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F-Droid exploring to include paid apps, in-apps, subscription, and ads in app

cross-posted from: https://r.nf/post/1771956

Thoughts?

113 comments
  • Targeted advertising is a huge no. No more of that.

    Static advertising I can accept, but then who's responsible for vetting ads? I don't want scams displayed everywhere.

    Devs definitely need ways to support themselves and sustain development. I've shared this screenshot from the app Secure Tether before:


    I like to chip in a few bucks to my most used apps/services that are donationware, but after all the middlemen take their cut, the devs are left with peanuts. This IMO is the biggest hurdle when it comes to online monetization. A less expensive way to donate will certainly help.

    Additionally, there are people who cannot or will not pay for apps, and I don't want to exclude them from being able to use an app/service they need.

    Monetization like how Reddit Gold was and how Discord Nitro is are some of my favorites. Few extra perks and cosmetic features for paying users. Free users are still able to use the main product at no cost and you can gift them Gold/Nitro if they aren't able to purchase it themselves. I don't know how that would translate into an app store model though.

  • I never expected this. What a shame.

    Edit: the ads part are not an acceptable add-on for me, as someone who respects privacy and foss. I don't know of a single foss payment processor (lmk if one exists). A lot of people here are saying "pay what you want", but it's that way now, with GitHub donation links; we don't need this in the fdroid app.

    • They want to add paid apps where you need to make a payment before getting access to the App. It's not the same as the current donate approach

      • No, I understood what they're trying to do. As far as I know, there are no foss payment processors, so adding a non-foss one would defy fdroid's current foss-first approach.

        Then, people on this post's comments are saying that they would be good with a "pay what you can/want" concept, but, again, that's already the case with donations. It's literally how donations work.

  • After reading that post, this sounds mostly like a whole lot of tracking. At that point I think I'll just use the Play Store lol, it has more selection if I'm going to have the same level of privacy anyway

  • I'm not sure I can be as pliant as others here. Being less of an activist and more of a user of convenience, if I am making PayPal payments somebody better give me a reason why I'm not just using the same store that came in by default with my phone.

      • Those are all advantages for developers and activists. End users don't care or need to care. As an end user the only reason for keeping two stores in my phone is that one does a thing the other one doesn't, functionally. That's why Samsung can keep putting their dumb store on their phones forever but people just don't engage with it.

        Now, unlike the Samsung store when I was on a Samsung phone, F-Droid is something I do use, because there is a clear use case there: Play for all the commercial apps, F-Droid for non-commercial alternatives and a stuff that Google doesn't allow on Play for whatever reason.

        If F-Droid wants to make a push for being my only store, they better provide all the functionality, support, variety and convenience Play does, because Play comes pre-installed. If I can't go to F-Droid to be guaranteed to not have to deal with payments or MTX, then it better have every single thing I need. I'm talking every game, every app, every legacy piece of software. It better have the same one-click payment convenience I get from Google Pay. And it better still have a default option to search for completely free apps, or I'll have to go find a F-Droid alternative that does that for when I want to be sure I'm not getting any hidden fees with my app.

  • i'm fine with it as long as the privacy labels remain front and centre when downloading; especially if they clearly mark which apps are ad supported, subscription based, etc and don't prioritize them over foss/ad free

    otoh, i use neo store so it probably won't matter

  • Wow, there is approximately 2 people in these comments that actually read the article.

  • I can't see this go well for them.

    I get the idea. I also get not wanting to restrict devs and hence offering all kinds of payment options. But I cannot see this be visible for them given their target audience.

113 comments