As a software developer, I understand the desire to get paid for your work. I was one of the few people who didn’t whine when RedGate decided to charge for .NET Reflector. Their change in plans didn’t affect their currently released software, only future releases. So if you were happy with what you had, you could go on in blissful happiness.
The nature of “App Store” releases makes the decision to go from free (or freemium) to paid more complicated. If you update your app, I can decide not to install the update, but I then have to be very careful on how I manage my device. I can’t go back and install previous versions. So if you update your app to take what was once free and require an in-app purchase to unlock it, you are being a Richard.
You want to make the software better, great. You want to get paid for your hard work, great. But don’t alienate me in the process. A better experience would be to release your updated version as a brand new app, end-of-life the existing app with one last update to notify users that the version is no longer supported and link to the new app. Existing users who are happy with what they have are happy. Nerds like me who have to have the latest and greatest install the new app and are happy. You get paid and are happy. Everyone wins.
Here’s my $1.99 for my that feature you removed, Richard.
BTW, I really do love the new app Richard. It looks great and was totally worth $1.99.
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