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Messaging App LINE Ordered by Apple to Remove Paid Sticker Gifting
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Not everyone lives in the US. LINE is Japanese.
But apps and games are real?
As others have said, this app is immensely popular in east Asia, particularly among the younger crowd (though I did have a boss who for some reason was fond of using it to contact me… not exactly an app with a reputation for professional deal-making and such).
The "stickers" are usually of licensed characters from cartoons and comics and such. After buying a set of stickers, you can use them forever, and your friends don't have to buy the same set in order to see them. Maybe I like Donald Duck so much that I'm willing to pay $2 to be able to send Donald smilies to my friends instead of generic yellow circles; what's it to you? The rage that some people are showing about this is either comic or tragic; I can't decide. It's all a lot more honest than how many games implement IAP, I think. (Not that I've actually bought stickers, or even use this app on a day-to-day basis…)
Profits aside, when Facebook is blatantly copying your idea, you must be doing something right.
The "stickers" are usually of licensed characters from cartoons and comics and such. After buying a set of stickers, you can use them forever, and your friends don't have to buy the same set in order to see them. Maybe I like Donald Duck so much that I'm willing to pay $2 to be able to send Donald smilies to my friends instead of generic yellow circles; what's it to you? The rage that some people are showing about this is either comic or tragic; I can't decide. It's all a lot more honest than how many games implement IAP, I think. (Not that I've actually bought stickers, or even use this app on a day-to-day basis…)
Profits aside, when Facebook is blatantly copying your idea, you must be doing something right.
Apple didn't set the prices, the developers did. They created the world where anything more than 99 cents is too pricey. Especially game developers. Apple merely 'made the mistake' of letting them set their own prices.
And there are valid uses for IAP even in games. It is actually the better solution for handling ad removal, level packs etc rather than a whole new app. Apple should be pushing it more for such things and pushing more universal apps etc.
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THAT I suspect is the issue. Those 7-10 year old types that know the password but don't get from the weird phrasing that they are spending real money at that point. Having to put in the password isn't that big of a clue when you have to put it in for downloading free apps too
I don't see any Trademark symbols on any of the Peanuts or Disney stuff - I wonder if they might be due a call from the IP departments of the owners of those trademarks about some of their images?
It is actually Korean, but interestingly distributed by Naver Japan, a Japanese subsidiary, on the app stores.
As said before, it the #1 IM app in Asia, having replaced in part Kakaotalk in Korea.
As for stickers, I don't see how spending a few bucks to add some cute smileys from time to time to your messages (everybody uses them here) is a waste of money.
Seriously guys, it's 1.99...
As for the 17M per quarter, when you think there are 150M members, that's not huge is it?
Apple's at fault because they created a commoditzed software market. Say there was only store in California that sold furniture and everyone who wanted furniture had to buy it from this store. But you have a thousand companies that make furniture competing on a single showroom and most of them have no branding and are indistinguishable to the average consumer. So how do they get the consumer's attention? By competing on price. Which turns into a race to the bottom and causes anyone who wants to price above the now budget pricepoint to price themselves out of the market. The low price also affects the quality of the furniture because now anyone who wants to make premium furniture that requires a higher pricepoint to recoup costs can't make it.
In this case, the furniture is apps of course. Now it's also in Apple's advantage to commoditize software but that's another story. They don't view budget pricing as a fault. They view software commoditization as a catalyst for hardware sales, which is all they really care about since they're a hardware company.
I agree, but the driver for IAP on iOS has been devs trying to come up with an alternate way to monetize because $1-2 software is now considered too expensive. Same with subscriptions, bundling, and devs sticking ads on paid software.
Everyone not in the US take a deep breath and understand that we do not exist for many in the US. The world ends at the US borders and NOTHING could be popular they have never heard of. I have never heard of it either, but I HAVE been to many countries (including mentioned Japan, Thailand, South Korea and Taiwan) and DO understand that there are many different people and cultures therefore the world does not revolve around whats inside my head.
Please explain the sticker thing to me...
Honest, I don't understand it. I have not seen it in real life.
