Comments on: Pirates outnumber buyers 3-1 on iPhone apps

By: justinchina

justinchina — Thu, 14 May 2009 10:57:27 +0000

yeah, historically, on mobile at least, the conversion rate from free trials to paid subscription is ludicrous. you are better off trying your luck with the pirates…

By: Jamie Lottering

Jamie Lottering — Wed, 13 May 2009 04:16:36 +0000

Trials are pointless for most apps considering that many of them are only fun for a use or two

By: Claudia Muehlenweg

Claudia Muehlenweg — Wed, 13 May 2009 00:06:45 +0000

I would think that a trial (1-3 days) would help to convert people to buy an app. After all, we have gotten so used to the return policies of offline stores where we oftentimes do buy more than we would if couldn't return an item.

Maybe the trial should mirror the offline world so that you do pay upfront but have, say 3 days to try an app. If you don't like it you send a cancel code that you got when you purchased the app, and get a credit.

This would certainly make a difference for me as I also don't like to buy things I don't know and can't try out or return.

By: Keith

Keith — Tue, 12 May 2009 08:23:36 +0000

I hope Apple finds a way to prevent this sort of abuse, this is rediculous

By: CH

CH — Tue, 12 May 2009 07:15:15 +0000

As a developer who's spent years trying to make ANYTHING from the app-store, it is my opinion that everyone affiliated with Appulous should be shot.

By: 419onscene

419onscene — Tue, 12 May 2009 04:17:58 +0000

I don't like the carriers deciding what I can or cannot have on my phone, would I like Apple's rather capricious stewardship? Anyone's that had a smartphone, and put applications on it knows that 6 in 10 mobile applications just don't work the way you want them to. It just seems that 615 people didn't think Ow!My Balls was worth a dollar to speculate on for entertainment value. I rarely buy PC Applications without trying them out, and I certainly would never buy a mobile app without trying it out. I actually paid $100 for two blackberry apps from REXWireless because they were well supported and well executed applications. I never would have shelled out that money for apps that “might” be good.

By: Matt Mihaly

Matt Mihaly — Tue, 12 May 2009 03:33:15 +0000

Trial periods don't really help in other types of games, so probably wouldn't help here either. In almost all cases, pirates steal because they can get something for free. Any rationale beyond that is transparent justification. It's free and whether they have a right to have it for free or not is beside the point to them. They feel entitled to the software/music/movie's existence simply by the fact that the software/music/movie exists and they want it.

By: ericflo

ericflo — Tue, 12 May 2009 03:29:36 +0000

This is just sad…the app is $.99. I understand why someone might feel justified pirating a $3,000 piece of software, but nobody who owns an iPhone can say that they can't afford a 99 cent app.

It would really be interesting, though, to see how many people convert and actually purchase an item after having tried it out illegally.