by Dan Moren
App Store’s “free trials” are in name only
MarsEdit developer (and my pal) Daniel Jalkut has some thoughts on Apple’s addition of “free trials” to the App Store guidelines:
In summary: none of the mechanics of supporting ersatz free trials are substantially supported by the App Store. Every aspect of the solution is bolted on to a system which was not designed for, yet is somewhat admirably being used to simulate real support for free trials.
Free trials have long been a top request of app developers; they’re something that’s existed in the Mac software world for decades, and Apple has yet to really embrace them. Whether that’s because it believes it’s too complicated, or simply doesn’t think people use them is unclear, but Daniel’s post adroitly lays out why the change to App Store guidelines is a step in the right direction, but far from enough.