|
It's not a scam, it's just misleading consumers. No one is losing money, but it's just an annoying trend.
One of the more popular apps I remember downloading was Angry Birds: Space. It only lets you play the first few levels, but you have to pay to play the rest. It wasn't obvious in the description that it was a limited version, and in fact states it has ads(implying it was free, but supported via ads like games like Draw Something Free). Nah, everything after the first 10 levels you have to pay to play. It doesn't even have an in-app purchase to give this away. You simply have to download and play until it pops up and tells you that you need to pay to play the rest of the levels.
Examples like this pop up all the time as I browse the apps. They simply use the word "free" instead of "demo." No, a game with only 10 levels with the rest locked away via purchase is not free.
|
You can blame the high rate of app piracy on Android and iOS for this.
They wont market their games as free or demo because they really arent free or demos in the developer's mind. Sure it may be free to download which can be misleading but you may still have to pay to get a full experience as well as major advantages are also in favor of those who pay.
Its just something you have to assume nowadays when browsing for apps.