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Pocket Casts, you altered the deal, so I will alter your app

blog.matthewbrunelle.com

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Re: Pocket Casts, you altered the deal, so I will alter your app

#71

Post by zmmmmm »

mcv wrote: post #60
carlosjobim wrote: post #41

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I hope you never hear about free refills that they have in some restaurants. You're demanding more than a decade of free app updates for a small sum you paid ages ago. Why can't you instead be happy with all the value you got from the app? We aren't born to be small minded and stingy, look up to greater goals and a greater attitude in life. We only have so many years before it is cut from us.

It's a life time membership, not a decade time membership. And OP is still alive. Why they feel entitled to the thing they paid for is not hard to see. A good question is why an app that worked fine over a decade ago apparently still costs $800k per year to support.

> A good question is why an app that worked fine over a decade ago apparently still costs $800k per year to support

This is what I would like to know. Granted, Google makes it hard to be an app developer these days with constant requirements to update things just to stay compatible and compliant with all their requirements. But still - $800k a year is like 4 full time well paid staff. And that was their loss, so add all the revenue to that.

The real answer of course, is they aren't just maintaining the app as is, they are trying to push all sorts of new features into it and this is what's costing them. But why should previous users be paying for that?

Re: Pocket Casts, you altered the deal, so I will alter your app

#72

Post by zmmmmm »

donatj wrote: post #32

$800,000 net loss? What in the mismanaged business world are you even doing? I've built feed aggregators in the past... I just can't understand where the costs ar. Are they rehosting all the audio and that's bandwidth costs? Even then it seemed high.

I generally detest vibe coding but this is really screaming out for someone to just let Claude loose for a day or two.

Re: Pocket Casts, you altered the deal, so I will alter your app

#73

Post by Zagorath »

hiAndrewQuinn wrote: post #64
anon-3988 wrote: post #47

Earlier quoted context omitted.

IIRC they advertised themselves as "pay once, use forever" in their marketing. So why shouldn't they uphold that?

An advertisement is not a contract, unfortunately. If we're going to talk legal, we need to talk in legalese.

They are (or were, at the time they had that slogan) an Australian company. I am an Australian citizen. Under Australian Consumer Law, an advertisement is absolutely legally binding.

https://www.accc.gov.au/consumers/advertising-and-promotions...

Re: Pocket Casts, you altered the deal, so I will alter your app

#74

Post by TiredOfLife »

carlosjobim wrote: post #41
jszymborski wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> why does the author here feel so entitled People were promised they just needed to pay one fee to get the app. Then, they went to a subscription fee, but grandfathered in previous purchasers. Now, they've introduced ads. Their overhead is their problem, they sold me something and now they are renegging. It's like the first thing in the article, not exactly burried.

I hope you never hear about free refills that they have in some restaurants. You're demanding more than a decade of free app updates for a small sum you paid ages ago. Why can't you instead be happy with all the value you got from the app? We aren't born to be small minded and stingy, look up to greater goals and a greater attitude in life. We only have so many years before it is cut from us.

Total Commander has done free updates for 31 years

Re: Pocket Casts, you altered the deal, so I will alter your app

#75

Post by xnx »

__rito__ wrote: post #46

Since we are talking about podcasts, if you are looking for a podcast app for Android, use Antenna Pod [0]. I use it every day. It's smooth, seamless, and FOSS. Note that I am just a user, and not otherwise linked with them. [0]: https://antennapod.org

Antenna pod is great, but syncing play state between players (via gpodder) isn't as smooth as Pocket Casts.

Re: Pocket Casts, you altered the deal, so I will alter your app

#76

Post by UmGuys »

I purchased this app way back in 2014 when I did Android dev FT. I had no idea about the history until recently when I began seeing ads. Comapnies should be prohibited by Google Play Store or someone else from rug pulls like this, otherwise it will become a normal business strategy. What's to stop someone from building an app fast by selling lifetime ad free, then when they build a user base, selling to a large company who does this? Nothing. That's what.

They should be forced to publish a new APK with a different name to change monetization strategies or honor what people paid for. This is fraud and theft.

Re: Pocket Casts, you altered the deal, so I will alter your app

#77

Post by UmGuys »

wmichelin wrote: post #3

To play devil's advocate here, clearly there are hosting costs and maintenance costs beyond a one time mobile app payment 14 years ago. Kinda sped read the article so apologies if I missed it, but why does the author here feel so entitled to something that clearly the company feels unreasonable to continuously maintain? They're clearly a struggling business, it feels like this author has a personal vendetta against t…

The company sold an app and refuses to honor what users paid for. If this is allowed, it will become a strategy because it's profitable. Trick people to purchase, then add ads to the 'ad-free' app. There's no logic other than, "we can steal and no one will stop us." They should be forced to honor purchases or publish a new app.

Re: Pocket Casts, you altered the deal, so I will alter your app

#78

Post by woldemariam »

hutattedonmyarm wrote: post #55
WD-42 wrote: post #27

I switched to Pocket Casts because the official Apple app changed their UI to a recommendation feed instead of a plain timeline. I only listen to podcasts on a single device, anyone have suggestions for alternatives? I don't mind paying a one time fee, but this should really be a mostly (completely?) cloud-less app.

I'm very happy with Overcast. It does show ads for other podcasts in the now playing screen if you're using the free version. Premium is a subscription, but it's like 10 bucks a year. That's perfectly okay. And to be honest, I rarely look at the "now playing" screen anyways

price recently increased to $14.99

Re: Pocket Casts, you altered the deal, so I will alter your app

#80

Post by carlosjobim »

jjulius wrote: post #45
carlosjobim wrote: post #41

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I hope you never hear about free refills that they have in some restaurants. You're demanding more than a decade of free app updates for a small sum you paid ages ago. Why can't you instead be happy with all the value you got from the app? We aren't born to be small minded and stingy, look up to greater goals and a greater attitude in life. We only have so many years before it is cut from us.

>You're demanding more than a decade of free app updates for a small sum you paid ages ago. I mean... that was the agreement between both parties. Really not that hard to grasp.

So how about those free refills at McDonalds? Clearly you have the right to return there every day for the rest of your life and fill up hundreds of cups each time. After all, it is in the agreement between both parties, so go for it!
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