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Problems on the Galaxy Store

forum.developer.samsung.com

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Re: Problems on the Galaxy Store

#51

Post by margorczynski »

vcg3rd wrote: post #41
CaptainZapp wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Well, there's the I Am Rich app[0], which essentially did nothing and cost US$999.99. The crux was, however, that the developer was totally upfront about what you got for the price and apparently there still were douchebags around forking over the cash to buy "status". Apple yanked the app due to the publicity. Which I thought was wrong. It didn't violate any App store rules and it was honest and up front in the desc…

I usually go with stupid before malevolent, but is this a possible way to launder money? Just have a really hard time believing people are that stupid.

How would you launder money with this approach? The amount of downloads/purchases is verifiable as the whole flow of money from buyer to seller. If I sell it 10 times (10 downloads and 10 wire transactions that cover them) how do I put the unaccounted money into the system?

Re: Problems on the Galaxy Store

#52

Post by freedomben »

pockybum522 wrote: post #31
ishanjain28 wrote: post #28

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Play store still has this and the return window is 15 minutes. A refund button will appear on the application page in play store if you uninstall the app within the 15 minute period after purchasing. Apple on the other hand unfortunately has nothing like that. If you want refund, You have to go through the hassle of creating a ticket and they may refuse to refund for whatever reason.

15 minutes is such a strange period. "Hey sorry if this is a complex app you might get through most of setting it up. Good luck"

Agreed. I think they started it because people would grab a paid app for a one-time need and then return it after using. I saw this happen a couple times with an app that identified plants from a picture, another that scanned and removed apps that show full-screen ads, and a couple others, so the use case makes sense.

But still I think it's a mistake because 15 mins is not enough time to know if the app is going to work. Sometimes it takes that long just to get the damn thing installed! Especially if on a mobile connection or the app is big. I once got screwed because I bought an app that didn't work on my device, but I couldn't find out within 15 minutes because my storage was too full and the Play store refused to install it until I cleared out more room. It took a while to go through all my stuff and back them up to the cloud, so by the time I actually got the app installed and found out it didn't work, it had been 20 minutes or so. Now I'm very hesitant.

Re: Problems on the Galaxy Store

#53

Post by freedomben »

criley2 wrote: post #34
jdietrich wrote: post #22

I can't comment on the competence (or otherwise) of the Galaxy Store review process, but charging up-front for a mobile app is nearly always a mistake. You'll nearly always do better with a "free" app and one or more in-app purchases to unlock the full functionality, even if the "free" version is a very limited demo. I know that some people are instinctively repulsed by such a model, but there are good reasons why us…

The reason I dislike this is because it will always be a free app. I say that in the sense that they will include tracking and advertising and even if you "pay to remove" you have no real guarantee. It's better to have a paid app that does not have the code/permissions required to even engage in advertising and tracking in this way. Preferably the paid app doesn't even have IAP at all. Looking through the Google Play…

Yes exactly. I rarely even look at free apps anymore, unless I don't see anything paid that looks good. I've also had trouble getting "purchase restored" on apps that I paid through IAP so I don't trust it anymore. I would much, much rather just pay up front.

Re: Problems on the Galaxy Store

#54

Post by wokwokwok »

jdietrich wrote: post #22

I can't comment on the competence (or otherwise) of the Galaxy Store review process, but charging up-front for a mobile app is nearly always a mistake. You'll nearly always do better with a "free" app and one or more in-app purchases to unlock the full functionality, even if the "free" version is a very limited demo. I know that some people are instinctively repulsed by such a model, but there are good reasons why us…

> but there are good reasons why users prefer it

I think it is vastly disingenuous to suggest that the ads and spyware in most free apps are somehow “good for the user”.

These are simply economic realities that are forced on app developers, because the market place for paid sustainable apps has been mostly destroyed by free alternatives.

