After the “Muslim Pro” fiasco please let this be the takeaway: Pay for your Apps

I am a web developer and I wanted to share a few things about the people who build tools online. This includes people like:

• Graphic designers,
• Website developers,
• App developers,
• and a lot more people who are either freelancer or solo entrepreneurs.

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TL;DR towards the end!

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What Happened

I saw the outrage we Muslims all over the internet had over the Muslim pro fiasco. There are a lot of rumours and also, I am not well-read on this situation, so I won’t say anything more.

But this is what I know:

Developers don't want to sell your information. But we do because that's the only way left for us to make money.

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What do I mean by selling your Information?

When users refuse to pay for apps or websites, we have to find other ways to generate revenue. Simplest way? Show Ads.

Show ads these days is not straight forward. It's a lot more complicated.

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This is how ads work

• Modern ads are relevant to every individual.
• When we want to place ads, we have to share your information, like the city (can be found with your Internet IP address), gender, age, interests, and others... which can be found with your browsing habits.
• We place a code snippet in our apps, which allow the advertiser servers to serve tailored ads on the user's device.
• Sometimes, the developers aren’t even aware of what the ads providers do with the data collected.
• Developers do it for revenue. All we care is
  • the number of impressions,
  • the number of clicks on ads.
  • and a few other metrics.
• some ads providers do give us control over which type of ads we want to show... but nothing beyond that.

Majority of developers use google ads. Not all, but a lot of developers. If you want to know what Google knows about you, go to this address with your Google account logged in.

https://adssettings.google.com/authenticated

On this page, you will find everything google knows about you.

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Developers don’t like selling your info

Well when I say sell your info, I mean run ads. Because that’s how it works.

Ads are invasive and almost always ruin our apps. Some developers spend months to make their apps work flawlessly and provide an amazing experience. Ads, however, ruin it all.

We don’t want ads on our apps! But we are forced to do so.

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Any Alternatives to Ads?

Believe me or not, developers make more money when we charge users over showing ads.

Showing ads on our apps and websites is the last thing we want to do.

We end up running ads because the general public would rather save a few dollars and chose to give their information.

We wish we don't have to charge our users for things we built. But it is necessary. We need to pay bills, buy food, and keep our family comfortable.

These are the few common types of payment

• One time payment, and lifetime access. Any app which doesn't need constant maintenance or development. Photo editing apps are one such example.
• Monthly Recurring Payments. Very common these days, with SaaS coming up. The benefit for users is developers are constantly updating the app. Plus users can stop using the app and paying for it, anytime they want.
• Annual payment. You pay for 12 month's of access and free upgrades. A lot of developers have this option for one reason: Instant influx of a lot of money, which can be used immediately to buy resources.

Bad Apples

Yes, are some apps out there which charge like $10/week. As a developer, I don't see many consumer apps which justify this amount. But if it's something related to business, it can be a possibility.
As a consumer, Please stay clear from these apps. Mostly they are a scam. Always read their description and agree to buy it only if it justifies your requirement.

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Not all apps and websites are made by huge corporations.

I see this a lot of time, especially with my south Asian family. Why should I give them money for something that I can see?. I urge you to see the value it provides.

Please understand, we build products to solve problems and then ask for equivalent amount with the value our solution provided.

We have a community called Ramadan Makers where we support other developers and help them build better solutions. On our website, you will find apps and websites made by our members.

We are called Ramadan Makers and might sound niche to Muslims, but our community have members from all faith, and we make products and services for all type of users.

Our website: https://www.ramadanmakers.com/

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A Small Request

Next time you get to come across an app or a website, and it paid? Weight in the value it provides, and see if's more than the amount it charges.

Please consider your privacy over a few dollars.

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TL;DR

Outraging over apps selling user data is 100% justifiable. But the root cause of this situation is users not willing to pay for apps and websites.

submitted by /u/This--Ali2
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