For me, I tried a 'minimalist' launcher app for Android that had a 7 day trial or something and they had a yearly subscription based model for it. I was aghast. I would literally expect the app to blow my mind and do everything one can assume to go that way. In a world, where Nova Launcher (Yes, I know it has been acquired by Branch folks but it still is a sturdy one) or Niagara exist plus many alternatives including minimalist ones on F Droid, the dev must be releasing revolutionary stuff to factor in a subscription service.

Second, is a controversial choice, since it's free tier is quite good and people like it so much. But, Pocketcasts. I checked it's yearly price the other day, and boy, in my country, I can subscribe to Google Play Pass, YouTube Premium and Spotify and still have money left before I hit the ceiling what Pocketcasts is asking for paid upgrade.

Also, what are your views on one time purchase vs subscriptions? Personally, I find it much easier to purchase, if it's good enough even if it was piratable, something if it is a one time purchase rather than repetitive.

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[–] nicetriangle@kbin.social 2 points 2 years ago (2 children)

Yeah the Pocketcasts pricing is stupid as hell. I've been having some issues with Overcast and was looking to switch but there's no way that price is worth it.

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[–] ilco@feddit.nl 2 points 2 years ago

id rather pay a webhost a monthly fee and host most things i need myself your better of donating/buying a opensorce project /app than pay for a licensen to a company whom enforces always online apps . if possible sadly its not always an option as not all things have an alternative or a lacking

[–] WashedOver@lemmy.ca 0 points 2 years ago* (last edited 2 years ago) (1 children)

This seems to be the model I've witnessed with many apps over the years. Free at first to get traction and users, then ads, then pay one time fee to get rid of ads, then subscription to keep using the app.

Then there are those that wouldn't even pay a single fee and get upset at the thought as everything should be free.

The part that is upsetting is the contributions the early community made is monetized when they were ~~they~~ there for the benefit of the community.

I do see there are costs to maintaining and updating these apps so I can understand a need to keep revenue flowing for these future costs. The one time payment is a hell of a deal for years with updates to accommodate the revisions needed for each system update let alone functionality improvements.

In the old days we would buy software for our PC and that was it. There wasn't really any updates or further support for newer versions of Windows. The software would become very insecure or just stop functioning altogether with enough changes to windows.

It's hard to find the right balance. I know I only want to pay once, or heck never, but I want these upgrades and updates too.

[–] Thorned_Rose@kbin.social 1 points 2 years ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

Enshittification :(

[–] Kit@lemmy.blahaj.zone 0 points 2 years ago (1 children)

Duolingo. Why can't I just pay $100 or whatever one time? Languages don't change to the extent that it needs to be a subscription.

[–] mettwurstkaninchen@feddit.de 1 points 2 years ago

There really should be a free and open source alternative for Duolingo. I know that there is Librelingo, but that is currently only doing Spanish for English speakers.

[–] monz@pawb.social 0 points 2 years ago (1 children)

Any app that doesn’t require any backend to function.

If you ask for a subscription for an app without the need to support a backend… I won’t subscribe. I’ll find something else.

Mostly anything else is fine.

Though, if it’s something like a Note-Taking app where the cloud infrastructure for backups and sharing would cost pennies and you’re asking more than $1 a month, I’m out. Looking at you, Evernote. $64 a year to replace the built-in Notes app? No thanks.

[–] somegadgetguy@lemdro.id 1 points 2 years ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

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