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Apple to Start Charging for Re-Downloading Apps Over-the-Air?

arn said:
I don't have 3.0 installed on my iPhone. But multiple people I trust have said the same thing.

arn
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I redact my previous posts regarding the article's inaccuracy. Upon further trial, it seems that larger applications give me the buy dialogue and smaller applications give me the free dialogue.

For instance, Super Monkey Ball and Fastlane give me the buy dialogue, whereas Camera Zoom and Fuel Gauge give me the free dialogue.
 
I understand the issue, but this is not good news for mobile convenience/usability! I constantly re-download apps I've bought over the air, especially when I'm away from my Mac and want an app (and can't sync). Charging for something you've already bought is not good at all!
 
Well now....

The General said:
Right here. Or, you might *GASP* just try re-downloading an app yourself before post your worthless banter about iPhones and what "some of us" like.
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First off, like Arn, I do not have 3.0 on my iPhone. So, it would be impossible to try it before I post my worthless banter.

If your "The General", I feel sorry for your troops!
 
The General said:
I redact my previous posts regarding the article's inaccuracy. Upon further trial, it seems that larger applications give me the buy dialogue and smaller applications give me the free dialogue.

For instance, Super Monkey Ball and Fastlane give me the buy dialogue, whereas Camera Zoom and Fuel Gauge give me the free dialogue.
Click to expand...

Same here. I had tried several applications and was mistaken in regard to things.

Things downloads for free, larger applications do not. The cut-off point appears to be somewhere between 5.1MB and 6.8MB - I'm guessing 5.5MB or 6MB.

This makes it weird. Apple's not saving any resources if they allow us to re-download it anyway. Unless that many people are deleting apps and re-downloading them only when they need them.
 
The General said:
For instance, Super Monkey Ball and Fastlane give me the buy dialogue, whereas Camera Zoom and Fuel Gauge give me the free dialogue.
Click to expand...

hmm.. that's a different case altogether. not sure what that means. that over wi-fi?

arn
 
This sucks majorly. I don't sync my phone to my computer except when a new software version comes out of the iPhone OS. When I got my iPhone last July (exchange support was the reason I'd held off), I sent an email to through the feedback form saying the iPhone needed more ability to operate independently of the computer, like the Windows Mobile phone I'd been used to using the previous six years.

This would be a huge step backwards and I hope that they reconsider it for the final software version. I'm already on the fence about going back to a WinMo device because of greater flexibilty (and the browsers are getting better) and this feature becoming permenant would probably be the nail in the coffin. I have high hopes for 3.0 and it sounds great, but the pain-in-the-ass redownloading of apps may shift me away from an iPhone.

For me, my phone is basicallya computer. Every since my Toshiba 2032SP I've used my phone constantly on the go. My last WinMo phone, the great Treo 700wx, wasn't synced to a computer in almost two years. I hope to achieve the same with the iPhone.
 
The General said:
Yeah, it's over wifi. I have really bad EDGE service where I am, otherwise I'd test cell too.
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Alright General, you win :) That seems to throw out the speculation completely. I've updated the article for now. I guess we'll have to wait to see what the new rules are.

arn
 
If this is true I think it's just a lame solution for people "sharing apps". :rolleyes: I love re-downloading programs I've deleted right on the phone. I'd hate if I had to sync every time.

I usually hit the OK button without thinking, I'll surely have to change that habit if this happens. ugh. :rolleyes: I can understand if maybe this was only on EDGE/3G if AT&T had some bone to pick with the size of the app but, *shrugs*.
 
Apple to Start Charging for Re-Downloading Apps Over-the-Air?

ballmerwtf2.png


:mad: :mad:
 
Once more I want to say, what's the rationale of allowing multiple accounts for one phone, because that's the crux of this discussion....:confused:
 
arn said:
Alright General, you win :) That seems to throw out the speculation completely. I've updated the article for now. I guess we'll have to wait to see what the new rules are.

arn
Click to expand...

