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Fed Up With Apple's Policies, App Developers Form a 'Union' (wired.com)
Even as Apple has addressed some of the concerns outlined by iOS developers in the recent years, many say it's not enough. As the iOS App Store approaches its tenth anniversary, some app developers are still arguing for better App Store policies, ones that they say will allow them to make a better living as independent app makers. On Friday, a small group of developers, including one who recently made a feature-length film about the App Store and app culture, are forming a union to lobby for just that. From a report: In an open letter to Apple that published this morning, a group identifying themselves as The Developers Union wrote that "it's been difficult for developers to earn a living by writing software" built on Apple's existing values. The group then asked Apple to allow free trials for apps, which would give customers "the chance to experience our work for themselves, before they have to commit to making a purchase."
The grassroots effort is being lead by Jake Schumacher, the director of App: The Human Story; software developer Roger Ogden and product designer Loren Morris, who both worked for a timesheet app that was acquired last year; and Brent Simmons, a veteran developer who has made apps like NetNewsWire, MarsEdit, and Vesper, which he co-created with respected Apple blogger John Gruber.
The grassroots effort is being lead by Jake Schumacher, the director of App: The Human Story; software developer Roger Ogden and product designer Loren Morris, who both worked for a timesheet app that was acquired last year; and Brent Simmons, a veteran developer who has made apps like NetNewsWire, MarsEdit, and Vesper, which he co-created with respected Apple blogger John Gruber.
A free trial *is not* "the return of shareware".
Almost every piece of software in the enterprise and consumer world has free 30 day trials now, most of them delivered via cloud. Consumers don't want to invest a ton of money into something that won't work for their use case. If you're talking about a $0.99 game that is one thing, but some productivity apps can cost $8 and up. Paying $8 for something that turns out to not be useful at all, that stings.
Google figured this out forever ago - the play store has had free trials since inception. They used to be 24 hours, now just 4 hours - however 4 hours is plenty long enough to install an app, set it up, and try it out before deciding if it is worth actually paying for.