According to Google, price ranges for in-app purchase will be listed on their detail pages within the Play store –including those fees payable for virtual products and subscriptions. Recent changes had already indicated whether in-app purchases were present within each title, but this takes it a thankful step further.
I expect reactions to this change will be mixed. In some cases it may be detrimental to developers who give apps away at freemium prices, only to (hopefully) engage users with amazing and useful apps that they then have a captive audience ready to purchase virtual goods and services. It may also benefit those developers, with users realizing ahead of time that they can eliminate the ads within an app for a mere $0.99 (as an example).
Of course, these added details may not be that helpful unless the listings are descriptive. For a game that lets you purchase virtual currency, the pricing may read something like: $1-99 (quite the range).
Apple is likely paying close attention to these changes being made by Google –having also been legally attacked recently for unintended in-app purchases that were made by their users (particularly parents).
Will seeing the in-app purchase prices make you more or less likely to download a particular app?
Jillian Koskie is an experienced software developer, content writer, project manager and usability design expert. With over 17 years in these roles, Jillian has enjoyed applying her skill-set to assist clients and users across a wide variety of sectors including: legal, health, and financial services. Combining these professional opportunities with a love of technology, Jillian is pleased to contribute articles, opinions, and advice to numerous news outlets, websites, and publications.
