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We’ve gotten a lot of great feedback on the Phandroid News app for Android, but the biggest complaint/request we get? People want the ability to remove ads. Done.
Here’s the thing: most people don’t mind paying a few bucks to deliver an ad-free experience, other loyal readers actively want to pay a few bucks to pledge their support, the vast majority don’t mind ads, and yet others actually like the ads (you’ll find some good app/game suggestions and deals every now and then). Our latest app update delivers the same experience to all of these user types through in-app subscriptions.
I’m sure we’ll have to field some complaints on pricing, but when it comes down to it…
An annual subscription costs less than this:
And a monthly subscription costs less than this:
And if you don’t mind (or want) to see ads it will cost you approximately this:
If we added a Starbucks coffee we could quadruple prices!
We think that’s pretty fair and we hope you do, too. We’d also ask that you keep the above pricing comparisons in mind when looking at apps and games from other developers on the Google Play Store. And, if you don’t agree with the pricing, don’t use it as an opportunity to disparage or downvote the developer’s app, do what you’d do when buying things from any store: decide not to buy the item and move along.
If you’re interested in purchasing one of the subscriptions, you can find “Remove Ads” in the app’s main menu where you’ll follow some very simple steps with secure payment and authorization through Google Play.
We’ve currently priced monthly subscriptions as low as Google will allow ($0.99) and annual subscriptions are a 75% discount on the monthly price ($3.79). The decision to use in-app subscriptions rather than a fee/paid model was to prevent confusion amongst our readers by offering one app with one similar yet customizable experience for everyone.
In addition to the in-app subscriptions, we’ve also worked on some bugs and improvements that found their way into the app on various devices when we introduced new features in our last update. As we move forward, we’ll be looking for opportunities to provide more benefits to those with active subscriptions… more on that later.
Some of the more interesting requests we’re getting now include material design and better Android Wear support but we’re curious to hear what else you’d like to see in Phandroid News for Android- let us know in the comments below. And don’t forget, we could use your support in our pressing issue with Android Forums for Android!
Go ahead: download the app!
Worth it! Thanks
Thanks for your support!!!
Thank you. Seriously.
Thank you!
Thanks!
Thank you!
Do we get something cool for subscribing? Lol
More screen real estate for content :) … But seriously, this is something we’re REALLY interested in exploring. We’ve had discussions about it although there are limitations of what we can or can’t do imposed by Google. Lots of privacy concerns and things like that… but we’re listening to ideas and are hoping at some point to extend the “subscription” experience to be more than ad removal. No timeline or anything concrete at the moment.
No ads, and I get to keep eating. Ha
Hey Chris, what you eat don’t make me ****lol.
Jay-Zeezy!
*starts slow clap* lol. Aight I’ll sub
But the material design is great. Go for it
If only there was a way to raise money to pay for a developer to add material design…
*ignores and goes back to post about perks for subscribing*
Great deal, Thankyou!! I’ll be using the app from now on.
You rock! Thanks for supporting Phandroid
Your welcome. So nice without the ads!!
:)
Much appreciated!
Thanks for the support!
Love the idea, although the ads have never bothered.
Thanks! We’ve tried to implement them tastefully. We appreciate our free-app users, too. Thanks for the comment :)
Loving the support guys! Don’t forget to show your love on Google Play! If you have any issues you can find me or email support :) I love working directly with loyal readers. I also would approve any loyal reader for the beta community too… you are the people we limit the beta community membership for :) #tearingup #phanlove
Any chance you can fix the landscape orientation switch bugs that started with version 2.0 and still haven’t been completely squashed? At least now instead of a full force close, I mostly just get kicked back a screen or 2, but its still really annoying.
I will do some testing because I don’t personally see this issue. I do remember addressing an orientation switch issue though. Shoot me an email if you can (steve .at. phandroid.com) along with some device specifics like ROM, Version, Phone Model, etc. I’m sure we’ll find out what’s going on!
All in! Great idea and I wanted to help out! Happy to do it!
RobWild? More like RobAwesome!
ok, that was a little corny, but we appreciate it!
I think the other Rob might already have claimed that title. ;) This is the least I could do. Honestly, the beers I buy are always 4.50 and up.
Good beers for a good man: awesome title stays with you, sir! This summer I was digging Snakebites: Angry Orchard Cider and Guiness… I need a new delicious Fall go to.
Done. Appreciate the option.
Appreciate your support! Thanks for reading!
Purchased, thank you phandroid team! Everything you do is appreciated!
Thank you!
Appreciate your support! Hearing positive feedback makes our job so much more fun!
I concur.
