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Nicolas Arias Gomez
5,775 PointsFree app
When i defined an app free in google play, it couldn't be a paid app later. but this is just for the downloading process isn`t it? if you want to get paid for your service but not for downloading, your app is still free? for example uber is free but you pay for its service. i just want to understand better this free thing.
2 Answers
Gloria Dwomoh
13,116 PointsI haven't really used Uber so I can't surely say what is going on with it but I think it has in-app billing, but the actual app is free.
Once you set your app free to download you can't make it paid.
"3.3 You may also choose to distribute Products for free. If the Product is free, you will not be charged a Transaction Fee. You may not collect future charges from users for copies of the Products that those users were initially allowed to download for free. This is not intended to prevent distribution of free trial versions of the Product with an "upsell" option to obtain the full version of the Product: Such free trials for Products are encouraged. However, if you want to collect fees after the free trial expires, you must collect all fees for the full version of the Product through the Payment Processor on the Market. In this Agreement, "free" means there are no charges or fees of any kind for use of the Product. All fees received by Developers for Products distributed via the Market must be processed by the Market's Payment Processor.' - source
Harry James
14,780 PointsYes, you are correct in this.
A "free app" is an app that can be downloaded without needing to pay for it on the app store. You can't later say that your app costs $2 to download later, for example.
You can, however, make the service paid for. For example, the Treehouse Android App! This app is free to download on the Play Store but, you can only access the 30 second previews if you don't have a subscription.
Another alternative is that you can use in-app purchases instead. So, you can make your app free but then use in-app purchases to buy extra functions on the app however, I believe this is set to change and soon apps that use in-app purchases will no longer appear in the "Top free apps" section.
Hope it helps! :)