I will admit, I’m a free app lover. A real cheapo when it comes to my apps. I currently have a 5 row springboard with 4 pages of apps and a ton hidden with “Poof!”, and most are free. I have just found that most of the things I want apps for have one available for free. Or a lite version. However, I am an admitted (and proud) oldskool video game junkie.
So… when Square Enix recently released two Final Fantasy games for the iPhone I was in. I didn’t know what they would cost but I didn’t really care. I bought into the hype gladly. When the apps were released (finally!) I hopped into the App Store that day to buy them. $9 bucks! Wow!
Up until then my most expensive app was probably $1.99. And I saw that was for EACH game, not both. I went ahead and plunked down the $9.00 and I have to admit, it’s pretty great. Very authentic, not laggy, the graphics are old style & good.
However, I wasn’t willing to buy BOTH games at that price. Why? The fact that I couldn’t try them with a “lite” version first. Now I know that in the grand scheme of things $9 bucks isn’t a ton of money, but for me it’s an expensive app, especially since I’m still rockin’ a 1st gen and who knew how it would work?
I’ve seen several apps around the $5 dollar range that I could probably be persuaded to buy if only I could try them first. And I have certainly bought paid apps after trying the free version and liking it. So the question is… how much should an app cost to require, or at least desire, a free version first? Because I have no problem paying for it, I just want to see if I like it before I do. If it’s a good one I will definitely buy.
Are some of these app developers shooting themselves in the foot by not offering a lite version, or at least a few days trial period so us users can give it a try? I know for me personally, I would buy more if I could try more. Thoughts?