For the most part, it seems to be people going to a lot of trouble to save a dollar or 2 on app purchases, the type of people that were unlikely to buy anyway.
People still aren't able to make arbitrary in app purchases for free? If that is the case piracy might end up making the developer more in the long run.
>the type of people that were unlikely to buy anyway.
As someone whose Android app has wound up on some pirate sites, it's not so much the lost revenue I'm worried about. It's the possibility that the version of my app on some Chinese pirate site has been repacked with malware.
Is it time to go back to the early-'90s-shareware model of annoy screens? Release two versions of your app to the app store, one free with a ten second long "you're a bad person" loading screen, and one that costs a bit.
As a consumer, I prefer this style of monetization to in-app purchasing. At least I know what I'm getting and what the reviews mean. Oddly, though, the market doesn't seem to agree with me. Demo/shareware apps just don't seem to do well.
Obviously the average consumer and I just don't see eye to eye about something. I have no idea what, though.
I think anyone downloading apps from a Chinese pirate site can expect to get malware sooner or later. I wouldn't be too concerned about it if I were you.
People still aren't able to make arbitrary in app purchases for free? If that is the case piracy might end up making the developer more in the long run.