Apple to allow iOS app rentals soon?

October 01, 2011   Brian   20 Comments
original

After some examinations of various strings in iTunes 10.5 beta 9, @SonnyDickson found some interesting results.

If you look at the below image, you can see that it may soon be possible to rent iOS apps. At the end of the rental period, the app will be removed from your devices, including your computer.

We’re expecting Apple to announce something regarding this during their keynote presentation on Tuesday at 10AM Pacific. This would be great for those who would like to use an expensive application, such as a turn-by-turn navigation app, but would rather not pay for the entire thing just to use it a time or two every now and again.

Do you think that Apple will come through with this? Let us know your thoughts in the comments section below!

Feel free to follow Brian and The Tech Erra on Twitter.

Posted in: Apple, News   Tags: , ,
  • Joost

    Seems to be unlikely, because it would add complexity that’s is only useful for a very limited number of apps.

  • Anonymous

    That’d be a unique proposition that, I think, would reduce piracy & also be an advantage over Android’s Marketplace.

  • http://www.virtuousgiant.com Shawn Christenson

    IMO this ‘could’ be the answer to the current pricing model of ‘everything is .99′ on the app store. A great app that is clearly a steal at even $10, could sell for that much and rent for a week at the .99. You could also see ‘yearly rentals’ that are essentially a subscription fee. How many people ‘wouldn’t’ renew their Angry Birds or Camera+ after a year?

  • Anonymous

    Interesting idea to allow App rentals and for certain apps it makes sense but this makes things a lot more complicated for the average user. We’ll see how its implemented I guess. Potentially could increase sales for some developers but might hard some others. If they pick the right price point though, it could help.

  • Noyards

    Are you serious?

    Just get the heck off of Apple and get an Android device where apps don’t have to cost an arm and a leg …. Where a decent GPS navigation app is free.

    • Bubblenugget

      Android is a terrible os

    • http://twitter.com/ceeam ceeam

      Actually, the problem with non-Apple mobile OSs is that the apps DO INDEED cost an arm and a leg, all because of the rampant piracy, quite clearly.

      EDIT: And there are more than enough free navigation apps for iOS too.

  • Matthew F

    The wording clearly implies _Mac_ app rentals, not iOS: it would say “from your device” or “from your [placeholder]” if it was for iOS. “Computer” indicates it’s for Mac apps.

    • Anonymous

      Then why would “apps” be in the same sentence as “iTunes library”?

      • Matthew F

        Because moving the Mac App Store into iTunes would be a no-brainer, seems to me. Why would they use “computer” when referring to your iPhone?

        • Anonymous

          Is an iPhone/iPad/iPod Touch technically NOT a computer?

          Moving the Mac App Store into iTunes would make no sense. iTunes is supposed to be used for their mobile iDevices, not desktop applications.

        • http://twitter.com/thekevinkrotz Kevin Krotz

          Or maybe because iTunes could backup the apps like it does now. Or you could rent right from iTunes and add it to your iDevice.

  • Randall Rhoads

    Very nice find Brian, even if Apple goes nowhere with this it’s still an incredibly interesting idea.
    Congrats!

  • Marcus Lim

    lol

  • Marcus Lim

    One word: Crackulous

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  • http://www.clevelandrestaurantguide.co.uk/indian-restaurants/aleezas/ Aleezas Restaurant

    Good post, I’ve not seen this feature in iTunes yet, I’ll have to test it out sometime.

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