Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

rdowns

macrumors Penryn
Original poster
Jul 11, 2003
27,397
12,521
The good news, "Existing Shazam users, however, can keep using their free, unlimited versions."

Link


The makers of Shazam, the hugely popular song-identifier for the iPhone, launched a $5 premium version Monday and said future versions of its free app will be limited to five song identifications a month.
 

philMBP

macrumors 6502
Nov 19, 2007
383
18
How can they not cap existing users given that the app does not use registered accounts? The only way I can think of is never again updating...or they remove the original version but still offer updates. However, accidently deleting it would mean never getting it back.

Thoughts?
 

derek13

macrumors regular
Jun 22, 2009
224
0
Waterloo, Ontario
How can they not cap existing users given that the app does not use registered accounts? The only way I can think of is never again updating...or they remove the original version but still offer updates. However, accidently deleting it would mean never getting it back.

Thoughts?

They probably keep track of the UDID (device ID) on their servers.
 

Nermal

Moderator
Staff member
Dec 7, 2002
20,627
3,986
New Zealand
How can they not cap existing users given that the app does not use registered accounts? The only way I can think of is never again updating...or they remove the original version but still offer updates. However, accidently deleting it would mean never getting it back.

Thoughts?

Change the existing app's price point in iTunes from $0 to $5. Add a new, free version with the 5-song limit. I don't know whether that's what they've done, but that would do the trick.
 

ncsmith4

macrumors 6502
Jul 15, 2007
347
29
Midomi charges money now too...

But here is my question now: Shazam (free) just updated to Version 1.8.0. It doesnt say anything about a 5 song limit. Im afraid to update cuz I dont want to be locked into 5 song limit, but now I have an effing "1" on my app store icon. WTF?

Also, why does Shazam Encore have ads?!? What am I paying for? The privilege of viewing ads??
 

jmpage2

macrumors 68040
Sep 14, 2007
3,223
548
This might simply be a case of the ad revenue not being enough to support the servers that they need to keep the service running.

I tag a song once every couple of weeks, but I've seen people that tag 20 songs a day.
 

redbeard331

macrumors 68030
Jul 21, 2009
2,607
4,729
I call BS, I updated tonight thinking my limit wouldn't get capped and it did, so after a year of Shazam being one of my favorite apps I am deleting it and just using Midomi which does not limit you.
 

Kahnyl

macrumors 68000
Feb 2, 2009
1,584
2
Why do I encounter so many people online who hate the notion of a company making a profit?
 

GoCubsGo

macrumors Nehalem
Feb 19, 2005
35,741
153
I call BS, I updated tonight thinking my limit wouldn't get capped and it did, so after a year of Shazam being one of my favorite apps I am deleting it and just using Midomi which does not limit you.
You could have copied the ipa file to another location, updated the app, checked to see whether it limited existing users, and if it did simply put the old ipa file back. No?

Why do I encounter so many people online who hate the notion of a company making a profit?
It is not that the notion of a company making a profit is bad. It is the notion that you have an app that cost a certain amount of money. In this case, it was free. Then they realize that it is impossible to carry the load with ad revenue so they offer a paid version. That is entirely ok as far as I'm concerned. However, they then take their free version and limit old and new users (there are reports that existing users are being limited through the latest update) crippling the app that they "bought". While it was free it there is still an issue there when a company is essentially forcing you to pay for something that you've been using for free for well over a year (in some cases). With every app I buy or download for free I expect that it will work as originally advertised.
 

Kahnyl

macrumors 68000
Feb 2, 2009
1,584
2
The way I look at it is, this app has been really useful to me for over a year and I never had to pay a cent for it. I'm now being asked to pay an optional one time fee which I don't mind at all because it's been a great service and will continue to be.

I've got a fully functional version of Shazam on this phone now, but I'm still going to buy the paid version. I think of it as a tip.
 

GoCubsGo

macrumors Nehalem
Feb 19, 2005
35,741
153
The way I look at it is, this app has been really useful to me for over a year and I never had to pay a cent for it. I'm now being asked to pay an optional one time fee which I don't mind at all because it's been a great service and will continue to be.

I've got a fully functional version of Shazam on this phone now, but I'm still going to buy the paid version. I think of it as a tip.

I agree in a way but I've just read that the paid version also has ads. When I pay for an app I expect them to be ad-free. When I get a free app I welcome ads because I expect the developer needs to eat.
 

Kahnyl

macrumors 68000
Feb 2, 2009
1,584
2
I just saw the list of changes. It says as an existing user even if I update I'll still have unlimited tagging. That seems totally fair.
 

bozzykid

macrumors 68020
Aug 11, 2009
2,430
492
I just saw the list of changes. It says as an existing user even if I update I'll still have unlimited tagging. That seems totally fair.

Have you verified that? I don't see how they are even making that possible on the upgrade.
 

bradl

macrumors 603
Jun 16, 2008
5,923
17,399
I just updated. Hopefully I don't get hosed.

Let us know how this works out. I downloaded the update last night, then caught this and the other thread. Since then, I deleted the app out of iTunes, then transferred the app back from my iPhone into iTunes.

I'd love to hear some success/failure stories before updating.

BL.
 

DarkHeraldMage

macrumors 6502a
Oct 5, 2007
878
0
Fort Worth, TX
If you don't want to pay, or you don't want to potentially be limited, don't upgrade. I agree with the very few people here who have said that it's ridiculous for everyone to be whining about the developer wanting to make a little money off an extremely successful venture on their part.

Now if they forced users who previously downloaded it for free to pay, yes, that would be a problem. But nobody says you have to update/upgrade. You want the free unlimited version, then stay where you're at and don't update it. But all this whining because people don't want to give everything away free forever is just sad. Most trials or shareware programs don't last nearly as long as they allowed the free unlimited version of Shazam. They were more than generous and are still being so.
 
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.