Did you know that every day, fee-based iPhone apps become available for free to consumers?
I didn’t know that. But according to the new app, Monster Free Apps, developers make apps free for a day or even a week to expand their consumer base and get some positive reviews. The positive reviews help them better sell the app when it comes time to charge a fee.
Manny Coats, the co-founder of Monster Free Apps, said that many people don’t know about these apps because there is no way to spread the word to consumers. The buyer has to be online at just the right time to get in on the deal. With Monster Free Apps, consumers no longer need to search for these freebies. The app pushes a free (paid) app to your iPhone every day.
When signing up for Monster Free Apps, you are taken to a welcome screen. The developers unlock bonus apps if you share the Monster Free Apps link via Facebook, text message or email. If you do all three you get three new bonus apps.
I did this and the first app that was offered free to me was a game called Bubble Bubble 2 (normally $0.99). After posting on my Facebook page and sending a text message to my staff, I unlocked three additional apps for free. These include: TextNow (normally $7.99), Sheep Command (normally $0.99) and Tampopo (normally $4.99). TextNow was the only app that wasn’t a game. It enables consumers to get free text messages on their iPhones without incurring additional overage charges.
I downloaded two of the four free apps I received – TextNow and Sheep Command. When I looked at the “Extras and Info” section on the Monster Free Apps site, it said that I saved $8.98.
There is also a “paid apps” section on Monster Free Apps. I really didn’t understand the purpose of this, except for the developers of Monster Free Apps to make money. Most of the apps offered were games, which is a huge profit center for developers.
The company claims that they can save consumers $30 to $60 a month. However, many of the apps offered may not be of interest to you like the ones I was offered today. And don’t forget, just because you’re saving money on “free” apps, doesn’t mean you’re saving money overall. Having access to Monster Free Apps and its recommendations for paid apps can possibly end up costing you more than $60 a month!
Article first published as App Review: Monster Free Apps on Blogcritics.
