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back to article Apple decrees free iPhone apps can sell stuff

Apple is now permitting free iPhone apps to peddle their own stuff. Previously, the Cupertino cult only allowed "In App Purchases" if third-party developers put a price tag on their iPhone applications. With In App Purchases, third-party devs can sell content, subscriptions, and digital services directly from their iPhone (and …

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  1. Sarah Baucom
    Thumb Up

    About Time

    The need to release two separate apps was annoying. Now not only do you only need to do one release, customers can buy the full version of a demo from within the demo instead of having to buy it separately, possibly losing whatever data they had in the light version.

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  2. Anonymous Coward
    Unhappy

    The death of the fully-featured free app

    Just give away the bare bones for free and then charge to your heart's content for all the innards.

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  3. raving angry loony

    goodbye Apple

    screw Apple. From completely unnecessary changes to pinouts and physical layout of the ports that completely broke existing iPod accessories, to their continued crippling of decent hardware to satisfy overinflated egos of certain marketing idiots, Apple has not only jumped the shark, it married it.

    It is the only company I know that puts out decent hardware, then deliberately and maliciously cripples it. Other manufacturers try to squeeze every erg or performance from their kit, Apple has been busy making sure that nobody, anywhere can use the kit the way the hardware designers meant it to be used. From disallowing background apps (except for Apple apps, of course) to their asinine app approval "procedures", all I can say is: fuck you Apple.

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  4. Sarah Baucom
    Stop

    @The death of the fully-featured free app

    What makes you think that? It's not like there was no way for developers to charge for apps before. This won't end free apps at all. As a developer I'm still planing on releasing some free, some paid apps. Apps for the computer have long had the ability to have a single app that is a free demo, then enter a registration code to make it the full version, and it hasn't stopped freeware from being released. This is basically the same thing - an ability to have one app that is both demo and full version, rather than having to have two entirely separate releases. Free apps will still be there.

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  5. magnetik

    @raving angry loony

    "It is the only company I know that puts out decent hardware, then deliberately and maliciously cripples it"

    Deliberately? Sure, sometimes. For example my iMac's DVD writer is capable of faster write speeds than Apple set it to. A hacked firmware improved my write speeds. They do that for reliability reasons, just as a car manufacturer puts in a rev limiter to make engines last longer.

    Maliciously? That's ridiculous, but what else could be expected of a "raving angry loony".

    Amazing how some people can get so worked up about a product.

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  6. Eric Hood

    changes

    @loony 23:19 GMT

    You should realise that Apple gave the accessory makers three years warning before removing the firewire ports on everything except the classic.

    If they chose not to listen then too bad.

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  8. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    @The death of the fully-featured free app

    Not necessarily going to kill free apps, however if you have an app setup where you can input a cdkey to get the full version, app cdkey will start showing up online.

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  9. Chris Pearson

    Top 100 free with paid unlock

    So will there be a top 100 free but then paid unlock listing now? Otherwise the top free/paid listings mean nothing.

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  10. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    @raving angry loony

    Stick to the Daily mail mate...

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  11. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    @raving angry loony

    Could not have said it better.

    The last of my mac's is slowly dying and will never be replaced. Found new life in W7 and affordable hardware. When was the last time you upgraded the CPU, motherboard, memory and decent video card on a Mac for under £300?

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  12. Eeep !
    FAIL

    @magnetik

    I have a single speed bicycle for sale - yes, I know there are 5 sprockets things on the rear wheel but the control cable is cut and tied to the saddle for YOUR SAFETY.

    There are other bicycle owners who are using the same high quality 5 sprockets to save time and effort, so should you desire you can get extra tools and tinker to get full use of the gear system - saving you effort and time. But you would be voiding all and any guarantees and warranties offered.

    And just possibly: Because the 5 sprocket system was designed and built for average 'use patterns' you may be reducing the expected life of the gear system by only using one sprocket when travelling to wherever you are trying to reach. I have no information on that but the price does include a contingency.

    Remember, all limitations and price differentials are for your own good :)

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  13. Anonymous Coward
    Jobs Horns

    Woohoo.

    Oh the joy.. Now you'll be able to tell exactly who has a jeebus phone by the sounds of the ads popping on screen in their pockets (that is when they aren't posing around with it)

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  14. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Re: Top 100 free with paid unlock

    Nope they're keeping it as it stands. I'm glad at least one other person here can see the resulting chaos coming.

    This has nothing to do with what's best for the customer - Apple aren't listening to the customers.

    They're listening to devs, who complain about everything and demand more. They seem to be running out of ideas...

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  15. TeeCee Gold badge
    Jobs Horns

    @raving angry loony

    The shark will only have been jumped good 'n proper when the usable lifespan of a car/fridge/television/toaster/hot-water-bottle is dictated by when Apple update the iPod dock, rendering the one in that car/(etc) obsolete....

    This level of mind-numbing stupidity coming soon to a world near you.

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  16. magnetik
    FAIL

    @Eeep

    What a ridiculous analogy, one big fat FAIL !

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  17. Anonymous Coward
    Welcome

    There was a way around this previously...

    If you had a free-only version, you simply created a pay version of the same app(or several pay version as in the case of most zynga apps), and then let the free users download one of the pay versions for free... thus giving them the ability to purchase content in-app by promotional proxy.

    i think apple saw that dev's that profit from in app purchases (ZYNGA) doing this with all of their content, and it flooded the app store with stupid crap like "20 mafia war points" "300K poker chips" and this will help clean up that mess, and do what smart dev had already done for their free users.

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