I think the point is that there's no way to stop pirates (0% piracy of apps will never happen in this universe)- it's all about finding a balance between user frustration and developer protection. 100% developer protection = forcing users to submit to total background checks & showing up at their house before having them buy an app 0% developer protection = $0
Obviously we need to find a balance, but it's unclear where that equilibrium point is right now. Someone should do a study on that. On Saturday, February 9, 2013 10:44:42 AM UTC-8, Kristopher Micinski wrote: > > "don't have a paid version of your app in the market" is a non > solution: ad supported apps don't make real money for the mid range > developers (with the top 1-2% of app developers perhaps being able > make a modest profit). > > I know of at least one study to show users actually end up "paying" a > good amount for apps if you factor in other costs: battery life, data > connectivity, the possible cost of your private information being > sold, etc... > > This is not to say ads are bad, but it's unrealistic to think that > you're actually going to make a real profit from a solely ad supported > app. Generally you will make a free version with ads, and an upgraded > "pro" version with more features. What happens when someone cracks > this version and puts it on the market? For the real developer > (someone who cares about their profits, and isn't just making an app > for run, collecting a little bit of ad revenue for giggles) app > cracking is a concern. Educating yourself on the different ways it can > be done would be good knowledge to have. (FYI, there are automated > tools today that crack apps doing all sorts of crazy things like > disassembling and rewriting your bytecode to remove licensing checks, > etc...) > > kris > > > On Sat, Feb 9, 2013 at 11:38 AM, Anton Kaiser > <[email protected]<javascript:>> > wrote: > > Just for the fun of it, I've read all the answers here. And Rob H. is > the > > one deserving my +1 ;) > > Still, the idea of your solution is good, but it is even easier to > pirate > > your app. This is because the in-app purchase system is flawed an has > > already been broken. It is enough for any user to have a well-known app > > installed (not going to tell you it's name here though), which emulates > the > > Google Play Store. When a user touches to purchase more levels, he will > pay > > $0.00 in the emulated store, and the store will report back success in > your > > app, which will start downloading from your server. > > Now to counter this, your server will have to check with Google Play if > > there really has been a purchase from that user before you provide the > > downloadable content. This is one extra step, but really an essential > one. > > If your app gets really successful, somebody will write an emulator of > your > > server, and again it was all for nothing. > > > > So, basic point taken here for anybody who reads this: Don't waste your > time > > on copy-protection. Have a free, ad-supported version in the store so > user's > > won't have to start looking for pirated versions. And be happy if people > > start pirating and distributing your app, as this will get your app even > > more popular. > > And don't sue the pirates. Microsoft did that with Windows XP. Made many > > poor people pay a lot of money and resulted in bad PR for MS, so they > > stopped that. MS is successful because so many people want to use their > > stuff, not because they are so successful in conquering pirates. > > > > Am Donnerstag, 7. Februar 2013 18:55:42 UTC+1 schrieb Rob H: > >> > >> I think if you're interested in protecting your app from piracy the > best > >> way to do it is via the in-app purchase system. If you're making a > game, > >> put it up there with level 1 for free. Thousands of people will check > it > >> out. If they want to continue on to the other levels, well here's an > in-app > >> store where you can decide how much you want to pay for the app (the > more > >> you pay the more content you get). Then you make your content > DOWNLOADED > >> from your server, not from unlocking something in your existing APK > file. > >> This combined with a system that communicates with your server similar > to > >> the iOS receipt auditing system means that a user is only going to get > the > >> downloaded content if they go through the purchase process. Yes, > pirates > >> could buy everything on one device, then bundle all that content up and > >> modify your APK to say that all the content is unlocked, however the > work > >> involved makes this highly impractical. They're only going to do it if > your > >> game is so popular that everyone wants it badly, and in that case > you'll be > >> making enough money where piracy almost becomes a positive thing for > you > >> because it helps get the game in people's hands and at this point your > game > >> is so good more people seeing it means more people buying it. > > > > -- > > -- > > 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]<javascript:> > > To unsubscribe from this group, send email to > > [email protected] <javascript:> > > For more options, visit this group at > > http://groups.google.com/group/android-developers?hl=en > > --- > > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google > Groups > > "Android Developers" group. > > To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send > an > > email to [email protected] <javascript:>. > > For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/groups/opt_out. > > > > > -- -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Android Developers" group. 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