These days good apps are almost without exception either a) subsidised by a major corporate (eg. Insta) or b) paid (eg. Procreate). Free apps are mostly exploitative spam, hunting for whales to sustain the developers.

Re: Problems on the Galaxy Store

#55

Post by JimDabell »

margorczynski wrote: post #51
vcg3rd wrote: post #41

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I usually go with stupid before malevolent, but is this a possible way to launder money? Just have a really hard time believing people are that stupid.

How would you launder money with this approach? The amount of downloads/purchases is verifiable as the whole flow of money from buyer to seller. If I sell it 10 times (10 downloads and 10 wire transactions that cover them) how do I put the unaccounted money into the system?

Buy App Store gift cards for cash.

Re: Problems on the Galaxy Store

#56

Post by lopkeny12ko »

What is the issue here? App store-level enforcement that apps be reasonably priced? How is that bad? This sounds like a net win for consumers. It's already frustrating enough dealing with developers charging through the roof for garbage products.

Re: Problems on the Galaxy Store

#57

Post by toss1 »

jshen wrote: post #48
talkingtab wrote: post #35

App stores are an example of corporate stupidity. If you really want a successful phone product, good apps will do it for you. But since the benefit is indirect, corporations are unable to make the correct decision - they go for the easy money. It used to be that customers had enough leverage to provide incentives to corporations to make better decisions. But in their wisdom, corporations have decided that they are b…

Revenue is the ultimate customer feedback, but it's a lagging indicator.

Not only is it a lagging indicator, it can also be skewed in hundreds of different ways, and can indicate many things other than value (e.g., degree of lock-in/monopoly, etc.).

Re: Problems on the Galaxy Store

#58

Post by crote »

TheRoque wrote: post #42
Wowfunhappy wrote: post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I wish paid apps had a 24-hour return window or something like that. It feels like it would be a win-win for everyone, as users would feel more comfortable taking a chance on paid apps. I vaguely remember the Google Play Store (before it had that name) having something like this, never understood why they got rid of it. They must have concluded it made the store less profitable, but I wonder what data they were looki…

It's true. Steam has a no-questions-asked refund that works up to 2 hours of playtime, and it seems to work great. Download a game, doesn't run, or the game is bad ? Just refund. Not sure if it would work for apps though, as games are by nature something that are meant to be played for hours in front of your screen. I don't know what would be the metric used to refund and app or not.

Yup, two hours of actual playtime sounds like a pretty fair window to me. Sure, some people are making YT vids where they complete an entire game and return it within 2 hours, but that's not enough to actually matter. For a utility-like phone app something like 30 minutes might be more reasonable, but the same principle applies.

Re: Problems on the Galaxy Store

#59

Post by nulld3v »

lopkeny12ko wrote: post #56

What is the issue here? App store-level enforcement that apps be reasonably priced? How is that bad? This sounds like a net win for consumers. It's already frustrating enough dealing with developers charging through the roof for garbage products.

It's normal for an indie game or small utility programs to cost $20 on PC. I think it's reasonable to allow for the same on mobile.

Re: Problems on the Galaxy Store

#60

Post by crote »

criley2 wrote: post #34
jdietrich wrote: post #22

I can't comment on the competence (or otherwise) of the Galaxy Store review process, but charging up-front for a mobile app is nearly always a mistake. You'll nearly always do better with a "free" app and one or more in-app purchases to unlock the full functionality, even if the "free" version is a very limited demo. I know that some people are instinctively repulsed by such a model, but there are good reasons why us…

The reason I dislike this is because it will always be a free app. I say that in the sense that they will include tracking and advertising and even if you "pay to remove" you have no real guarantee. It's better to have a paid app that does not have the code/permissions required to even engage in advertising and tracking in this way. Preferably the paid app doesn't even have IAP at all. Looking through the Google Play…

Just because it doesn't have tracking now (or at least claims so) doesn't mean they won't add it a few months later. Paying for something is no guarantee for privacy, unfortunately.
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