their organization got greedy and launched a semi-finished product at a ridiculous price that was only ever going to generate negative feedback and few sales.
Let's hope it's not too late to rescue what is a very fine project.
PS a myth that really needs knocking on the head is the one that says it only works with its own widgets. This is just not true. For some time now Android widgets work just fine within the Chameleon framework :good:.
Aww..missed the sale
redslumber said:
Aww..missed the sale
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Click to collapse
No you haven't. It's at that price indefinitely :good:.
I bought this launcher at the new price to support the project as well.
This launcher does have a long way to go as compared with some of the free launchers available.
I do like the look but hope for more than just twelve chameleon widgets. Android widgets did work but don't always look right.
Sent from my PC36100 using Tapatalk 2
It looks great.. Much work to do..
Both the Twitter and Facebook widget should be improved. In the Twitter widget the tweets sometimes doesn't show (some does) before many seconds later. The text sometimes doubble up.
And in both those widgets it should be a option to post a tweet/meesage without starting, for me TweetCaster and the browser. It should also be able to see comments etc.
The Calender widget doesn't work for me??
And Android widget do work, but not properly as mention above..
Apart from this, it works fine. Get more widgets and improve those allready there..
Sent from my Transformer Prime TF201 using Tapatalk
:thumbup:
JUST My opinion
Chameleon videos where shown when they where trying to get people to donate to the project. Man I thought they where the bomb. I was really wanting to get my hands on it. Then we got what we paid for I couldn't believe it was so lamb! I felt like I had been taken! With all the updates that have been sent I have been hopeful every time and every time I have been disappointed. This is still one of the worst launchers on the market. I agree it has potential but now the update and changes have all but stopped. This app takes away the freedom to make the prime what you want and is only allowed to be what the developers want it to be. I know some will not like what I say but I paid the money and feel I have the right to speak on my experiences. So sorry if I offend you with my lame review but fact it they need to do ALLOT of work to make this thing passable. So bottom line don't buy it until you look at ALL reviews of it not just one.
Does the team still plan on updating? If so any hopes that it will live up to it's potential and hype?
for s4 I think I'll give it a go
after aboout two days i came to the realization that i just wasted 10 bucks. I uninstalled it. Hopefully their next project will be better since they have all our money to fund it.
As the title says, are in-app purchases as effective as I'd like to think they are?
As we're all fully aware, there are a lot of people around the internet who will do whatever they can to get a game or app that they shouldn't be able to.
Obviously developers have to make money when they choose to because otherwise they could be making a loss and not want to continue to develop any more. What is their best option to make money?
1) They could have a price on their app/game but once paid for, no more money will need to be spent in the app/game.
2) They could use the popular method of creating a free version and a paid version.
3) Have the app/game free of charge but have in-app purchases to make some money from it.
There are of course downsides to each of the options above but in my mind, the best option is 3) because it's not as easy to be able to get around the paying system. The only way around, that I can currently think of, would be by using cheat systems such as GameCih.
Whereas with the other 2 options, it's fairly easy to be able to bypass the required payment.
A perfect example of in-app purchases working is with Shadowgun Deadzone.
If the app had not been free, chances are I wouldn't have been interested in it because I couldn't test it before buying.
As the game is free, I tested the game out and because I thoroughly enjoy the game, I've since bought in game gold numerous times and will continue to do so.
I know that not everyone will have the same mentality as me but it proves, in my case, that in-app purchases work.
What are your thoughts on in-app purchases or what do you feel are the benefits of simply putting a price on the app/game?
From my experience, In App Billing is really good.
In my truck parking game, 3D Truck Parking, there are about 4 level packs for free and 1 that you have to buy with IAB. I must say that I got a lot of purchases daily!
IAB is better, you don't have to maintain two different versions, its easy to set up. Also users can't cancel an order they make through IAB & its linked to their accounts. On a normal paid app you can copy the apk and cancel the order, making it easy to steal.
When i started to work with android app i did two version free and paid. Now i'm sure that it's wrong. One free application with in-app payments is the best choise.
Question
Hi Guys!
I'm writing my academic thesis about the market of the app stores and I would like to interview some developers about the monetization, revenue models etc... If you could answer some questions please contact me at [email protected] It would be a great help! Thank you very much!
Freemium and IAB
Hi,
I believe Freemium is a good model for many apps, specially games.
And IAB is the best option to support the Freemium model, to my experience.
I tried other options such as free app with paid apk acting as an unlock key, which is a quite popular model on the Play Store, but not as powerful and flexible as IAB.
So I would really recommend IAB, specially latest version 3 which is easier to use.
Make sure you use the helper class provided by Google, but be careful, there are a few bugs in it...Look for fixes in stackoverflow !
Good luck!
Eric
I can certainly say I wish I had implemented in app purchasing instead of a free and paid version of the same app. As mentioned before, the ease of not having to maintain two versions, as well as the advantage of free app entry is a big plus. Definitely the way to go if the app is designed in a way that makes sense for that style.
In-apps are gr8, the only problem is that the app must be developed rly good (if not excelent i.e. nice in-game economy) to encurage ppl to use them. Freemium FTW!
I would love to move to IAB but I already have a paid/free app combo in the store. That would just be another app to maintain
Sent from my Nexus 4 using xda app-developers app
Just to say, Google Play bans ALL apps with in-app purchase here.
Besides, I can't but any apps in GP.
What a shame, Google.
F2P is here to stay
When you look at the top grossing list on both Google Play and iTunes you will see that, in fact, free-to-play titles make more money than paid titles. Of course, market for premium titles will still exist, especially for high-quality utility apps but in games F2P is dominating and, I think, this trend will continue.
