Rumor: App rentals coming to iOS?

TheTechErra went searching through the code in iTunes 10.5 beta 9, and found an interesting series of strings hinting that Apple is about to allow "rental" of iOS apps. The functionality is referred to as "renting," but it sounds much more like an official implementation of app "trials" that lots of developers have been hoping for. Customers would essentially download these app "rentals" (for free or for a price), and then after a certain period of time, the app rental would either expire, or customers could jump in and buy the full version of the app.

Most developers on the store have worked around functionality like this, either building up two versions of apps (lite and full), or doing things like putting certain content past in-app purchases. But if Apple is finally including this functionality into the official system, then most of those devs will be happy to hear about it tomorrow. We'll have to wait and see.

[via MacRumors]

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Source: http://thetecherra.com/2011/10/01/apple-to-allow-ios-app-ren…

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iTunes App Store iOS

TheTechErra ... found an interesting series of strings hinting that Apple is about to allow "rental" of iOS apps.

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YodaMac

I fear this may be the end of lite versions then. :(
Often the lite version of an app is enough for me and I wouldn't pay for the extra features I didn't need or want.

October 03 2011 at 8:51 PM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down Reply

Soluble Peter

I think it would be a great idea.

A lot of our Mailshot users got confused by the in-app purchase as an upgrade from the free version, and worried whether they will need to pay for each device if they have more than one (they dont). We found that our sales doubled when we introduced MailShot Pro as a standalone option.

The only risk I can see is that we need to make sure users still understand whats happening, if there is yet another purchase option open for them.

Peter
Soluble Apps

October 03 2011 at 5:53 PM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down Reply

silent1643

i thought the "lite" versions of app store apps was for this purpose?

October 03 2011 at 4:38 PM Report abuse Permalink +1 rate up rate down Reply

1 reply to silent1643's comment

mikehild

But not every app has a lite version. And even those that do, your settings, game progress, etc. don't necessarily move over easily from one to the other. I think the new way of having a free app with the full functionality unlocked by an in-app purchase works much better, but an official time-limited trial feature baked into iTunes and iOS would be better still.

October 03 2011 at 5:05 PM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down Reply