6 ms·

It annoys me on the iOS App Store you can't search for 'paid' apps. The choices are either 'free' or 'any'. The paid apps generally involve much less bullshit t

It annoys me on the iOS App Store you can't search for 'paid' apps. The choices are either 'free' or 'any'. The paid apps generally involve much less bullshit than the free ones but they are always lost in the search. The only way to find paid apps is to look at the charts. What really annoys me is freemium games for kids that insist you start a subscription (for no good reason) to get rid of the ads, instead of a one-off payment. They are literally banking on parents forgetting about subscriptions.

lukeholder 3y ago
I just stick to Apple Arcade games as a rule.
- willis936 3y ago
  I'd rather do nothing at all than partake in the cartel.
  - PaulRobinson 3y ago
    I pay Apple a fixed amount each month for all devices in my family to have access to a range of features, including a wide range of ad-free games I don't need to pay for. That doesn't feel to me like a cartel, that's just a bundled subscription, similar to the one that Netflix is trying to move to. Can you explain why you think that they're trying to group games studios together to maintain high pricing, when I actually end up paying much, much less than I would if I were to buy the games individually, or pay individual subscriptions to get rid of ads, or worse give up all my data and get bombarded with advertising when I just want to play a game for a few hours?
    - Gareth321 3y ago
      They created the problem and now they’re selling you the solution. They don’t allow you to search for paid apps. That’s an intentional design choice on their part. They also frequently change and deprecate APIs, forcing devs to constantly update their apps, necessitating the use of subscriptions. I won’t give them the credit for fixing a problem they created, and I really don’t like the idea of paying them for the privilege. For the record, I’m happy to pay for good apps and games and services.
      - dangus 3y ago
        App Store > Games > Top Paid Games > See All You at least get 200 of the top paid games in each genre. Personally, I prefer to use a real game system over a phone to play games. It’s not Apple’s fault that smartphones aren’t a good place to play games. A game developer targeting phones can only hope to capture a sliver of spare attention of someone who is already doing something else (like waiting in a lobby or taking a 10 minute bus ride). That’s why iOS games rarely cost anything to buy while Nintendo has been selling $40 games on mobile devices for decades. Without sticks and buttons phones can only hope to emulate a real game system. A developer on a more dedicated game system can expect to find players who want to spend multiple hours on a game.
      - AlexandrB 3y ago
        > They don’t allow you to search for paid apps. It's more complicated (and arguably worse) than that. Because Apple provides no way to do a trial of a game (without subscription pricing) some games will have a free tier with ads and an IAP to remove ads. These wouldn't show up under "paid apps" even though they technically qualify. If you look at what App Store business models Apple makes easy and which ones require jumping through hoops it's pretty clear that they want you to fill your app with IAP or use a subscription model. One time purchase software is possible, but is treated as a second class citizen (no paid upgrades, no demos/trials).
- Lalabadie 3y ago
  Oddly, their offer is ridiculously small outside of the US. There are good games, but for example, every single one featured in Arcade's launch trailer is unavailable in Canada. I'd have expected that with their experience (Music, TV, App Store), they would have done better there.
- codeulike 3y ago
  Dont want to let my kids loose on Apple Arcade though. I like to curate exactly what they get to play - educational games with no advertising or bullshit.
  - ronyeh 3y ago
    Any recommendations?
    - codeulike 3y ago
      Now that I think about it, not many paid apps. There are some subscription ones that don't suck - Numberblocks and Alphablocks. The Duplo games are pretty good. Reading Eggs is old school but good. My kid's school got him to isntall Numbots which is pretty good. Not sure how it works if you install it direclty rather than getting a login via the school. Minecraft Education is avaiable on a 'clubs and societies' license to anyone (you dont have to be a school anymore) but they dont publicise that much. Start your own club, install Minecraft Education. You have to set up an Office365 tenant though to manage the logins and subscriptions which is a faff. Toca Kitchen 2 is a simple paid app where you prepare food and feed it to characters, fun for little ones and really well designed.
  - nrb 3y ago
    Apple Arcade is just a subsection of the App Store with a subscription fee for a curated list of games with no ads or in-app purchases. The Screen Time limits you place on the device around allowed apps or capabilities work just fine with Arcade. If anything, it would make your life easier because the games you allow can’t change course later and add in ads or IAP.
  - xsmasher 3y ago
    "Apple Arcade" apps don't show any ads and have tight restrictions on what data can be gathered.
Gareth321 3y ago
> It annoys me on the iOS App Store you can't search for 'paid' apps. The choices are either 'free' or 'any'. Because Apple are really a big back of dicks. In a few months in the EU we’ll be able to install third party app stores and I welcome some actual competition.
- stavros 3y ago
  Wait, what? On iOS? That's fantastic news, how did I miss that? Do you have an article or reference perhaps? EDIT: Found one, very interesting: https://www.theverge.com/2022/12/13/23507766/apple-app-store-eu-dma-third-party-sideloading https://www.theverge.com/2022/12/13/23507766/apple-app-store...
mikepurvis 3y ago
Honestly, even non-game apps. I was looking for a white noise generator to use with a Bluetooth speaker recently and was appalled at several of the top picks in that category having subscriptions— and not just any subscription, but like $5-10/mo. For some looping sound files. I ended up going with Noisli; it may not have all the features, but it's at least simple and straightforward and had a modest one time fee to unlock all functionality.
- vladvasiliu 3y ago
  Depending on what you need, iOS does have a background noise generator. Settings -> accessibility -> audio / visual -> background sounds You can even add them to the quick control panel or whatever it's called.
  - mikepurvis 3y ago
    I did try that out and it's better than nothing, but I like Noisli's selection of sounds, and that you can create little blends of them— like bonfire + running water + crickets for a camping scene, or train tracks + rain + cafe for a journey scene. It also being on my homepage vs buried in a settings menu was worth a few dollars to me.
  - nosequel 3y ago
    This is a great tip! On vacation I just went through the hell of looking for white noise apps that were all subscription. I ended up using a spotify track on loop. I sure wish I knew this existed already on my phone. Thank you.
- ToucanLoucan 3y ago
  While unpopular, I do understand the rationale for the subscription model. Even if it's "just some looping sound files," an app project like that is never really "done" because of Apple's ever evolving operating system demanding revision on the developer's part, or the software will stop working. And that's not even going into the cost of running a server, which the majority of apps, even simple ones, require for cross-device functionality. I understand the bitterness on the part of users, especially with so many subscriptions (including this one, IMO) being quite egregiously priced. But at the same time, the app market on both platforms is extremely competitive and it's difficult to get an app to a level of popularity where advertising or lower charges can fund the effort involved to keep maintaining it. I don't really have an answer here, unfortunately. I think the availability of free apps for phones for decades based on the hand-wavy ad-tech "we'll monetize user data later" has created the impression among phone users that just because software runs on their phone and not their PC, that it has basically no worth. It's not as if the code is easier to write for a smaller screen.
tgsovlerkhgsel 3y ago
Likewise, the Google Play store shows you which apps have ads and which have in-game purchases, but doesn't let you filter by those criteria.
93po 3y ago
I installed an app recently that had a 7 day free trial. Cool, I'll do that, I'm excited for the app. I immediately cancelled the autopayment on the trial after signing up because I wanted to explicitly evaluate at the end of the trial instead of have it assumed i want to continue. The app then immediately cut off my trial access. It's frustrating that Apple even tells the app developer that it was cancelled.
- nacs 3y ago
  This is one of the anti-consumer things about the Apple App store and it applies to Apple's own apps too.. I subscribed to Apple Music with their 3 month trial and shortly after redeeming, I hit cancel on the subscription to prevent auto-rebill. It immediately revoked my access to Apple Music and my 90 day trial disappeared. Same with Apple TV trials, etc. Now I'm forced to set a Calendar reminder when I activate any kind of trial to remind me to cancel before the automatic rebill.

