Do you buy (pay for) apps?

I buy apps. Across multiple platforms. IF (and thats a bigg if) it is worth my hard earned REAL money, for digital content. First thing I bought on xbox live? Map pack for Lost Planet. On my android device? Robo Defense. What was the deciding factor in both purchases? Content. Awesomeness of the base, bare-bones product.

Pure. Point. Blank.

I cheerfully pay upfront for useful or entertaining apps, though apps that have the slightest hint of depending on repeat in-app purchase make me instinctively head straight to the uninstall button without further thought.

But I doubt I'd pay for a trivia app. If I want a trivia fix, I can browse Wikipedia or a fan website. I'm trying to give a useful response here, not come across as rude. I'm sure you put work into the app and there's interesting stuff (for a CSI fan, which I'm not) in it.

I've paid for more than a few apps. Part of what makes Android awesome is the fact that there are loads of quality devs who spend their time creating apps to make a phone more than a phone. Quite a few others agree: http://androidforums.com/android-lounge/405054-how-many-apps-have-you-bought.html

I'd never mark an app down because of in app ads, I realise devs have to make a living somehow. I'll even click an ad every now and then if there's not a paid version of the app available. I've certainly no aversion to paying for apps either.

My only gripe would be the 15 minute refund window, it's nowhere near long enough.

Tom Highway said:

I am in a dilemma. [...] I've heard that Android folks don't buy apps. [...]

Click to expand...

Yeah, probably from the same folks that tell you Obama is a muslim and was never born in the USA...

Your own little research here shows 40% do buy apps. That translates – over the thumb – into 80/90 million prospective buyers for your Android apps...!

So I wouldn't worry about the market potential per s

I've bought a few apps (and made my employer pay for Navigon), but I don't buy that many.

For every paid app there are usually many good free alternatives, and a nice feature of the Android Market is that developers of paid apps are forced to advertise the free competition right on their own market page. Just scroll down to the "related apps" section of a paid app to find the free alternatives.


I don't rate apps bad if their ads behave well, which means that they should deliver an unobtrusive, non-animated banner that does NOT try to read my phone number, IMEI, or location. Ad servers can figure out what country I'm in by looking at my IP address, and that should be detailed enough for advertising purposes. Anything beyond that goes too far. Abusing IMEIs as undeletable tracking cookies that you can't opt out of is unacceptable.

If an app uses Airpush to deliver notification bar ads I'll throw a 1* rating at 'em and shout "WARNING! MALWARE!!!" in my market comment.


If you're worried that ads in your app will p1ss of your target audience, why not include a donate button or an offline banner to advertise the paid version of your own apps?

I buy apps. Most of the ones i want are pay for. If they worked well on Palm, that's an added incentive
Most of the good astronomy apps are pay for.
On the Kyros 7024 I'm stuck. I can't access market, and Amazon doesn't have what I want. Those
are the only places I'll pay as I have accounts.

Yep I like to support the devs so if theres an app out that I use I buy it

Trivia seems to me to be more of a niche app? You just need to get it to the attention of people who like those type of apps (but for trivia, dont ask me how!)

I will buy an app if there are no good free alternatives available, but I have to see some pretty spectacular reviews before I will go above a buck. Especially independent write-ups. The 15 minute refund period is really a joke - you can't evaluate much in that time. A free demo would definitely make me feel better about a purchase, even if it is hobbled in some way or dies in a few days.

Trivia app? Anyone can Google that.

You need to be unique with an app to earn a lot of money.

I like the option of paying for it if I like it. Take a test car out for an hour or so before I buy it - or not, with an android 1$ app - I have 15 mins to make up my mind - yer avin a laff mate

So sure, give me an ad version first, it may take me a day or a week or so to test it, but if I like it & use it I will go back and buy it if there is a paid ad free version available.

Titanium Backup is the perfect example for me, free it does what is says on the tin, Pro paid for and it does more - spot on.

Yes, I pay for apps. I want developers to support my platform of choice, so I like to support them. I just bought a pair of games this weekend, fwiw. What I look for is quality, value, and usefulness. If it's something I'll use regularly, you'll almost always get my cash. If it sucks (qualitatively), I'll likely find an alternative in short order. Being responsive helps as well (fixing bugs, adding features, or just helping me if I'm having trouble with something); I've bought apps on that alone.

I buy apps. Even have donated for one (Screen Lock & Off). I like to try an app before I buy so hopefully there is a lite or demo or add supported version. I may even try something I am not sure if I like. Reviews are not good enough.

Robo Defense is a good example. I like simultations, so when I got my Droid the first game I bought was X-Plane and went though the trouble of getting GTA: Racing Academy direct from Gameloft (was not offered in the Android Market when I got it). Robo Defense has a lite version, and it is always listed in the top paid apps. Tried it, bought it and it is now my most used game. Without a lite version, I would never have thought of buying this game. Same with Swiftkey. I have a nice HTC built keyboard on my phone. Tried the Beta, realized how much better it was than what I had and bought it.

I am thinking about buying ProHDR, but without a demo version, I probably wont since I do not know if it will work well.

I also prefer an add free option. I would rather pay for an app than get fed adds. Data is not free.

There are some apps I would not pay for, mainly because someone offers a free add-free alternative. I used to use eBuddy, but really only to access FB chat. My main messaging app is GTalk. Lately, they put adds and I have the option to use emo or the FB app itself. Now I just use the FB app to access FB chat. So look around and see what similar apps are in the market and whether they are paid or free.

As already posted earlier, well I too would not buy a trivia app, but that is just me and I am not a heavy app buyer. I have seven paid apps on my phone. But also, I do use an HTC phone with HTC Sense which has some paid apps, or alternatives to paid apps, bundled for "free". If I was on vanilla Android I think the number of apps I have purchased would have double at least.

Good luck.

I have bought several apps after testing/trying their free version. I als have free version apps I would hapily pay for if a payed version comes out.

I respect the effort devs put into making apps and I'm happy to pay for a good app.