Comments on: Application Demos

By: David Schiefer

David Schiefer — Tue, 26 Oct 2010 15:55:33 +0000

The system I will adopt in USB Backup is a friendly reminder on the last day of the trial only and no reminders before that. Easy and doesn’t bug people.

By: Alex Rozanski

Alex Rozanski — Tue, 19 Oct 2010 20:49:54 +0000

True, although I think it makes sense if the days counted are only days on which you *use* the app.

By: Using NSDate for application trials – David Schiefer's Blog

Using NSDate for application trials – David Schiefer's Blog — Tue, 19 Oct 2010 16:40:02 +0000

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By: David Schiefer

David Schiefer — Tue, 19 Oct 2010 15:40:13 +0000

In my early programing days, I always limited my applications to uses, so I’d give users 10 “runs” of the software where they could run it without limitations plus I’ve done demos – but frankly, they suck.

A 15 day trial with a kind reminder at startup telling people how many days they have left in the trial, which as SSP said, reminds them in a sufficiently clear way.

By: Perspx

Perspx — Sun, 14 Mar 2010 16:07:31 +0000

Yes I see your point and I imagine they can sometimes be useful; a good example of doing it well is with the free version of Tweetie; if you go into the preferences and uncheck the “Show ads” checkbox it prompts you to purchase the full version (which removes them) in a way that isn’t irritating and can easily dismissed if you want to continue using it for free.

Although of course it is a fine balance between not being too intrusive but also making sure that people who are genuinely interested and have a use for the software actually purchase it.

By: ssp

ssp — Sun, 14 Mar 2010 13:02:07 +0000

Hehe, I remember seeing that FileMaker page when wanting to see how the app developed in the past decade. And it instantly convinced me to stick with the ancient FM 6 I still have sitting around – or go and download a demo + s/n from Bit Torrent which would seem more convenient.

I am not so sure about nagging. While I am annoyed by it and consider nagging bad taste, I also know that I just tend to forget to buy stuff which I’m OK to pay for unless it reminds me in a sufficiently clear and frequent way. So how can people push me to do the right thing without looking bad? I think if those reminders are well done and provide a straightforward (one click?) way to buying the app with instant gratification, they can be quite useful.

By: Zettt

Zettt — Sat, 13 Mar 2010 11:19:56 +0000

Re point 5: In my experience a “nagging popup” will make me even more likely turn away from an application *even though* the application handles the job better than another one. But simply the fact the app annoys me while testing it, makes me search for alternatives.