lukeholder 3y ago

I just stick to Apple Arcade games as a rule.

willis936 3y ago
I'd rather do nothing at all than partake in the cartel.
- PaulRobinson 3y ago
  I pay Apple a fixed amount each month for all devices in my family to have access to a range of features, including a wide range of ad-free games I don't need to pay for. That doesn't feel to me like a cartel, that's just a bundled subscription, similar to the one that Netflix is trying to move to. Can you explain why you think that they're trying to group games studios together to maintain high pricing, when I actually end up paying much, much less than I would if I were to buy the games individually, or pay individual subscriptions to get rid of ads, or worse give up all my data and get bombarded with advertising when I just want to play a game for a few hours?
  - Gareth321 3y ago
    They created the problem and now they’re selling you the solution. They don’t allow you to search for paid apps. That’s an intentional design choice on their part. They also frequently change and deprecate APIs, forcing devs to constantly update their apps, necessitating the use of subscriptions. I won’t give them the credit for fixing a problem they created, and I really don’t like the idea of paying them for the privilege. For the record, I’m happy to pay for good apps and games and services.
    - dangus 3y ago
      App Store > Games > Top Paid Games > See All You at least get 200 of the top paid games in each genre. Personally, I prefer to use a real game system over a phone to play games. It’s not Apple’s fault that smartphones aren’t a good place to play games. A game developer targeting phones can only hope to capture a sliver of spare attention of someone who is already doing something else (like waiting in a lobby or taking a 10 minute bus ride). That’s why iOS games rarely cost anything to buy while Nintendo has been selling $40 games on mobile devices for decades. Without sticks and buttons phones can only hope to emulate a real game system. A developer on a more dedicated game system can expect to find players who want to spend multiple hours on a game.
    - AlexandrB 3y ago
      > They don’t allow you to search for paid apps. It's more complicated (and arguably worse) than that. Because Apple provides no way to do a trial of a game (without subscription pricing) some games will have a free tier with ads and an IAP to remove ads. These wouldn't show up under "paid apps" even though they technically qualify. If you look at what App Store business models Apple makes easy and which ones require jumping through hoops it's pretty clear that they want you to fill your app with IAP or use a subscription model. One time purchase software is possible, but is treated as a second class citizen (no paid upgrades, no demos/trials).
Lalabadie 3y ago
Oddly, their offer is ridiculously small outside of the US. There are good games, but for example, every single one featured in Arcade's launch trailer is unavailable in Canada. I'd have expected that with their experience (Music, TV, App Store), they would have done better there.
codeulike 3y ago
Dont want to let my kids loose on Apple Arcade though. I like to curate exactly what they get to play - educational games with no advertising or bullshit.
- ronyeh 3y ago
  Any recommendations?
  - codeulike 3y ago
    Now that I think about it, not many paid apps. There are some subscription ones that don't suck - Numberblocks and Alphablocks. The Duplo games are pretty good. Reading Eggs is old school but good. My kid's school got him to isntall Numbots which is pretty good. Not sure how it works if you install it direclty rather than getting a login via the school. Minecraft Education is avaiable on a 'clubs and societies' license to anyone (you dont have to be a school anymore) but they dont publicise that much. Start your own club, install Minecraft Education. You have to set up an Office365 tenant though to manage the logins and subscriptions which is a faff. Toca Kitchen 2 is a simple paid app where you prepare food and feed it to characters, fun for little ones and really well designed.
- nrb 3y ago
  Apple Arcade is just a subsection of the App Store with a subscription fee for a curated list of games with no ads or in-app purchases. The Screen Time limits you place on the device around allowed apps or capabilities work just fine with Arcade. If anything, it would make your life easier because the games you allow can’t change course later and add in ads or IAP.
- xsmasher 3y ago
  "Apple Arcade" apps don't show any ads and have tight restrictions on what data can be gathered.