Here's my list for re-downloading:
Things <1MB ($9.99): Free
Imangi 4.0MB ($.99): Free
Leaf Trombone: 4.9MB ($.99): Free
Pianist 6.9MB ($3.99): Requires Buy
Lightbike: 7.8MB ($.99): Free
Band 8.5 ($3.99): Requires Buy
Koi Pond 8.5MB ($.99): Free
Touch Physics 8.1MB (2.99): Free
Super Money Ball 36.3MB ($5.99): Requires Buy
Texas Hold'em -by Apple- 128MB ($4.99): Free

There's no rhyme or reason (price, size or date purchased). Maybe it's completely up to the developer?
 
It's MY bandwidth, not theirs

ipedro said:
This is perfectly fair and understandable. We should consider ourselves lucky for not having to pay to redownload an app anywhere, even at home. Bandwidth costs money and I can see people abusing Apple's goodwill.
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You are right--bandwidth costs money. And I am buying it. It costs ME money. So when I'm prevented from using the bandwidth I paid for, I get angry. Apple is effectively telling me that I am not allowed to use my bandwidth that I bought to download an app that I bought. And somehow you find a way to defend that. Bizarre. :confused:
 
Arn, here's a little more info for you. I don't think it's entirely by file size. I just downloaded my app, TanZen, which is 4.3 MB, and it said free. Then I downloaded Zentomino, which is 4.2 MB, and it said buy. I repeated the tests, with the same results. I'm guessing price may be a factor, as TanZen is $0.99, and Zentomino is $1.99. Interestingly, both TanZen Lite and Zentomino Lite said buy.

Edit: All tests were done on a 2G iPhone through wifi.
 
ktappe said:
You are right--bandwidth costs money. And I am buying it. It costs ME money. So when I'm prevented from using the bandwidth I paid for, I get angry. Apple is effectively telling me that I am not allowed to use my bandwidth that I bought to download an app that I bought. And somehow you find a way to defend that. Bizarre. :confused:
Click to expand...

Umm, nope. You did not buy bandwidth, you bought a license for an application. Just because the developers say that you can download it through iTunes only, that's what its going to be. Nowhere does it say that you are buying bandwidth, or you are reserved the right to download it for free any time over the air. You can download it anywhere the developer put it up. If apple says over email only, that's still going to be fine.

The only bandwidth you bought are the one provided by your ISP.
 
ktappe said:
You are right--bandwidth costs money. And I am buying it. It costs ME money. So when I'm prevented from using the bandwidth I paid for, I get angry. Apple is effectively telling me that I am not allowed to use my bandwidth that I bought to download an app that I bought. And somehow you find a way to defend that. Bizarre. :confused:
Click to expand...

Bandwidth doesn't come to Apple for free either, Apple still has to pay for the bandwidth that gets used from your connection that you pay for when you download from Apple.

When you download from Apple they upload to you. The amount of bandwidth you use in a year is a drop in the deepest hole on earth compared to the amount of bandwidth Apple uses a month.

You don't pay for Apples bandwidth usage and i don't think you would want to. You pay for your own bandwidth usage. when you go to a site you use your bandwidth and the sites bandwidth.
 
BRLawyer said:
Well, the different treatment simply means that it's a mix of 2 things: size and a specific developer's request to avoid abuse or piracy on the go. Simple as that, and a NON-ISSUE at all.
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As a developer, with one app that says Buy, and another that says Free, I've done absolutely nothing to create such a result. This is all Apple.
 
GQB said:
Oh poor babies... have to use that troglodydic computer thing that breaks your nails.
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Yes, us "poor babies" have to use that computer thing...THAT MAY BE 5,000 MILES AWAY. You know there are some of us who travel. We take our iPhones with us but not our "computer things". Apple made this wonderful "iPhone thing" portable and in no ads for the device do they show it synching with a "computer thing." No, on the contrary they make it look all but standalone. But yet we're the "babies" who are asking to be able to use the device 1) the way it has been advertised, 2) the way it's been working just fine all along, and 3) the way common sense says it should be able to be used. "Babies" indeed.

You're one of those users who enjoys the better things in life that us "babies" lobby for. You're welcome.
 
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