Purchased.Options are KEWL!
THX!
As long as the ads don’t become over screen ads that I have to click away, abp stays off on phandroid (as always).
Thanks for your support! We’re continually trying to improve our user experience (while still paying the bills) and have some new ideas in the pipeline that will be fun to test.
Subscriptions, that ridiculous. Should be a one time purchase.
Agree. This is the first I’ve heard of an ad free subscription and it’s a little ridiculous. I would be willing to pay a one time fee, but on principal I won’t subscribe to remove ads; especially when this app has a very glitchy track record.
Oh come on guys, It’s only $3.49 a year. Besides you’re probably actually paying them more by not removing the ads depending on how often you visit.
Y’all did a really nice job w/this app.
I had been using the 1.6.0 version, but, no more.
In a word: AWESOME!
Thanks my man!
Thank you!
Fair enough. Nothing aint free.. Just keep up the stability of the app . Thanks
@stevealbright:disqus is working on that literally. every. day. Keep the suggestions and bug reports coming and we’ll work on them relentlessly. Thanks a bunch!
Subscribed to the yearly subscription. Thanks!
Thanks for being Ritzy! Pun intended!
Arrgh.. Now I want some coke.
Dunno what country phandroid lives in, but I’ve lived in 8 and tap water ain’t free in any of them
~$100 per quarter for water + sewer in NYC.
Let’s just blame that cost on your carrier’s monthly bill?
How about the ability to save wallpaper as wallpaper through the app?
That sounds like a terrific idea
This. :)
I only have one more request:
For those that opted for the ad-free subscription,is there annnnnny way that you could turn off the pop-up that is still present in the browser?
I already have the app installed AND an annual subscription.Seems to me the pop-up should disappear once installed on your device (if possible).
As I stated,the app is AWESOME,but,sometimes,I’d rather use the browser.
I’d gladly pay the price of another annual subscription for this option.
THX!
Do you have a specific purpose you’re still visiting the site in your browser from a mobile device? You can set the app as the default function for opening links that originate from Phandroid.com which should fix the problem.
If you’re visiting from Chrome or another mobile browser, unfortunately, it’s got no way of knowing you’ve downloaded our app so it will continue to suggest downloading it whenever your cookies expire. We’ll adjust some settings to try and make it less irritating but it’s been helpful in directing people towards the app which we feel is the best experience for mobile.
Please let us know if this experience improves or not and if not, if you’ve got any ideas to make it less annoying (or even better, not annoying at all/ever)
I’m aware of the default settings/selection that would prevent going to the browser.
Nothing I can pin down to an exact reason,just like to switch up the view, I suppose.
I use CHROME & AOSP Browser.
Just to be clear, it’s not just this particular pop-up, not singling out A/F-PHANDROID at all.
It’s the cumulative effect from EVERYONES pop-ups.
Was just hoping something could be done, especially when the app is already installed.
I’m rooted & using XPOSED framework on all my devices, maybe I’ll cone across something that’ll help.
Never mind, replied to wrong person
I use the browser because the app is superfluous. If I were to install an app for every blog or news site I visit I’d have about a dozen. I’m always web surfing and hopping between many sites, so when one app can deliver all the stuff I want to read, yes, I’ll choose that option always.
But, WRT the mobile site, (a) You’ve set those slide-out ads at the bottom of the page to display behind that intrusive and real-estate-hogging social media menu bar, so it’s really hard to hide the ad without hitting the Twitter button. There’s a great hunking ad at the top of the article, and a second one of similar size just before the Disqus comments. I get that you need revenue, but do you really need to give us three ads per article? Funny thing is, even though it’s partly hidden, it’s always there so the result is that the big ads are actually not as intrusive as the little one;
and (b) Not everyone uses or wants to use social media and doesn’t need 5 great big bloody buttons that WON’T GO AWAY! Can’t you make them hideable or put then at the top of the article and let them go away when scrolling down?
I’m afraid it is becoming more of an aggravation to visit the site lately than to not.
Well I already donate 20.00 every 6 months to Phandroid. You would think user like myself would get this for free.
We’re hoping to tie the forums and news together more closely in the near future… it’s on our radar, but amongst a LOT of other stuff we’re working on.
Point noted…. and thanks SOOO much for supporting BOTH of our sites. Hopefully we’ll come up with some stuff that you’ll be really happy about!
Subscribed using ad-free app right now :)
I actually don’t mind the Ads. Keep doing your thing Phandroid!!!
I would actually pay for it if the app didn’t freeze and force close so much.
So here’s another suggestion. The ability to copy anything within comments from within the app. Could possibly be a disquis limitation?