Gareth321 3y ago

> It annoys me on the iOS App Store you can't search for 'paid' apps. The choices are either 'free' or 'any'. Because Apple are really a big back of dicks. In a few months in the EU we’ll be able to install third party app stores and I welcome some actual competition.

stavros 3y ago
Wait, what? On iOS? That's fantastic news, how did I miss that? Do you have an article or reference perhaps? EDIT: Found one, very interesting: https://www.theverge.com/2022/12/13/23507766/apple-app-store-eu-dma-third-party-sideloading https://www.theverge.com/2022/12/13/23507766/apple-app-store...

mikepurvis 3y ago

Honestly, even non-game apps. I was looking for a white noise generator to use with a Bluetooth speaker recently and was appalled at several of the top picks in that category having subscriptions— and not just any subscription, but like $5-10/mo. For some looping sound files. I ended up going with Noisli; it may not have all the features, but it's at least simple and straightforward and had a modest one time fee to unlock all functionality.

vladvasiliu 3y ago
Depending on what you need, iOS does have a background noise generator. Settings -> accessibility -> audio / visual -> background sounds You can even add them to the quick control panel or whatever it's called.
- mikepurvis 3y ago
  I did try that out and it's better than nothing, but I like Noisli's selection of sounds, and that you can create little blends of them— like bonfire + running water + crickets for a camping scene, or train tracks + rain + cafe for a journey scene. It also being on my homepage vs buried in a settings menu was worth a few dollars to me.
- nosequel 3y ago
  This is a great tip! On vacation I just went through the hell of looking for white noise apps that were all subscription. I ended up using a spotify track on loop. I sure wish I knew this existed already on my phone. Thank you.
ToucanLoucan 3y ago
While unpopular, I do understand the rationale for the subscription model. Even if it's "just some looping sound files," an app project like that is never really "done" because of Apple's ever evolving operating system demanding revision on the developer's part, or the software will stop working. And that's not even going into the cost of running a server, which the majority of apps, even simple ones, require for cross-device functionality. I understand the bitterness on the part of users, especially with so many subscriptions (including this one, IMO) being quite egregiously priced. But at the same time, the app market on both platforms is extremely competitive and it's difficult to get an app to a level of popularity where advertising or lower charges can fund the effort involved to keep maintaining it. I don't really have an answer here, unfortunately. I think the availability of free apps for phones for decades based on the hand-wavy ad-tech "we'll monetize user data later" has created the impression among phone users that just because software runs on their phone and not their PC, that it has basically no worth. It's not as if the code is easier to write for a smaller screen.

tgsovlerkhgsel 3y ago

Likewise, the Google Play store shows you which apps have ads and which have in-game purchases, but doesn't let you filter by those criteria.

93po 3y ago

I installed an app recently that had a 7 day free trial. Cool, I'll do that, I'm excited for the app. I immediately cancelled the autopayment on the trial after signing up because I wanted to explicitly evaluate at the end of the trial instead of have it assumed i want to continue. The app then immediately cut off my trial access. It's frustrating that Apple even tells the app developer that it was cancelled.

nacs 3y ago
This is one of the anti-consumer things about the Apple App store and it applies to Apple's own apps too.. I subscribed to Apple Music with their 3 month trial and shortly after redeeming, I hit cancel on the subscription to prevent auto-rebill. It immediately revoked my access to Apple Music and my 90 day trial disappeared. Same with Apple TV trials, etc. Now I'm forced to set a Calendar reminder when I activate any kind of trial to remind me to cancel before the automatic rebill.