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If I buy a paid iPhone app, will I be able to get free updates for the rest of the lifetime of that app or should I pay later for the updates?

What's the norm? Can you perhaps give 1-2 examples?

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2 Answers

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Not entirely. The App Store doesn't allow for paid upgrades of the same application, say v1.0 to v1.1. But there is little to stop a developer from releasing the next version of an app as a separate purchase, v1.1 to v2.0.

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Is this expected to change? I want to attract more beta testers for an app by giving them more incentives. Will this be a good one? 1 year or a lifetime of free upgrades. – curiousguy Mar 21 '11 at 22:40
Those questions are impossible to answer, but since Apple's current formula for success doesn't require paid upgrades, then I highly doubt it. At the same time, there other ways to attract beta testers. – Philip Regan Mar 22 '11 at 0:19
Like what? I'm using paid advertising now. – curiousguy Mar 22 '11 at 11:49
How about just offering promo codes for the official release of v1.0 as a random drawing, those that helped out the most during beta, or those that post or re-link to your app from their blog, Twitter, etc. during beta? If you think about this in terms of getting people to talk about your app for you—word-of-mouth advertising is arguably always better than paid—then the context and types of incentives changes. The beta-testers are helping you, not the other way around. I've beta-tested things in the past, but I don't want to feel arbitrarily restricted in exchange for my spare time. – Philip Regan Mar 22 '11 at 13:06
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Typically free. They can make an new version; that happened a lot when the iPad came out.

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