UPDATE: Steve Andler from Gokivo responds in the comments.
UPDATE 2: Gokivo updated the language in the App Store description so it’s clearly subscription-based. Though they received 3 ugly “Bait and Switch” reviews first.
We were wondering who would get the honor of first rip-off using Apple’s new In App Purchases. Wonder no longer, that honor goes Gokivo + Yahoo! Local Search.
The app is the first true turn by turn application to make it into the App Store and comes in at that wonderful impulse buy price of only 99 cents. Unfortunately, there’s absolutely no warning or mention in the app’s description that it is entirely subscription based. You have to pay $9.99 to get a monthly pass for the app.
Networks In Motion, the company which released Gokivo, can’t offer the app for free because Apple won’t allow free apps to later charge for something. It’s a classic web sales tactic – lure you to a Web site with the offer of something free, like a free login account. Then, once you get there, you find out the real service is actually much more. In real life it’s called the bait and switch.
But Apple, smartly, didn’t want this rip-off scheme to be used in the App Store. So they refused to allow free apps to charge you anything. A free app is always free.
Maybe the people at NIM didn’t find out about this till the last second and that would explain why they switched from free to 99 cents without changing the app’s description.
In any case, there’s absolutely no excuse. The app’s description needs to clearly state, in the first sentence, “SUBSCRIPTION REQUIRED.”
NIM could have easily offered the app for $9.99 and given users 1 month of free turn-by-turn directions. Heck, they could sell it for 99 cents with a month of free turn-by-turn directions as long as they let you know up front that it is subscription based. They didn’t go that route though. Instead they went the way of the rip-off.
I’m waiting for Tom Tom.
Dude just wait until hackulo crack dat.. Jeez b patiend
I’ve never understood the thought process behind not allowing apps utilizing the in app purchasing to be free. Obviously we don’t want to be tricked into downloading useless free apps but if it clearly explains that you need to spend money within the app in order to take full advantage of the features it seems to me that it makes much more sense for them to be free. It would also allow for true demos rather than flooding the appstore with a “lite” and “full” version of every single app out there.
I forgot to point out that I would MUCH rather be duped into downloading a featureless FREE app that needs additional purchases from within than be duped into paying for a featureless or crippled app that needs more money thrown at to even work as advertised
Wow! Much quicker than I thought for such an in-app abuse.
Hello AppAdvice – Steve here from marketing at Gokivo. Thanks for bringing this concern to our attention. We certainly didn’t mean to confuse anyone or use sneaky language as a “sales tactic.” We have attempted to be clear in all materials that the cost to download the app is .99 cents (including some functionality), but that full navigation is available via $9.99 subscription. That said, there are aware that there must be some confusion, so we are currently looking at ways to revisit the language in the store to be more explicit about costs. We’re not an app that is in this to win a few subscriptions over a few days/weeks… we’re in this for the long haul, so certainly want to be clear with users so they love the app from the start. Stay tuned…
Why not just make it a one time fee of 39.99 or something. I would buy into it then. But for a monthly fee…I will have to pass. I already had a talk with my wife about these type apps with monthly fees and we are in agreement to not purchase them because in time someone will develop something similar with out the monthly fee.
I think we will see a trend of these apps and I believe developers will be shocked to see the decline in sells due to them. As a developer myself, I would much rather keep it to a simple flat rate where one can purchase other “features” if they want to. Monthly rates in today’s economy just isn’t feasible for most.
I would say that making a Turn-by-Turn app a subscription based product is so that the developer can afford to keep the maps up-to-date on your device without having to send out CD’s like normal GPS navigation devices have.
The developers are going to have to deal with bandwidth costs to push map updates to the phone (assuming that is how it’s done).
Plus, we have no idea what TomTom is going to do with their app. I have a sneaking suspicion that it’s going to be a subscription app too.
That is understandable and I didn’t think you were trying to be evil or something but perhaps going about it in a different way could be more reasonable. For example…. As mentioned, you could price the app at $9.99 and give users a full month or even two for users to give a worthy test. Hopefully your company should be confident enough in their efforts that users would continue using it and pay the subscription fee as you would be providing what you promise and maybe more. For the actual gripe made in the article. Make it more than noticeable that it is a subscription service, even if you need to add a small blurb to the description as why the monthly fee is worthwhile.
