My key point is that you reduce the users motivation to look for pirated versions if you have a free add supported version (maybe even with less features) available for a one-click download in the store. In addition to any app that offers ads and is in turn free, there must be a paid app for users who hate ads (and who want to support the development, but those are rare).
Although I still wonder why someone in this thread said he could make a living off his ad-based app...
Am Samstag, 9. Februar 2013 19:44:42 UTC+1 schrieb Kristopher Micinski:
"don't have a paid version of your app in the market" is a non
solution: ad supported apps don't make real money for the mid range
developers (with the top 1-2% of app developers perhaps being able
make a modest profit).
I know of at least one study to show users actually end up "paying" a
good amount for apps if you factor in other costs: battery life, data
connectivity, the possible cost of your private information being
sold, etc...
This is not to say ads are bad, but it's unrealistic to think that
you're actually going to make a real profit from a solely ad supported
app. Generally you will make a free version with ads, and an upgraded
"pro" version with more features. What happens when someone cracks
this version and puts it on the market? For the real developer
(someone who cares about their profits, and isn't just making an app
for run, collecting a little bit of ad revenue for giggles) app
cracking is a concern. Educating yourself on the different ways it can
be done would be good knowledge to have. (FYI, there are automated
tools today that crack apps doing all sorts of crazy things like
disassembling and rewriting your bytecode to remove licensing checks,
etc...)
kris
On Sat, Feb 9, 2013 at 11:38 AM, Anton Kaiser <in...@anton-kaiser.de> wrote:
> Just for the fun of it, I've read all the answers here. And Rob H. is the
> one deserving my +1 ;)
> Still, the idea of your solution is good, but it is even easier to pirate
> your app. This is because the in-app purchase system is flawed an has
> already been broken. It is enough for any user to have a well-known app
> installed (not going to tell you it's name here though), which emulates the
> Google Play Store. When a user touches to purchase more levels, he will pay
> $0.00 in the emulated store, and the store will report back success in your
> app, which will start downloading from your server.
> Now to counter this, your server will have to check with Google Play if
> there really has been a purchase from that user before you provide the
> downloadable content. This is one extra step, but really an essential one.
> If your app gets really successful, somebody will write an emulator of your
> server, and again it was all for nothing.
>
> So, basic point taken here for anybody who reads this: Don't waste your time
> on copy-protection. Have a free, ad-supported version in the store so user's
> won't have to start looking for pirated versions. And be happy if people
> start pirating and distributing your app, as this will get your app even
> more popular.
> And don't sue the pirates. Microsoft did that with Windows XP. Made many
> poor people pay a lot of money and resulted in bad PR for MS, so they
> stopped that. MS is successful because so many people want to use their
> stuff, not because they are so successful in conquering pirates.
>
> Am Donnerstag, 7. Februar 2013 18:55:42 UTC+1 schrieb Rob H:
>>
>> I think if you're interested in protecting your app from piracy the best
>> way to do it is via the in-app purchase system. If you're making a game,
>> put it up there with level 1 for free. Thousands of people will check it
>> out. If they want to continue on to the other levels, well here's an in-app
>> store where you can decide how much you want to pay for the app (the more
>> you pay the more content you get). Then you make your content DOWNLOADED
>> from your server, not from unlocking something in your existing APK file.
>> This combined with a system that communicates with your server similar to
>> the iOS receipt auditing system means that a user is only going to get the
>> downloaded content if they go through the purchase process. Yes, pirates
>> could buy everything on one device, then bundle all that content up and
>> modify your APK to say that all the content is unlocked, however the work
>> involved makes this highly impractical. They're only going to do it if your
>> game is so popular that everyone wants it badly, and in that case you'll be
>> making enough money where piracy almost becomes a positive thing for you
>> because it helps get the game in people's hands and at this point your game
>> is so good more people seeing it means more people buying it.
>
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