Does android allow purchase of an app once per family, like iPhone?

[Gai-jin]

With an iPhone, if your family shares the same computer/itunes account, you share access to all of the same mp3's, videos, and apps you've bought from itunes. Obviously I could put the same mp3's on my phone and my wife's manually, but what about apps? Is it possible to buy the app once for a family, or does android require paying for each person seperately?

 

[Poloki]

I don't think so. Anything I bought has been tied to my gmail account that the market gets directly from my phone. So if I were to try to download it from my wife's phone, I would have to buy it again.

I suppose I could enter my email address from her phone, but then it would probably sync and cause all sorts of issues. Not to mention that when I put her address back on, the app probably won't work.

 

[Gai-jin]

Hmm... Okay. That's definitely one for the 'Con' column then. We're looking at switching from iphones to android based phones, and multiplying the cost of every app by 3 or 4 would add a lot to the cost of android.

Thanks for the fast response.

 

[UncleMike]

Is this sharing of apps an intended feature or just a side effect? I can't imagine developers would be too crazy about this. Do developers have any choice in the matter?

 

[shawn1224]

You could share 1 main gmail account for apps and then each of you could separately sync another one for your personal use.

I have like 2 or 3 android phones using the same gmail account (I sim card swap) and never had any problems.

 

[Gai-jin]

Is this sharing of apps an intended feature or just a side effect? I can't imagine developers would be too crazy about this. Do developers have any choice in the matter?

Oh, it's definitely intended. It's been that way ever since apple introduced the app store, and the TOS explicitly allow installing on multiple devices.

 

[Gai-jin]

You could share 1 main gmail account for apps and then each of you could separately sync another one for your personal use.

I was thinking about this, but didn't know if it would work. Can you have one email associated with the android market and a seperate email used for gmail, calendar, google voice, etc?

 

[shawn1224]

I was thinking about this, but didn't know if it would work. Can you have one email associated with the android market and a seperate email used for gmail, calendar, google voice, etc?

Yes, as long as you don't populate the master account you intend to use for apps with anything else. Just use it as a generic account and sync separate accounts for gmail, calender and contacts.

 

[AFAngryWarrior]

Oh, it's definitely intended. It's been that way ever since apple introduced the app store, and the TOS explicitly allow installing on multiple devices.

Soo.. how does Apple define "Family" in the TOS? I could have the same APP on 25 phones and they wouldnt care? I mean how do they determine its not the Duggar family from 19 kids and counting or just my family of 3?

 

[Gai-jin]

It doesn't actually say 'family'. It says up to 5 devices, and in another area says 'devices owned by you'.

EDIT: More specifically:

(i) You may download and sync a Product for personal, noncommercial use on any device You own or control.

(iii) You shall be able to store App Store Products from up to five different Accounts at a time on compatible iOS-based devices.

(iv) You shall be able to store App Store Products on five iTunes-authorized devices at any time.

 

[Gai-jin]

Well, thanks for the feedback guys. I think I'm going to go ahead and order a few hero phones for the family. (I'm very happy with our iphones, but need to cut the monthly bill! Sprint's unlimited data per account instead of per phone should help.)

I'll try setting up multiple phones with one main email address as suggested.

 

[grainysand]

Why the Hero, specifically? It's an awfully dated phone.

 

[Gai-jin]

Why the Hero, specifically? It's an awfully dated phone.

I'm limited to phones available on Sprint, since Verizon is no cheaper than AT&T, and iWireless (the local T-Mobile affiliate) has horrible coverage, since I live sort of on the edge of their market area. US Cellular would also be an option, but adding in the cost of a data plan for each line again means that it wouldn't be worth switching from AT&T.

The Hero is a penny phone on amazon right now. The intercept is too, but I keep reading that the hero is a better quality phone, even considering the age. I don't mind paying for a better phone, but don't see any better phones offered that don't require an additional monthly cost.

As I understand it, either the EVO or the Epic require an additional $10/mo fee for each line. That negates much of the cost savings over AT&T.

 

[turbosol16]

Get yourself an EVO, give the rest of your family Hero's. I wouldn't buy a hero tbh but I also don't have to pay for phones for my family which can get really expensive.

