Premium Changes (Feedback Thread)

[Eke]

A thread for any questions, comments or feedback on the changes to Premium and Patreon supporters noted today in this announcement:

Premium is changing

Talking Sober community, I’ve been working on a change to Premium for the last two months. This change is already live on the iOS version of the app, and the Android update is coming soon. In a nutshell: Premium and Patreon benefits have now been combined into a single subscription. I’ve written a lot below, so I’ve divided them into sections that you can navigate a bit easier. Before the change, this is how Premium worked: You paid a once-off fee of $5 to unlock widgets, cloud sync, backgro…

[Scorpn]

I think it is a good idea. Most of us are saving tons of money by being sober anyway. And those of us who can’t afford it, i think a nice option would be those of us who can afford it, could pay an additional $5 a month to sponsor someone…

[Faugxh]

so, just to clarify, if someone already has premium and is a patreon supporter, they don’t have to change anything right now? is this different for different patreon tiers?

[Thirdmonkey]

This place saved my life. I think the pricing is a hell of a deal.

[Eke]

@Robin

In fact, Apple and Google will both take a cut out of this subscription (as with any in-app purchase).

I just wanna b*tch about this. They both force Android/iPhone apps to use their pay stores now. Ostensibly for simplicity and security. But they also charge a 10%-30% cut of the transaction for the pleasure.

This is why you cannot directly buy or rent Amazon videos from the Amazon app on your Android phone or tablet anymore. They just force you to get on a web browser to purchase directly so they don’t have to either eat the cost or charge you more.

If you use Twitch, you will also see that subscriptions purchased or gifted through the Android app cost $5.99/mo instead of $4.99/mo. And they’re all managed in parallel/separate from all the normal subscriptions because the Google Pay payment has its own 10%-30% Google tax on it perpetually.

It sucks, it’s way the hell more than it ought to be for a transaction fee, and especially hurts smaller platforms like ours. /rant

I personally prefer to leave my monthly support through Patreon which I believe takes less?

[Robin]

If you already have Premium and Patreon, you don’t have to do anything, regardless of your Patreon tier. You can switch to the in-app subscription if you want to.

[Robin]

I’m not too upset about it and I feel it’s fair in our case. Both Apple and Google charge 15% for the first 1M USD per year, so that is the bracket we are in. Google charges a once-off registration fee of about $30 and Apple charges a yearly fee of $99 to be on the stores.

Besides, if not for both stores, none of our users would be here right now. This is the way that almost all of our users found the app. I understand that other big names, like Netflix, spent millions on marketing and they’ve become a household name, so people know about them and would download the app anyway. But for us, the stores are how the app was discovered.

So at the end I feel that it is fair because of the exposure we’ve received.

[MandiH]

Please let me know when the andriod version is available, I’m very excited about this! Thank you Robin and to all of the admins-you guys are lifesavers by keeping this running as smoothly as possible.

[Noshame]

I didn’t realize the importants of our patrons or future premiums

I’m going to become primium the second I get work. I’m not stressing and I’d love to contribute to keep the doors opened to all

[Kkbriggs]

I have been trying to purchase premium this morning and it isn’t working! What am I doing wrong? When it says ‘premium options’ it is just a blank white screen. If I click the blue button (which I assume is the purchase) it just spins and spins

[Robin]

@mx_elle

Was increased revenue from subscriptions your only option? Were there other viable options? Diversifying revue options is often a sustainable option, is this possible?

Diversification, how? There aren’t many ways to monetize apps:

1. Ads
2. In-app purchases
3. Selling user data

I refuse to sell user data for Sober Time, so that leaves us with ads an in-app purchases. Ads are generating more revenue than in-app purchases, so this would even it out more.

@mx_elle

Im not sure how this is the best solution with such a) transient TS users

Ads are also responsible for chasing away a lot of users, which leads to this.

@mx_elle

users with low spending capacity

This is definitely a concern for me, I kept the subscription low at only $5 per month, unlike other apps that are way more. Of course, this is all optional and no one HAS to purchase it to use the app. All the core features are still completely free.

@mx_elle

Are you depending on current augmentation of current subscriptions?

No, I’m not depending on it, but I am hopeful that it would be better for the health of Sober Time.

@mx_elle

It seems those who have a subscription are going to shoulder the cost of open doors, no?

No, ads will very likely continue to generate the majority of revenue. This change seeks to balance the scales.

@mx_elle

How would this keep the doors open?

I meant this more as a figure of speech than literally, my apologies. I’d like to clarify that I’ll ensure that the doors stay open, as I always have.

As you’ve mentioned, most users do not end up making any purchases, so the vast majority of users will not be affected by this at all. Those who do choose to make a purchase, get useful features, ad removal and community perks in return. I think this is a fair exchange.

[Robin]

Sorry about that! There was a bit of a mixup with Apple (my fault) where I submitted the app update for review, but I didn’t add the “product” for review with it. So the app went live, but the subscription isn’t available to the public yet. I’ve since resubmitted the product and I’m waiting for Apple to approve it. It will sort itself out in a day or two.

[Robin]

A better balance between ads and in-app purchases would lead to a better app experience overall. With less ads interrupting users, more will stay for longer, increasing the app’s health.

[Juli1]

I have Premium via Googleplay.
What happens to my account and timers cause of the change?
Don’t really understand.

[Mno]

Nothing changes for you. This from the original post by Robin:

@Robin

If you already purchased Premium, you will retain your Premium benefits and you don’t have to subscribe at all.

[Mno]

And to add to that:

@Robin

You can still subscribe if you want to receive community perks, but it’s optional.

Subscribing will get you the extras that until now were reserved for patreon subscribers (the “patrons”).

[Juli1]

Ah okay thank you Menno, now everything is clear!

As TS was my lifesaver until here, I would not worry about paying more or giving a donation.

I was just worried about the community and my lovely timers!

[Robin]

This has no effect on timers, journal entries, history entries. Just wanted to clarify that

[VSue]

I am confused. I paid the one time no ads fee but I do not have a monthly patreon subscription. By merging them together an I automatically being charged no they now or do I have to subscribe?

[Fury]

Welcome to micro transactions world we live in anymore, the stores direct you to the platform or media and they want their tax to go with it. It’s not just apple and google, everyone does it now.

Amazon is king of retail now, but I often shop around and find better deals