Steve, considering when you buy a GPS navigation unit, be it TomTom, Garmin, Pioneer, or any other brand, it is a one time fee and there are no subscription charges, and also when purchasing the above mentioned companies PDA versions of their software, none require a subscription for continued use. I realize those companies distribute maps with the software, and charge for updates to the maps later, where I assume you are streaming maps, however your description (prior to changing it) in no way stated that the .99 price point was for a severely crippled application that had none of the advertised features.
I think the proper way to approach this app would have been charging the .99 cents and including the first week, or 3 days of use for free. This would 1) Allow users to determine whether the subscription is really worth the monthly investment, and 2) At least leave users feeling like they “purchased” something for the dollar they spent, rather than getting “taken” like I know we felt when downloading the app.
Even when you buy a new car, the dealership fills your first tank with gas for you, what you guys did is the equivalent of selling me a 20oz bottle of Coca Cola for a 10 cents (what a steal right?), and then after I pay you, you then proceed to tell me me I have to give you another 5$ to fill it full of product.
i knew that was going to happen as soon as apple announced it. there are some dirty developers out there who would do anything to make a buck. these are the kind of people apple should be rejecting.
I just want to point out that I think you are being a bit unfair to the developers. I came across this app before this was posted and could tell right away that you weren’t gonna get a full on turn by turn gps for just .99. Albeit it wasn’t super obvious and they definitely could have been more clear but they DID mention it in the description. and not only that but anyone that thought they’d get a full on GPS app for just 99 cents are kinda idiots.
but that said, I don’t think 9.99 per month is the right price point and .99 for a minute (is that even true?) is just ridiculously dumb. If you can get a tomtom or other actual gps with no subscription on sale for around $100 this thing would become more expensive (while not nearly as good) in under a year. I think .99 for a day, 4.99 for a month, and 19.99 for a year would be much more reasonable and will likely make you more money in the long run. But who can really say since this is the first one available. We’ll see what Tom Tom does.
9.99$ a month? This is non-sense… After a year I should have bought a GPS at the store and it will cost me less… and still have updates. 2 years and a very Nice GPS. Why would I pay an application like that 10$ a month????
I don’t understand at all.
Good point!
I am going to play Devil’s Advocate and side with the developers on this one. They are the first to market such a software package. I do agree that they really should give one month usage for an initial investment and make it VERY clear in the description that they are a subscription based product.
I have a feeling though, that they are using the 0.99 price point to rapidly accrue downloads allowing them to rise in the ranks of most-downloaded apps, just to increase exposure….
If it is a turn-by-turn app why not charge turn by turn?
“in 100 meters, turn left. would you like to purchase the next step for 3 cent?”
I see a lot of cheap-ass people who have no idea what they are talking about.
Gokivo is made by NIM — which also makes Verizon Wireless’ VZ Navigator and AAA’s Mobile Navigator. Guess what both of them sells for $9.99 a month.
Does Verizon give you a month of free turn-by-turn nav app usage? No. Does AAA? No. Does AT&T give you a free month’s use of TeleNav’ AT&T Navigator? No.
Gokivo is refunding users with an iTunes song that felt confused or misled by our 99 cent download price and $9.99 monthly (NOT per minute) subscription model in the first two days in the App Store. This was certainly not intentional.
See details in a press release here – http://bit.ly/3v3xo
Again, our apologies for any confusion. We hope this clears things up.
Um what?! Did i pay you in an itunes credit? No i didn’t. How about you keep the bait and switch payment (since you are anyway), i give you one star review, this gets cached in search engines across the internet, and i give you a big F*CK YOU! playing stupid just doesn’t work when you are developing apps. you are very aware of your actions Mr. Andler.
Well, regardless if this was intentional or not, it has been fixed.
Now let this be a lesson to all developers that intend to publish apps that scam customers that this can backfire in a huge way. I hate to say it but i dont see this app recovering from this as it has brought way too much negative attention. (Again im not implying this developer did this intentional but this is a lesson for everyone to be cautious of)
Only people who are delusional would think that this is a scam.
Every single carrier navigation app — whether it’s made by NIM (VZ Navigator and AAA Mobile Navigator) or by TeleNav (AT&T Navigator) charges the same $10 a month.
NIM also makes a nav app for the blackberry store — the same subscription fee model. Only that the blackberry store allows free apps to have in app purchases and Apple doesn’t allow that.
Blame it on Apple if you like.
If only I had a dollar for every time I came here.. Superb writing.