App Store Question

[MikeFromMesa]

This is a pretty basic question and I should know the answer to it, but don't, and I suppose it is because until I bought this new iPad I had little reason to be shopping in the App Store.

I thought there were 2 classes of apps in the App Store - those that were free and those that were not, and that it would be easy to tell which was which because the ones that cost money would show a price and the ones that did not would not show a price. But, when I started to put apps on my new iPad that correspond to the apps that are on my Android phone, I suddenly realized that there are three classes of apps in the App Store, not two, or at least three different display icons.

One shows a cloud with a down pointing arrow. OK. That is free. One shows a price. OK. That is not free. And one shows the "GET" icon, but no price. I assumed that was also free, and perhaps it is, but when I download it I am asked to provide proof (in the form of my fingerprint) as if I was spending money to buy it. There is no price but if it is free why am I asked to validate who I am?

What, if any, is the difference between the "cloud with the down arrow" apps and the "GET" apps? What am I missing (again)?

 

[Raz0rEdge]

There are two classes of apps in the App Store. Free and Paid. In the Free class there are two sub-classes, a VERY small subset of apps that are totally free and the more common one that support "in-app purchases". The latter is supported by ads and requires you to "purchase" the ad-free version.

The paid class is just that, it advertises the price right up front and there are no additional costs to make it fully operational. There might be additional costs related to add-ons.

The cloud icon you are seeing indicates an app that you had previously downloaded (free or paid, doesn't matter) but is not presently installed on your current device. In this case, you can re-download the application. If the app was a paid app, you can re-download without having to pay for it again.

So icons:
GET -> Free (and in-app purchasing apps)
CLOUD -> Previously paid/downloaded app but not currently installed
$xx.xxx -> Paid app.

 

[IWT]

Nicely explained, Ashwin.

Ian

 

[MikeFromMesa]

Yes. Thank you very much.

In my case I suppose I did not know that some of those apps were "previously downloaded" because they were on my wife's iPad and she shares my Apple ID, but your response caused me to think about what might be on her iPad. Makes sense now.

 

[badshoehabit]

You do have to give payment details at the start of using the App Store in case a future download is a paid app.

 

[Roussy]

future download is a paid app.

It's not free. It's annoying.

 

[Raz0rEdge]

It's not free. It's annoying.

This is quite a useless statement.

A published app cannot be converted from free to paid, thus the use of in-app purchases. If a developer wants to start charging upfront, they have to publish a totally new app and make it paid from the get go.