How much do you spend yearly on mobile apps?
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Does digital subscriptions count? (Score:4, Insightful)
I get MLB at bat premium so I can listen to games radio broadcasts even if I'm travelling. Also have subscriptions to The Economist and WSJ Digital...
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I get MLB at bat premium so I can listen to games radio broadcasts even if I'm travelling. Also have subscriptions to The Economist and WSJ Digital...
Oh, that's a good point. I didn't think about that sort of thing - it would up my answer a bit
I am willing to pay for apps - but, given the success of the freemium model, it's apparent I'm in the minority.
Re:Does digital subscriptions count? (Score:5, Interesting)
surprised at how many people think it's wrong or stupid to spend money on apps.
nearly all of them are so incredibly cheap, and some have very good content/design/information/entertainment value.
it seems that people feel entitled to free apps.
Re:Does digital subscriptions count? (Score:5, Insightful)
I agree. I've spent more time playing Kingdom Rush for like $3 than many playstation games which cost $60. I'd happily have paid a few bucks for Candy Crush, but it's free. My only complaint is when the game is impossible to defeat without micropayments. It's not even so much the money as the fact that I effectively have to cheat in order to win.
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I think a lot of people prefer "free as in tracks and spams you all day" apps. They have not yet realized what the real cost is. Developers who do the right thing and simply offer an ad-free paid version often find that the advertising if more lucrative.
Even though I block all ads I will still pay for ad-free versions of good apps.
Open source FTW (Score:2)
If you don't have to put a lot of time into writing an application there's little or no money that needs to be made back.
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surprised at how many people think it's wrong or stupid to spend money on apps.
nearly all of them are so incredibly cheap, and some have very good content/design/information/entertainment value.
Like most things, a lot of apps just aren't worth paying for. However pointing this out leads to the shrill cries of "what about the developers". It seems the entitlement complex is on the other end, that any piece of crap software requires payment.
What you're basically saying is that I can't use my own judgements on the value of a product to me. In many cases, it's wrong if not almost criminal to charge for some of the junk I've seen in the Itunes and Google Play stores. I'm a big fan of supporting deve
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Perhaps you're at a different stage in life, but for many of us, $1 is of no consequence.
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my undergraduate student loan debt is 4 times my annual income.
How did you manage that? Did you spend 6-years at Princeton studying basket weaving only to find work in a Malaysian sweatshop?
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4 yrs at Princeton is around $200K, 4x a salary of $50K, which is pretty high for just out of school.
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A few hundred dollars a yr is under my radar.
A few thousand dollars a yr is at the bottom of my radar.
That's probably pretty typical for your average IT professional.
spending money on apps (Score:2)
> surprised at how many people think it's wrong or stupid to spend money on apps.
The problem is not paying for apps. The problem is paying to a centralized store that is tracking apps you are purchasing and takes money from both sides (customer and author).
We are supposed to be in a web era, but you can't freely download/buy apps directly from the author web site.
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If the author is selling 1,000,000 copies of a $1 app, then it's a million dollar round down.
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If they're worth so little they should just round it down to free.
That's what I do in my mind. If it's $1, it effectively costs nothing for me.
For the developer, on the other hand, they can make millions with $1/app.
Pretty close to zero (Score:2)
For reference, Android household here.
There haven't been many apps we've felt compelled to buy. I think we still have like $15-$16 of the $25 credit/rebate from Google when we bought the Nexus 7 back in '12 - Titanium Backup and Beyond Pod come to mind as apps I've purchased.
Other than that, I just haven't seen much of anything I need that I'd be willing to spend even 99 cents on. Also, you can get a free paid app everyday from Amazon. I have gotten some good ones from that, but I'd never pay for them othe
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Oblig. Oatmeal (Score:4, Funny)
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I see some (non reasonable) reasons for that phenomenon. First, it is easier to get disappointed with a 99c app than with a $800 tablet. Second, there is a perception of little value on cheap things.
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http://theoatmeal.com/blog/app... [theoatmeal.com]
"Well it's only a dollar" is the kind of financial wisdom that leads you to spending 1000's one dollar at a time.
Its the financial equivalent of "death by 1000 cuts".
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Android here as well, and I haven't purchased a lot of apps either.
I spent $3.99 on IP Cam Viewer a few years ago, and it was well worth it for keeping an eye on my home cameras. I also spent $4.99 on the Moon+ ebook reader last night for my new tablet. Great app, and something I'm happy to pay for. Other than a few 99 cent kindle books, that's all I've ever purchased. I still have $10 left of free Google Play credits from purchasing the tablet and no idea what to spend it on.
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Refuse to be nickel and dimed to death (Score:5, Insightful)
I don't install apps with in-app purchases just to avoid the whole problem in the first place. I'd rather spend $5 or $10 right up front and get it all than get hooked for free and dribble out $.99 from time to time.
