The original purpose of this story was to show how app markets and vendors try to introduce hidden cost in apps, but in the end it turned into story about their poor communication skills causing distrust between them and their customers. Anyway, it will show you have to avoid some dirty tricks while buying applications.
I consider myself price conscious person so I wanted to spare couple of bucks on smartphone apps. After some research, I decided to try famous GetJar site. They claimed that they provide some of the top payed applications for free. They were even declared one of the best start-ups of 2011 in Finance and E-commerce category by The Telegraph.
I consider myself price conscious person so I wanted to spare couple of bucks on smartphone apps. After some research, I decided to try famous GetJar site. They claimed that they provide some of the top payed applications for free. They were even declared one of the best start-ups of 2011 in Finance and E-commerce category by The Telegraph.
I checked the list of GetJar "gold" applications: which nice paid application I should get for free first? I immediately noticed Asphalt 6, highly acclaimed racing simulation. Its inclusion in "gold" list was so important for them that they even made press release about it.
So I downloaded GetJar application, then the game, and started the installation. I immediately noticed something suspicious: game wanted to receive and send SMS. Once more: racing game wanted to receive and send SMS. That didn't look good. I canceled the installation and checked the same game on Android Market: no need for SMS there!
GetJar vs Android Market permissions
It seems that this issue went completely unnoticed; top search results for "getjar asphalt 6" returned only one relevant answer, and it was only small comment hidden near the bottom of page.
That's not where problems stopped: GetJar application page lacks list of necessary permissions, and for some reason I couldn't post comment. I was unable to check permissions before download, and I was unable to comment on permissions issue later.
I had a bad feeling about this purchase. I went to Android Market and shelled $0.99 for the game, buying myself peace of mind.
After installation, I noticed that game has in-application purchase. Second look at permissions revealed that Market application has some not present in GetJar version:
As GetJar probably doesn't support in-app purchase, Gameloft probably replaced it with premium SMS messages. Probably. If they communicated this in app description or provided working comment feature, I could clear this out. But this way, my trust in shop and vendor was ruined and I went elsewhere.
The morale of the story:
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After installation, I noticed that game has in-application purchase. Second look at permissions revealed that Market application has some not present in GetJar version:
 |
| Android Market additional permissions |
As GetJar probably doesn't support in-app purchase, Gameloft probably replaced it with premium SMS messages. Probably. If they communicated this in app description or provided working comment feature, I could clear this out. But this way, my trust in shop and vendor was ruined and I went elsewhere.
The morale of the story:
- As consumer, keep your eyes open and skip the offers that sound too good to be true. Check permissions.
- As seller, communicate necessary permissions clearly. There are many apps on the Market that got one star just for asking for excessive permissions without explanation.
QC8XYM3NVP5K
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