Google Play Pass quietly rolled out. Future for mobile apps?

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Google quietly rolled out Google Play Pass which is similar to Apple Arcade but also includes apps. Renting of content has happened to movies (Netflix), music (Spotify), and now mobile apps (Amazon Underground, Apple Arcade, Google Play Pass). Anyone signing up for these new software subscription services?

Google Play Pass Website
Your pass to hundreds of awesome games and apps, completely free of ads and in-app purchases. For a limited time, subscribe for $1.99 per month for your first twelve months, then $4.99 per month after that.* Get started with a 10-day free trial.

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I signed up immediately - but I have yet to download anything using it! I think it might be that there are too many things to choose from! Also so many Android apps are free the benefit is not obvious.

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I’ve been on the “software by subscription” bandwagon with SetApp on MacOS for about two years, and I’ve been satisfied by that value.

It’s right on the edge, but they manage to bring in a steady march of apps while also including updates to existing apps at a time when developers are very likely to try and squeeze $10 out of you every year for a minor upgrade that’s required to keep the app working on the latest OS. (For instance, SetApp just added PathFinder, which I stopped paying for yearly about two versions ago, as $40/version was too much just to stay current on a Finder replacement, with less and less to differentiate it from the built in Finder. But as part of SetApp, sure, I’ll use it.)

Apple Arcade was a complete bust for me. I’ve tried half a dozen games and none grab my interest enough to subscribe. I’ll drop $5 on a game here and there (looking at you, BloonsTD and Monument Valley) but Apple Arcade isn’t delivering those kinds of games.

On the other hand, Google Play Pass was a no-brainer for me at $2 for the apps alone, when it includes so many useful utility apps that Google is, for now, hand-picking. (I’m ok with Google putting their thumb on the market when it comes to small utilities, where there’s no clear winner and instead there are dozens of sketchy apps.)

Google Play Pass also includes games more up my alley, including many I had purchased previously on iOS like Monument Valley, Risk, and Chameleon Run. I also like Chess and an ad-free version of Solitare Free. As far as Google Play Pass apps go, TouchRetouch, PicStitch, AndroVid, as well as some barcode readers, PDF scanners, a high quality text editor, and other basic utilities.

I’ll probably hang on to Google Play Pass and SetApp, but Apple Arcade is about to get canceled before the free trial ends.

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No ads, more-or-less curated by Google, and no ads. That’s the Google Play Pass benefit for me, with the games as a bonus.

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I signed up right away. First month free and then $1.99/month for a year is a bargain imo. I’ve already downloaded a bunch of games and a few other apps.

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Obligatory “Anywhere not the USA is a second class citizen”… pout Anyway, by the time they bring the Android deal here it will no longer be on special for the first year because it will have been proved out by then.

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This is the same reason to get YouTube Red

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I refuse to do that because a) it’s over-priced, b) Google is trying way too hard to jam it down my throat, and c) I can’t ever support a company taking away a free feature only to put it into a paid tier (ie. like YouTube did with audio playing in the background when the app is closed).

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I totally get it, but the “free” web 4.0+++ just isn’t sustainable, like Uber, Moviepass, WeWork, etc. Someone has to pay for something, and these services have give some incentive for people to pay. Trust me, I get it, I pirated satellite to watch TechTV from 2002 - 2004ish, and ripped Netflix DVDs for 5-7 years, etc. etc. etc. I’m glad Google has monetized in both free (with ads) and paid with some conveniences added. And now I have a good enough job to pay for subscriptions like a Netflix, Hulu, YoutTube Red, several Patreons, etc. (even though I still pirate just because its easier many times) LOL

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Not gonna lie, I feel like the gig economy has spawned a bunch of youth that expect their life to be paid by subscription… if you spend enough time in the wrong corners of Reddit you get the impression that every 19yo with good genes thinks they can make a living off of subscriptions to their naughty bits (pun intended) :see_no_evil:

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Hey, the 90s had 1-900 numbers and cable subscriptions, the 50s had milk man subscriptions, and there have been newspaper subscriptions, magazines, etc. etc. etc. Its the same ol’ thing, just a different package. A salary is basically a fixed subscription price my employer pays to me for my labor for me to work on on a variety of projects that each have a varying amount of profit for them. Its all the same but a different generation, IMHO. Making expenses and income more level has its benefits.

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Heh, I remember the milk man bringing my milk in the 70s. For those that don’t know, in Canada, you can buy milk in bags, and as a kid the milk man would bring little bags of [chocolate] milk (and later juices) that you took in your lunch and poked with a pointed straw to drink… mini-sips they were called.

As for your point, I don’t disagree… I guess… it just seems the gig economy has more downsides than upsides… like no medical benefits or being left behind in 5 to 10 years because there is so much more fresh meat for the grinder.

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Now on that I completely 100% agree with you @PHolder. The Gig economy is the current tool used to hide the benefits being stripped away. They instead provide an illusion of more financial freedom. Uber drivers #1 example. In reality, Uber shifted the costs of capital and maintenance onto that worker and didn’t even give them the courtesy to let them set their own prices. The middle income of the 60s, 70s, 80s are getting split into the entrepreneurial who are taking advantage of this and the rest who will only get poorer the more they work. The harder you work, the less you you are able to provide stability for your family. I was raised on manual labor and working hard and long. These good hard working people are being left behind… I have my own company now doing engineering services… but there’s no place in my business for a hard worker. I need smart workers who know how to cut fat in everything. Those are my most valuable employees. I wish they weren’t… there are some really great people out there.

Sorry to bum everyone out…

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I signed up for YouTube Red because they also give you streaming music via Google Play Music. However, they are now retiring Google Play Music and forcing you to use YouTube Music without providing any conversion tools for my countless playlists.

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I signed up for Google Play Pass too and now I can’t stop playing that Mini Metro game!

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It’s fun, amirite! The daily challenges with extreme mode are interesting… when every decision is permanent it is a different kind of challenge. I wish the game had recordings of the top scores so you see how people get such a wildly higher score than I can.

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Google has definitely lost my trust. And they’ve shot theirselves - not just in the foot, but full of holes. Why would anyone put effort into any new Google service, when Google has disrespected them so many times in the past with all the shutterings?

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With the introductory $2/mo price and all my Google play credits from Opinion Rewards, this was a no brainer for me for now, but I’ve already ”bought” a lot of the Play Pass apps with my personal data capital.

Until I found out that Business Calendar Pro was on that list thanks to last night’s AAA. Here’s hoping I can keep getting enough play credits to make this effectively free for me for a long time.

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I have a couple apps listed in Google Play Pass and the review process was very strict. Not only can you not display advertising but you can’t even display things that may look like an advertisement such as a cross-promotion of a companion app. Required us making multiple changes to get our apps approved.

So in the end, the Google Play Pass apps are going to be much higher quality than what’s available as free apps.

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I came in the other door – I subscribed to Play Music and got YouTube Red (Premium) in the process. Recently, I watched YouTube from a different gmail account and, wow!, the ads were so irritating and frequent. I had no idea what I was missing by not using the free version! I find it really worth paying for by having a combo subscription to Play Music and YouTube Premium (esp. granfathered into a low price). The switch from Play Music to YouTube Music is problematic. I’d really rather not switch unless YouTube Music is beefed up and has a MUCH better user interface.

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