It’s not easy for mobile app developers. The Play Store is filled with millions of apps to compete with, and most of them are free. However, even though I have a lot of free apps to choose from, I’m happy to pay for a lot of the ones I like, and I enjoy my phone a lot more because of it.
o
I will gladly pay to remove ads
Ads in apps are very annoying
Creating software is not free. Someone has to give their time to create the software we love, and they deserve to be paid for their work. On phones and tablets, many are turning to advertising as the most promising way to make a profit.
I get it, but as a user, I’ve never seen an ad implementation that I didn’t find very difficult. I do not tolerate banner ads at the top or bottom of the app. It’s an intolerable evil needed on the web, where websites mimic the designs of ad-supported newspapers. Software is a different story. I don’t allow advertising to take the place of any interface that I need to interact with regularly.
Pop-up video ads are even worse. I don’t understand how anyone can sit through a ten second ad before sending a document or converting an MP3. Even if I was a broke teenager without access to a credit card, I would have considered this unacceptable and looked for another option, which is how I discovered the wide world of free and open source software. Most mobile advertising today feels user-friendly, designed to be more annoying than people are willing to accept.
If the app I’m looking for has an option to pay to remove ads, I do so immediately, even if I don’t get any other features in the process.
Paying often offers my favorite features
There are many paid apps that I wouldn’t want to do without
Many paid apps come with a free version. Some are trials, while others are free forever but do not have certain features. I tend to trust these systems, as they talk about their business model. Many require payment to bring features that I care deeply about, and I’m happy to pay to get that functionality.
Consider PenCake, the app I’m writing these words on, using the S Pen on my Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 6. Most of the functionality is available for free, but I need a premium version to fit my specifications automatically. As a writer, making sure I don’t lose anything I’ve written if a device crashes or my phone dies is a very important part that deserves a few bucks.
The same is true of the image editing software I use regularly for my work. I paid for Screen Master to have a tool that draws red arrows and combines screenshots. Paying for FolderSync allows me to sync as many folders as I want whenever I connect my phone to an external SSD. MobiOffice is a fully functional office, or at least functional enough to do anything I need to do that I already can’t do on Samsung Data.
I want better apps to come to Android
Play Store can be a more interesting place
I prefer Android to iOS and always have, but it’s a simple fact that the Apple App Store has a strong app market. Part of this is due to how much easier it is to develop apps for a single phone line than the wide variety that Android phones come in. Part of this also has to do with the fact that iPhone users tend to pay for accessories. These two things taken together mean that a developer can release an app for iPhones with less time commitment while making more money.
I want well-designed, well-polished, and updated apps to come to Android. For that to happen, developers must expect to be able to make a living by focusing on Android. That means most of us have to show that we’re willing to buy those devices when they arrive. Opening the homepage of the Play Store can reveal a lot more than the most popular brands currently filling the space. I’m looking for other apps like Niagara Launcher that really show the passion their developers put into designing software specifically for Android.
Android apps are amazing deals
You can get a lot done on an Android device for a lot of money
Android apps are cheap compared to desktop software. Adobe currently wants more than $455 a year for the desktop version of Lightroom, while the Android version costs just $49 for the same period. I could save even more money by looking for an alternative like Photo Studio Pro, which would cost me a one-time fee of $50 if it wasn’t part of my Google Play Pass subscription. $50 may sound like a lot for a mobile device, but it’s a lot of money for the software I use to edit the images I upload online. Usually, that’s just a simple crop, but the tool also makes it easy to do complex tasks.
Since I use Samsung DeX, mobile apps are desktop apps for me. The same goes for anyone who downloads apps from the Play Store on their Chromebook. Comparatively, this is a cheap way to read once you adjust your expectations.
I don’t pay for every tool – sometimes I don’t need some features, and the registration fatigue is real. But more often than not, I prefer a paid Play Store app over a free one, and I’m happy to open my wallet.
#paying #Android #apps #free #version