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Much like premium television, it's often become both rather than either-or, but at least generally I prefer the apps that charge me at least $1 up front - they tend to deliver some of a full experience while the "freemiums" tend to make it grinder hell or impossible difficulty unless you pony up real cash.
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I don't install apps with in-app purchases just to avoid the whole problem in the first place. I'd rather spend $5 or $10 right up front and get it all than get hooked for free and dribble out $.99 from time to time.
So how much have you paid for $5-10 apps that don't have in-app purchase?
The poll asked for spending on "mobile apps", not restricted to in-app purchase. It is funny too see you automatically assumed it only counts in-app purchase, does that mean you ever only install free apps, so in-app purchase is the only place you had a chance to pay?
There are other posters saying $1 is nothing so they won't even consider paying it. But if $1 really means nothing to them, they got to have bought a few $1 apps already
Why not a "$0" only option (Score:5, Insightful)
This poll would be a lot better if the $0 choice was broken out into it's own option. I would be curious to see how many people spend absolutely no money at all on mobile apps.
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$0 got me a barcode/QR code reader better than the default, a phone number blacklisting app, and a file manager better than the default.
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... and that option could be broken out into
- Those who download only free apps
- Those who don't see any need for downloading any apps at all
Re: (Score:3, Interesting)
Because ... (Score:2)
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Or just opensource bitch
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As to not embarrass the people who normally do not pay for an app, except for Angry Birds.
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Hey, I own a yo-yo too.
Oh, wait. You didn't mean some sort of phone, did you?
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Same, and eagerly awaiting the Neo900.
I spend $0 on apps (Score:5, Informative)
If it's not free, it's not for me!
In Soviet USA ... You don't own $0 app ... (Score:2)
$0 app OWNS you!
Humble Bundle (Score:5, Insightful)
I chose $50+, pretty much entirely because of the Humble Bundle. Since Geek 2.0 came along, most gaming is on my phone.
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Damn, I chose 10-20, forgot all about the bundles I've bought. Probably should be the next option up at least, but at least those games I actually own and they don't try to nickel and dime me to death.
In App Purchases (Score:2)
Don't have any of those so I don't have a vampire attached to my phone or tablet. I do buy the occasional app though. Most recently Carmageddon from a referral from here in fact.
[John]
Almost Nothing (Score:4, Insightful)
Honestly, there's very little worth paying for (for me anyways - everyone has different wants/needs).
99% of the time on my phone is spent in one of a few apps: Browser, Facebook, Twitter, Gmail, Google Music, Google Maps, Tapatalk, and Doggcatcher.
Only the last two cost money. Both were only a few bucks and were bought years ago. Don't get me wrong I love my smartphone and spend a ton of time using it - I just have never been fascinated with the bazillion "apps" out there.
In one year... (Score:2)
I've added 1 free app.
That. Is. All.
I write my own apps. (Score:5, Interesting)
A few Humble Bundles (Score:2)
Several Humble Bundles included Android versions of the games, alongside the PC versions that I actually played. My phone, being an ancient piece of junk by Android standards (Motorola Droid 1, woo!), can't really run most of them, but I have a couple installed. Even counting them all purely as Android purchases, though, I don't think I've spent more than $10 a year.
Kid (Score:2)
Zero! Stick with Open Source. (Score:5, Informative)
F-Droid is your friend [f-droid.org]
Re: (Score:2)
Instead of searching for that app it is perhaps a better use of your time to study the difference between ionizing and non-ionizing radiation, and the energy required at common cell phone frequencies to generate ionizing radiation. And then comparing it with the power your cell phone transmits at.
[disclaimer: I can't guarantee that minor localized warming of the brain has no long term effects]
Or just buy a wired headset and leave your phone in your bag, then be happy in simply not worrying about it.
WOWZA! (Score:5, Insightful)
I never plat games on my mobile, not have bought any recreational software, but I do purchase my email client and a few others
I need my mobile device for everything, Finding the time and platform of the train I need in the morning and half way through a days work to get to another client site, hailing a taxi, scanning wifi networks for strength and channel consumption, scanning networks for open shares, accessing my email accounts and accessing various other things.
I stopped using any apps with adverts in them 3-4 years ago due to power drain and now run cyanogen with suser for data leakage, but my primary apps are still paid for, if if I don't have them loaded on every device.
If the people on
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I pretty much only use my tablet as a web browser (and in private browsing / incognito mode by default), and occasionally as a test bed for my own apps (nothing published, just for the hell of it). I can get to virtually any "productivity" tool I need via browser, and for the few things I can't, we have RDP. I can also get to more games than I can ever possibly g
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I don't personally own any devices for which I would need any of these silly "app" things. However I would expect that enough of the visitors to this site are similiar to my Father.