 

[Gai-jin]

I have a droid my work provides, I just haven't ever really used it. It sits on my desk with call forwarding on to my personal phone. With the change over, I"ll start using the droid, the rest of the family will use hero's.

 

[jev]

You won't be disappointed. Even though the hero is a somewhat older model, it's still a very good phone. And with stock 2.1 running on it, it's not really outdated.

Having said that, you can always put FroydVillain or another Froyo port on it; works like a charm!

 

[Gai-jin]

Glad to hear it. Although, yesterday's announcement of new sprint phones does give me pause. 3 phones, all reasonably priced, and I assume since they're not 4G phones they won't have the extra $10/line/month fee. (Of course, since they say the fee isn't for 4G, it's hard to say for sure)

The LG Optimus and the Samsung Transform both look like good options. I'm not too sure about the Sanyo Zio. Now it comes down to weighing the cost of the new phones, wait time until release, and features of the new phones, compared to the Hero.

Looks like the Transform will be available Sunday, at $250 - $100 rebate. I wonder if 3rd parties like amazon or wirefly will have it right away at $150 or so without having to mess with the MIR?

The LG is cheaper, at $150 - $100 rebate, but won't be available until the end of the month. Not a horribly long time, unless you're an ADD guy waiting for a new toy. . .

 

[uzetaab]

If you already have an android device available, my advice would be to start using it before forking out any money for more phones.

Don't get me wrong, I love, I mean love my android phone, but it has some quirks that put a few people off, especially iphone users.

 

[Roze]

The LG Optimus and the Samsung Transform both look like good options. I'm not too sure about the Sanyo Zio. Now it comes down to weighing the cost of the new phones, wait time until release, and features of the new phones, compared to the Hero.

The LG is cheaper, at $150 - $100 rebate, but won't be available until the end of the month. Not a horribly long time, unless you're an ADD guy waiting for a new toy. . .

From my experience with LG, the quality of their phones are crap. Also, they are VERY slow with updating the OS, this might be a carrier issue, but just want to point it out for you. Right now the LG Eve in Canada is still waiting for its 1.6 update

 

[takeshi]

It doesn't actually say 'family'. It says up to 5 devices, and in another area says 'devices owned by you'.

EDIT: More specifically:

(i) You may download and sync a Product for personal, noncommercial use on any device You own or control.

(iii) You shall be able to store App Store Products from up to five different Accounts at a time on compatible iOS-based devices.

(iv) You shall be able to store App Store Products on five iTunes-authorized devices at any time.

IANAL but I doubt "you" and "your family" are considered the same thing.

 

[Gai-jin]

IANAL but I doubt "you" and "your family" are considered the same thing.

Semantics, perhaps, but If all phones are purchased by one person, and active on one account, billed to that same person, then I don't see how anyone could say the phones aren't owned and/or controlled by that person.

 

[Draiko]

Glad to hear it. Although, yesterday's announcement of new sprint phones does give me pause. 3 phones, all reasonably priced, and I assume since they're not 4G phones they won't have the extra $10/line/month fee. (Of course, since they say the fee isn't for 4G, it's hard to say for sure)

The LG Optimus and the Samsung Transform both look like good options. I'm not too sure about the Sanyo Zio. Now it comes down to weighing the cost of the new phones, wait time until release, and features of the new phones, compared to the Hero.

Looks like the Transform will be available Sunday, at $250 - $100 rebate. I wonder if 3rd parties like amazon or wirefly will have it right away at $150 or so without having to mess with the MIR?

The LG is cheaper, at $150 - $100 rebate, but won't be available until the end of the month. Not a horribly long time, unless you're an ADD guy waiting for a new toy. . .

The $10 per phone premium is well worth it for superphones like the Evo and the Epic especially if you live in a 4G area.

 

[Gai-jin]

The $10 per phone premium is well worth it for superphones like the Evo and the Epic especially if you live in a 4G area.

I don't see 4G hitting my area anytime soon. Plus, I don't care for the $10 fee just on principle, since sprint won't actually tell you what you get for it.

Besides that, if I'm going to pay an extra $10 per line each month, then sprint isn't any cheaper than at&T. I'd be better off keeping my iphones.