I got a mail from Android market, where they wrote: "We will be reducing the purchase refund window to 15 minutes."
So I assume that 24 hour refund is no longer available? That makes it more important to have a trial version. On 23 Nov, 09:44, Eyvind Almqvist <[email protected]> wrote: > Yes, I see now that they write > "Products that cannot be previewed by the buyer (such as > applications): You authorize Google to give the buyer a full refund of > the Product price if the buyer requests the refund within 48 hours > after purchase". > > I have released a trial like I described on OVI and > I haven't got much angry reviews. > I could also make a trial with limited functionality. > You could for instance only watch 4 of the 10 visual effects. > But wouldn't that risk getting angry reviews as well?' > Or do you think this alternative would work better on AM? > > It is difficult and time consuming to buy anything from AM > in Sweden. You have to buy with credit cards and > you have to write all the information about your credit card in the > mobile. > Is it the same for USA? If so, I think it makes people less willing to > buy anything. > I think a trial version is needed because the buying process is so > complicated, even > if a 24 hour trial is possible when they buy apps. > > On 22 Nov, 01:13, "Michael A." <[email protected]> wrote: > > > > > On Nov 20, 11:34 am, MobileVisuals <[email protected]> wrote: > > > > Thanks for explaining, now I understand what you mean when you say > > > that there is not much use to make a time limited trial. > > > What do you mean with "Android Market already implements a default > > > time limited trial version of your app"? Do you mean that everytime > > > someone buys an app they can return it within 24-48 hours for free? > > > That must be a special rule that Google has, I've never seen that in > > > other appstores. > > > You should probably read > > this:http://www.android.com/us/developer-distribution-agreement.html > > > > I was planning to release a trial version which starts 3 times. The > > > first time, you can view all of the visual effects. > > > The second time, you can view just 3 of the visual effects. The third > > > time, you can view just 1 of the visual effects. > > > But maybe it is no use to release a trial version like that either? My > > > apps display visual effects that you can use for meditation or > > > relaxation, so you can't use them as a wallpaper. > > > I think that you would be likely to get a lot of disgruntled customers > > by releasing an app like that, but do keep in mind that this is just > > an opinion based on my own experiences and observations. Others may > > have differing experiences/opinions, and even if all of us agree (not > > likely), it is still just an opinion. None of us can predict the > > future. > > > > My company got good distribution to operators, currently about 40 > > > operators are selling our apps. Maybe it is easier to get sales for > > > Android apps on the operators appstores and portals than on Android > > > market? I have seen that big US operators like T-mobile and Verizon > > > are looking for Android apps. > > > It is certainly possible, but none of the alternate markets have - as > > yet - a market penetration to compete with the Android market. You are > > likely to make at least an order of magnitude (10x) more sales > > through the Android market than any other portal as things stand > > today. That situation may change in future, perhaps even the near > > future, but for now this is the reality we deal with. > > > Regards, > > > Michael A. > > > > On 18 Nov, 14:11, "Michael A." <[email protected]> wrote: > > > > > On Nov 17, 9:57 am, MobileVisuals <[email protected]> wrote: > > > > > > I see, so do you know the best way to make a time limited trial? I > > > > > assume that the License Verification Library (LVL) should not be used > > > > > for this? > > > > > I would not make a time-limited trial (that was kind of my point). > > > > With the way the Android market works (and the demographics of its > > > > users), it is not really well suited to these kind of apps. > > > > > I would look to limit the functionality/choice in your trial app > > > > instead. I can see that you do wallpapers; you could for instance > > > > offer a basic variant for free that does not permit any (or very > > > > little) tweaking of your wallpaper settings. Or put in ads whenever > > > > the settings are changed - whichever solution seems to fit best with > > > > your strategy. > > > > > > Our apps has sold best when there is no trial version available, so > > > > > the consumer only has the option of buying the complete version. This > > > > > approach has been successful on Playnow, we've had 2 apps which have > > > > > been number one their sales chart. > > > > > The Android market is a very different beast, for better and worse. > > > > > > But I assume that this approach is more difficult on Android market, > > > > > since there are so may free products available? > > > > > Visibility is an issue on the market. There's a reason that most of > > > > the success stories on the market were either early arrivals to > > > > Android or "big names" (e.g. Rovio). > > > > > > Or is it possible to sell good on Android market without having a > > > > > trial version? > > > > > I think you misunderstand the purpose of a trial version in the > > > > context of the Android market. > > > > > Keep in mind that the Android Market already implements a default time- > > > > limited trial version of your app - ANY user can download your app and > > > > return it within 24-48 hours practically for free. Do people really > > > > need more than 24 hours to determine whether they want to buy your > > > > app? I think that it is a very rare app where this would be the case. > > > > Obviously, seeing a high return percentage on your app is not be nice, > > > > but why spend effort implementing something which already exists in > > > > the Android market? > > > > > I would reformulate your question into a better one (from my point of > > > > view on what occurs in the Android Market): is it possible to sell > > > > well on the Android Market without having an established fanbase? If > > > > you have a killer app, maybe. For the vast majority of apps, it would > > > > take brilliant and/or massively unscrupulous (sadly a lot of that > > > > around too) marketing effort to generate sales. > > > > > What a "trial version" is for is to spearhead your marketing effort. > > > > You want to put something on the market that makes people say "Man > > > > this is awesome" -> telling all their friends about it and rating it > > > > 5* -> more downloads -> hopefully sales of your other products. What > > > > you are most likely to get from a time-limited trial on the Android > > > > market is a "WTF doesn't this work anymore?" and more angry users > > > > rating your trial with 1 star. Marking your app as a time-limited > > > > trial is not going to change that substantially. Assume that anything > > > > you write to promote your app can and will be misunderstood (for some > > > > users, it seems you should just assume that they can't/won't read > > > > anything you write). > > > > > Regards, > > > > > Michael A.- Dölj citerad text - > > > - Visa citerad text -- Dölj citerad text - > > - Visa citerad text - -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Android Developers" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/android-developers?hl=en