My Father has had a fully equiped Wood and Metal working shop for as long as I can remember. Well that isn't exactly right, I can remember helping wrestle the metal lathe into the house as a child. Any time that something broke that he could conceivably fix on his own he did it. When he got into HAM Radio he designed and built hi
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I for one probably spend close to $50 a year on apps and I also "never" buy apps. Except when I need one and don't want to be bothered by ads. Those one-dollar, two-dollar, or four-dollar purchases add up over the course of a year.
I tend to think of paid apps as lottery tickets. Most end up being uninstalled within a day or two. Some end up being wonderful utilities that I use several times a week.
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Well let's not immediately lump together people who don't buy apps because they're cheap with people who don't buy apps because they don't need them.
I probably didn't spend more than $10 on mobile apps in the last year, but at the same time I only do a handful of tasks on my phone. And even then most of those tasks are covered by the built in email, web browser, and m
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I need my mobile device for everything
No, actually you don't.
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you have some bad misconceptions between your ears, advocating and using open source has nothing at all to do with whether or not a person is pro or anti capitalism. Plenty of money to be made in open source, that's how I make my living. I run quality free apps on my phone, I pay the phone provider for the platform and connectivity to do so. Capitalism all around, good stuff.
Meanwhile, Microsoft and some other closed sourced companies have governmet in its pockets to sway things their way, that is not c
Comment removed (Score:4, Insightful)
Educational toddler apps (Score:2)
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got suggestions on apps? as a developer and uncle to two little girls I'm pretty interested in this avenue
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The Ipad has these and more. Before having a kid, I had heard of Team Umizoomi and dismissed it as garbage. For all its silliness--Team Umizoomi was what got her adding and subtracting. By three she was counting 100 and by 3.5 she was doing + and - with anything under 20. The quirky things that make parents happy.
The tablets he
Currency? (Score:3)
I assume this means New Zealand dollars (as I do for all sites where it doesn't explicitely say). I mostly spend money on childrens' educational apps, probably up to NZD$50 a year.
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They're nearly the same as the US dollar these days anyway.. With economic growth, a government surplus this year (probably) to be used to pay down debt, and with people there gradually getting the idea that unlimited debt is not sustainable it's likely to stay that way for a while...
Hard to separate mobile from other apps (Score:3)
Not quite what I would consider mobile. Since it's designed to be used without any sort of wireless connection, not really mobile.
the line in this space are blurring quickly.
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I recently bought a $50 app, for a tablet I just bought. Not quite what I would consider mobile. Since it's designed to be used without any sort of wireless connection, not really mobile. the line in this space are blurring quickly.
I, I gots to know ... what kind of mobility app software would cost fifty bucks?
Did you, like many posters above, equated mobile apps == trash in your mind already?
Just TomTom costs like $100, Minecraft is like $7, some dictionaries are like $20, so is XCOM, FF VI is $16. Just browse in the "Top Grossing" chart and you can see the more expensive apps. A $50 app is nothing to be surprised about.
A bit surprised... (Score:2)
I'm surrounded by cheap bastards! :)
99 cents to remove ads is a bargain in my opinion.
Re: (Score:2)
It's more I have never found an app I care about enough outside of a calendar app....
Only spent what Google gave me free... (Score:2)
I have only spent the $20 I got from Google as a bonus when I bought an original Nexus 7. I bought business calendar and smart tools and then after over 2 years of sitting there unused I bought some gems in clash of clans to get a builder.... I wouldn't have ever done that if I didn't have the free credit.
Missing option (Score:2)
Never spend any money on apps.
I don't spend money on apps because then I don't have to share my credit card info with the app store and therefore any subversive apps will draw a blank when they try to debit my account.
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Ah, but your time is worth money, as evidenced by the loathsome ad-sponsored apps.
Missing Negative Value Option (Score:3)
I mean, if I sell my dinky indie game-mechanic experiments then I'm spending negative money on mobile apps, right?
FTL is easily worth $10. (Score:2)
I have no regrets dropping $10 on FTL on the iPad, even if I already had it on PC. Easily one of the best games I've played on the tablet.
Not paying for mobile platform (Score:2)
Apps & subscriptions? (Score:2)
Whenever I hear people saying they've never seen an app worth paying for it just strikes me as lack of imagination.
Apps vs. Media (Score:2)
I chose $10 - $20 in apps, because it really depends on whether or not a new app captures my attention.
However, I spend much more than that on music and media. Like a song I heard on the radio? Shazam it and buy it. Does someone just remind you of a favorite album from your childhood? Buy it.
Our first baby was born just a few weeks ago, and lately, I've been buying lullabies, nursery rhymes, and similar music/apps.