This is what I understand:
1) A sticker is a virtual image, not a real sticker like Apple's own gift card service (and App)
2) You can buy a sticker for yourself with IAP.
3) If you want to gift a sticker, you first have to purchase a virtual currency.
4) Sticker expire or not, based on the properties of the product not because of pricing, etc.
If that is all correct, please tell me.
5) What can I as the user do with that sticker, except looking at it.
6) Do I gain special functionality by having a certain sticker?
7) What other purpose has such a sticker besides being visible in my personal version of my App? (Can I send it in a message?, Do I earn bonus points?)
I really don't get it, it's the first time I ever heard of it.
I know badges, achievements and gamification in general.
But just buying a virtual sticker that has no purpose seems really strange to me.
Maybe someone who came across such a sticker can explain that.
Thanks.
PS: Honest question, I don't get it at all.
Honest, I don't understand it. I have not seen it in real life.
This is what I understand:
1) A sticker is a virtual image, not a real sticker like Apple's own gift card service (and App)
2) You can buy a sticker for yourself with IAP.
3) If you want to gift a sticker, you first have to purchase a virtual currency.
4) Sticker expire or not, based on the properties of the product not because of pricing, etc.
If that is all correct, please tell me.
5) What can I as the user do with that sticker, except looking at it.
6) Do I gain special functionality by having a certain sticker?
7) What other purpose has such a sticker besides being visible in my personal version of my App? (Can I send it in a message?, Do I earn bonus points?)
I really don't get it, it's the first time I ever heard of it.
I know badges, achievements and gamification in general.
But just buying a virtual sticker that has no purpose seems really strange to me.
Maybe someone who came across such a sticker can explain that.
Thanks.
PS: Honest question, I don't get it at all.
I was just looking at it and I think people are focusing on buying stickers too much.
LINE: Free Calls & Messages
It's a FREE program for unlimited free voice calls and messages. The stickers must be just an in app purchase you can send. Who knows if the majority even buy these stickers.
Many countries do not have unlimited voice and messages, these type of apps are popular.
There are over 600000 downloads in the US android market and 4 out of 5 stars, plus 4 stars in itunes (just looked).
The point is I think it's popular for the unlimited free calls and messages.
On the virtual stickers I really don't see any difference in sending virtual greeting cards which I do not do either, but some people do.
LINE: Free Calls & Messages
It's a FREE program for unlimited free voice calls and messages. The stickers must be just an in app purchase you can send. Who knows if the majority even buy these stickers.
Many countries do not have unlimited voice and messages, these type of apps are popular.
There are over 600000 downloads in the US android market and 4 out of 5 stars, plus 4 stars in itunes (just looked).
The point is I think it's popular for the unlimited free calls and messages.
On the virtual stickers I really don't see any difference in sending virtual greeting cards which I do not do either, but some people do.
my take on stickers
I don't use LINE often, but I have one installed because some friends use it,
LINE stickers are like emojis, smilies, or emoticons, except they describe emotion a lot better than just a simple smile or grin.
They express emotion like in anime (japanese animation) or manga (japanese comic), and this kind of emotion is cultural and familiar to most people, in asia.
So when someone send a sticker to others, and the other person gets the emotion being conveyed, that's when sticker becomes commodity,
and probably why they're not as big in the US, or Europe, because it's not familiar to people.
And back to topic of the news, I think Apple don't like that one can purchase coins on Android or any other platform, and use it in iOS.
I don't use LINE often, but I have one installed because some friends use it,
LINE stickers are like emojis, smilies, or emoticons, except they describe emotion a lot better than just a simple smile or grin.
They express emotion like in anime (japanese animation) or manga (japanese comic), and this kind of emotion is cultural and familiar to most people, in asia.
So when someone send a sticker to others, and the other person gets the emotion being conveyed, that's when sticker becomes commodity,
and probably why they're not as big in the US, or Europe, because it's not familiar to people.
And back to topic of the news, I think Apple don't like that one can purchase coins on Android or any other platform, and use it in iOS.