As you experienced yourself, this model is super-convenient for players, you can test a game and, if interested, pay for additional items, etc. The only one thing which is tricky is keeping balance, ie. not making a game pay-to-win.
Last but not least, it's so much more exciting from a dev perspective to have 1 million of players enjoying your title than 10k Making money of them is yet another matter.
As a user I still like the idea of purchasing an app once and using it for as long as I like, but maybe I'm getting old...
I don't like the pay2play model, for example in real racing 3 you can only race a couple of rounds and then your car needs maintenance. This maintenance takes just long enough to hate it, but with in game coins you can make it happen instantly, which you can buy with real money.
The same goes for buying new cars: you don't make a lot of money racing so buying a new car takes ages (if you don't pay for quick maintenance that is) but you can again buy credits with real money to make it faster.
This probably makes for a continious money flow for the developers, but it annoys me; I would much rather just pay once and then play forever, and after that maybe pay some more for some dlc or something, but i don't like paying just to keep playing...
I don't mind what model developer choose. But I'm really disappointed by the lack of proper filters in Google Play. Free and Payed is not enough! It's cheating that demo or IAB applications are listed together with really free applications. There should be at least third category, which would gather demo, IAB etc apps - apps that aren't fully free. I would also love to have "open source" category.
Google's IAB is simple to implement in the app/game, but it has a huge disadvantage: if no server verification was implemented, then it is very easy to automatically hack IAB, there are many hacking tools available. Server verification is not an easy to implement. At least, a dedicated server is needed + experience in server programming.
IAP is good, but takes work
I have deployed apps with both IAP as well as the free/paid model.
IAP allows a single app with combined ratings and DL count (and free apps get more casual attention)
IAP takes more work - code, testing, and setup in portal
Paid apps on different app stores are easy. IAP solutions from each app store are not compatible with each other.
I plan to use IAP as the primary model on my next app (as well as ads), with no paid version. We'll see how that goes. I decided to try subscriptions, which is a tougher sell.
For a first app, however, the free/paid model may be much easier for many devs. Just hit a switch to show the no-ad layout (or whatever other features the paid version has) and dump the separate apk up on Google Play.
BTW I blog on ad networks and Android app stores at http://www.projectjourneyman.com. I created a report with charts showing my experience with a paid app as well as a free app w/IAP on Amazon and Google Play (plus paid app on Nook). Getting it signs you up to my email newsletter, but you can unsubscribe right away if you want
As a user I agree with an earlier poster that a once off fee for a full featured product is the most satisfying.
The biggest problem is IAP is that it needs to be very well implemented and generally this is not the case. More often than not it becomes a pay to win scenario which is just silly.
Too many games entice you to make a payment and then you feel you've been robbed as there was little value in the purchase.
I understand it is a good business model to get money from your hard work as a developer but personally I find it almost unethical. It becomes a little like gambling where games are addictive and require you to keep feeding in money to continue playing. This is not dissimilar to the pokie machines (aka slot machines) which are a very political issue here in Australia. I can imagine this pricing model in mobile games also becoming a political issue for similar reason if it is not self regulated by developers.
Also, hacking IAP apps is often pretty easy to do to avoid payment so this model is not immune to piracy.
Developers who depend on freemium might find their market drying up when their customers finally realize it's really a scam.
Im sorry for putting it this way but it's more honest to say so.
Freemiums are making money right now because of new smartphone owners who dont know any better.
But just like kids growing up, they will realize its better to buy outright a game than to keep throwing money into a game to get in game items just to play it well. It becomes pretty expensive later on.
The gold rush isnt going to last.
Here's my 2p's worth as a consumer, not a developer. The Freemium model is OK if its implemented correctly. Hill Climb Racing and Jetpack Joyride are two examples of what I believe to be decent titles. They're both so well made I have ended up spending real money on them both, not because I had to in order to progress or complete them (I'm looking at you Glu Games) but because I enjoyed the titles so much I wanted to play faster and support the developers. As for Real Racing 3, well I've got all the cars fully upgraded and I've never given EA a f***ing penny, nor will I.
There are limits.
I personally love the free / paid app model and almost all the tools and system apps I now use or have used were free versions I found invaluable and subsequently paid for. Hell, I've even bought 'Donate' versions that are exactly the same (Orux Maps) purely because the apps are that good.
Ultimately if people want to steal your work they'll find a way. Theft isn't going anywhere. But neither is the desire to reward decent work that is genuinely good value. I guess the way to get paid is to strive to create something of value.
bong4316 said:
Developers who depend on freemium might find their market drying up when their customers finally realize it's really a scam.
Im sorry for putting it this way but it's more honest to say so.
Freemiums are making money right now because of new smartphone owners who dont know any better.
But just like kids growing up, they will realize its better to buy outright a game than to keep throwing money into a game to get in game items just to play it well. It becomes pretty expensive later on.
The gold rush isnt going to last.
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I do not agree, not all games use aggressive freemium model to milk the money from the users. In-app purchases are often used to buy additional unnecessary content (for example, extra levels) or to remove ads (because all free games are supported by ads). So the game just gives users a choice: either live with ads, or convert game into ads-free version.
nishyt said:
IAB is better, you don't have to maintain two different versions, its easy to set up. Also users can't cancel an order they make through IAB & its linked to their accounts. On a normal paid app you can copy the apk and cancel the order, making it easy to steal.
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totally agree! IAP is much better!