If you are like the vast majority of humans, you have probably downloaded a free app for your smartphone or iPhone that is one of your most used pieces of software. The biggest problem is that there are usually annoying popup ads or banner ads on your phone’s screen either full time or after you complete a level on your favorite game. Most people understand that there’s no such thing as a “free lunch”, but there’s only so many political ads that one person can look at before they’re ready to snap. In fact, Apple has reportedly been denying the inclusion of apps in their App Store if they use the IDFA tracking system without showing ads; though Apple now requires that tracking platform for their app developers. The IDFA is today the preferred ad tracking option, following the phasing out of the unique identifier known as the UDID. Apple had been pushing app publishers to adopt the IDFA instead, and now it is the only format they allow. While Apple maintains that it is just to keep things modern, app publishers claim that they are being punished for offering free apps without advertisements instead of making them paid apps; which cuts into Apple’s profits.
Most logical thinkers will understand that a certain amount of advertising should be expected when using an app that took weeks or months of unpaid development for free. If you want access to new and better products without paying for them, their only option to generate revenue is to place ads throughout the app. However, many publishers have gone WAY overboard with their ad saturation, and this has led many people to be ready for the death of ads in free apps; even if they need to shell out for a paid version.
There are other motivations for wanting to keep your free app completely void of advertising that isn’t so malicious, and that’s new programmers who are trying to make a name for themselves or their app. If you remember, Facebook was once a completely ad-free platform because Mark Zuckerberg was afraid that users would drop off like flies at the first sight of ads. Now that it is easily the largest social media community in the world, Facebook now displays a whole menagerie of ads to monetize the site and pay the large number of employees and programmers that keep the site moving forward.
So while the vast majority of us are ready to see the death of ads in our favorite free apps, the sad fact is that it likely won’t be happening anytime soon. Sure, there will still be a handful of great apps that become available with no ads whatsoever, but that’s usually just temporary until the app catches on. The bottom line is that apps will by and large remain either paid or ad supported, and if you don’t want to be sold products you should buy the paid version of the app. There’s almost always an option to buy your way out of seeing the ads, so cough up the $0.99 to $4.99 and pay for your sanity.