Line App (chat, picture, card, games) are very popular in Asia. They made tons of money from it. They sell 'emotion' product and not 'sticker'... it might be hard for American to understand.. but alot of Asian really love this stuff. In Thailand.. everyone.. and i mean everyone who has smartphone use them... (Network Effects).. since everyone use them... other use it too.. and STicker is another type of communication form where you don't wanna type.. say if you are tired or bored.. you can just send sticker to your friends.. it's brilliant actually.. try to imagine using it...one button can 'say alot' about what you want to send the message instead of typing a long sentence...
5) What can I as the user do with that sticker, except looking at it.
you can send and receive them. Basically, it's the 'emotion' thing, where sender and receiver can express their emotion (sad, happy, sleepy, love, playful, etc) through sticker (often time famous like Hello Kitty, pokemon, etc)
6) Do I gain special functionality by having a certain sticker?
basically it's the emotion thing..you get to send and receive them..
7) What other purpose has such a sticker besides being visible in my personal version of my App? (Can I send it in a message?, Do I earn bonus points?)
they integrate it with other popular App that LINE have.. photo editing, greeting card, etc
I really don't get it, it's the first time I ever heard of it.
I know badges, achievements and gamification in general.
But just buying a virtual sticker that has no purpose seems really strange to me.
It's just a 'different' in culture between the US and a lot of Asian's culture.
Maybe someone who came across such a sticker can explain that.
Thanks.
PS: Honest question, I don't get it at all.[/QUOTE]
5) What can I as the user do with that sticker, except looking at it.
you can send and receive them. Basically, it's the 'emotion' thing, where sender and receiver can express their emotion (sad, happy, sleepy, love, playful, etc) through sticker (often time famous like Hello Kitty, pokemon, etc)
6) Do I gain special functionality by having a certain sticker?
basically it's the emotion thing..you get to send and receive them..
7) What other purpose has such a sticker besides being visible in my personal version of my App? (Can I send it in a message?, Do I earn bonus points?)
they integrate it with other popular App that LINE have.. photo editing, greeting card, etc
I really don't get it, it's the first time I ever heard of it.
I know badges, achievements and gamification in general.
But just buying a virtual sticker that has no purpose seems really strange to me.
It's just a 'different' in culture between the US and a lot of Asian's culture.
Maybe someone who came across such a sticker can explain that.
Thanks.
PS: Honest question, I don't get it at all.[/QUOTE]
I was just coming back to say that they look to be the same as emoticons:
https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/line/id443904275?mt=8
This is kind of like people that were buying premium emoticons for messenger. Messenger was really big here in mexico with emoticons, now people are using facebook chat.
I think people are hung up on the word "sticker".
https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/line/id443904275?mt=8
This is kind of like people that were buying premium emoticons for messenger. Messenger was really big here in mexico with emoticons, now people are using facebook chat.
I think people are hung up on the word "sticker".
It's huge here in Thailand. We still use Whatsapp, but still LINE is more popular with their 'stickers'.
The stickers are so cute. It is how to express emotion. Anyone not getting this try imagine all your friends use LINE, then you must use it too to connect with ur friends.
And the thing is... women love sending cute emotions (stickers).
The stickers are so cute. It is how to express emotion. Anyone not getting this try imagine all your friends use LINE, then you must use it too to connect with ur friends.
And the thing is... women love sending cute emotions (stickers).
But you can only use you $1 pack of stickers once whereas you can use it countless times in the app.
LINE is actually more functional than texting, as you can both send a message to one person or to a group(simultaneously). It's great for a group discussion as you can see what everyone within the group is saying at the same time.
Yep, sounds just like premium emoticons.
Or like any other in app purchase where someone adds something and it stays there.
You really have to sift through a lot of Chinese garbage in the app store to find good stuff sometimes. So many "vendors" (loosely used) push out the same app under different names and different price points and graphics just to scam as many people as they can. Then there's just the stupid junk like this that is just throwing poo at the wall to see who'll buy it. The app store is like a giant trip to an asian bazar. As controlled as it appears to be, they sure let quite a bit of useless fluff get by.