Given how inexpensive apps are, I am boggled at how many people refuse to spend any money on t
no apps, books! (Score:2)
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Good policy. I just won't spend more than I would have spent on the app had it not been free. That way it's just like the old shareware world.
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miniphone (Score:2)
When I taught English in Korea in 2002 I had a little flip phone that could send text & had a flash memory card for mp3's
the thing was the size of the **small** Altoids tin containers: http://candyaddict.com/blog/ca... [candyaddict.com]
it was awesome but the functionality of a full web browser on mobile in the same device as my phone is just too beneficial
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Yeah, I often think Apple could make a great iPhone Nano, similar size to the iPod Nano, thicker for battery, etc, just like the iPhone / iPod touch, with just basic, simplified apps to show calendar perhaps preview, but not write email, etc. A kind of up-market feature phone, or just as an iPad companion...
Re:All I have (Score:5, Insightful)
Is a cellphone. Cell. Phone. It makes phone calls...
Sucks to be you, then. My cell phone takes pictures; measures distances, angles, and levelness; points north; plays music and videos; reads barcodes; displays web pages; identifies stars and planets in the night sky; shows maps; quizzes me on CCNA; plays games; provides reading material; reminds me of appointments; sends and receives email; lights my path; calculates; and myriads of other things. Oh, and of course, it makes phone calls.
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If you get this grumpy every time someone utters a sarcastic comment on slashdot, you must be a very angry person.
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ha yeah maybe I am more angry than the average person...probably not more than the average slashdot user though
i dont go out of my way to find comments to shame...i was genuinely following the conversation back and forth then all the sudden it breaks down
i see it like weeds in a garden...and not the kind you smoke
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And as I pointed out to you over there [slashdot.org], your question was very poorly phrased. You could have *said* "on your desktop or laptop" and saved everyone a great deal of trouble.
(Since you insist on bringing that up again...)
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A jackass like you would have said "I put my phone om my lap when I use it." So it didn't matter. Someone will always object. Especially a jackass.
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Please don't assume you'd know what I'd do if blah blah blah. Thanks!
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Words are supposed to mean things. Otherwise, please work on your mental telepathy skills as they seem to be lacking. Thanks!
And I am not the only one in that thread who took issue with the question and/or how you phrased it, IIRC.
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Most of the apps I have bought are donation apps, where you get the full version for free but can donate to support the author. RMaps is a good example. Before I had a mobile data connection in Japan I used it to download and display offline maps, and it was invaluable as well as being free. There are some good Japanese dictionaries too.
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Yeah, you're bragging about not supporting the people who take the time to create these utilities for you...on Slashdot. And, you're getting modded up!
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Yeah, you're bragging about not supporting the people who take the time to create these utilities for you...on Slashdot. And, you're getting modded up!
Perhaps he doesn't consider donating to the developer as an "app purchase."
I've donated to devs through their websites before, but never via the Play Store.
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All? Not true. I have about a dozen proof of the opposite installed on my phone. Many, yes. Most, perhaps. For some epsilon defining "most".
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I always find free versions that do the job.
So far, this.
Although, once my Bluetooth OBD II/CANBUS reader shows up, I'll probably spring for the full version of Torque.
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You are very lucky or perhaps do not have any hobbies? ;)
While I tend not to spend money on apps, every once in a while I come across an app that makes my life much easier, and is well worth the money (even if it's $20+)
Off the top of my head:
Amateur Photography: I bought an app that completely manages model releases. I enter the models details, select the country and language of the contract (I live in Europe so this is actually a big thing for me when I might be in Italy and decide to shoot a model for f
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I have no hobbies? That's67 funny!
It's quite the contrary.
My smart phone is not the center of my universe. I have most of the same hobbies now that I had back when I was using a rotary phone.
Now get off my lawn!
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LOL. I expect you're in the spot I was 3-4 years ago....
You know I used to be like you. For YEARS I wondered why in the world anyone would want a smart phone with these app thingies. Friends got the first iphones, the first android phones, etc., and I wondered why.
At some point, I broke down and bought one just because every shiny new phone that wasn't a "grandfather phone" with giant buttons for the visually impaired was smart to some extent.
Now I couldn't live without one. And if my iPhone breaks, I'm
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I always search for a version that doesn't require pointless rights. That one may be paid.
Why does $GAME need to access my location data?
Why does $NOTE_APP need to access my contacts?
Direct money isn't as expensive as a virus that modifies my bank transfers.
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You should register marse.es to go with goatse.es, otherwise the rhyme makes no sense.
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24% of Slashdot readers spend at least $10 per year on apps
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You can always buy a gift card for yourself... In fact, if you can get them on sale (happens quite often for the fruity firm, I presume the same happens for the green robot) it's even cheaper than handing over your credit card...