In the case of WidgetSmith and probably also Copilot, the subscription in large part pays for API access. For instance, WidgetSmith and WatchSmith (by the same company) lets you use features that don’t require external APIs for free. But stuff like weather generally costs money. In the case of Copilot, the investment tracking features almost certainly require access to a third party API.
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iOS 17: Revamp Your Home Screen With These Apps Featuring Interactive Widgets
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It’s been my experience on the Android devices I own that I often can’t pay for an app at all, at least when it comes to some categories. (I guess ads are more lucrative than direct purchase or subscriptions.) For instance, file managers often don’t have an ad free version at all (which is my cue to look for a different app). On iOS, it depends on the app. Some apps use subscriptions for similar reasons to why Adobe has been pushing subscriptions (more income over the life of the user), some use it as an ongoing source of income to make it worth their time to continue supporting the app, some use them as a way of lessening the impact (or removing the necessity) of large paid upgrades (x.0 version numbers), some use it to pay for ongoing access to APIs (Carrot and WidgetSmith, for instance).
Basically, any sort of software needs either increasing user growth or some sort of ongoing revenue stream in order to continue making money for its maker. Increasing user growth means more users paying the entry price, but there’s a limit to user growth, so it probably isn’t a very secure revenue source. When I was younger, the common norm for ongoing revenue was to issue a paid update. Even Apple did it (heck, I paid $5 for iPhoneOS 3 on an iPod Touch, as I seem to recall). I remember a LOT of complaints back in the day about paid updates on the App Store because there was no real way of offering upgrade pricing. Subscriptions became a way around it, and subscriptions also work well for apps with ongoing per-user and per-request costs (like weather API access, for instance). There’s definitely stuff I wish I could buy outright, but there’s also a place for subscriptions when it makes sense. I’d honestly rather pay $5 a year for your app than see ads in it, myself.
What’s the best widget for displaying photos? I used to use Locket which would show random photos from a photos album (created in the photos app, not one you have to create in the widget), and you could set the interval (5 minutes)
Locket doesn’t seem to work now. Any alternatives that do the same as above?
Locket doesn’t seem to work now. Any alternatives that do the same as above?