I have no idea what the solution is, but as someone who grew up in the 80 and 90s computer era, I’m used to paying for software. A lot. I swear I could buy a car on the amount of $19.99 and $34.99 software I’ve spent on shareware and full applications over the years. But the one thing I always got for that money was quality.

I briefly fell in love with the “free app” when I got my first iPhone (the 4). Many of them were cute. Many of them were useful. Few if any were what I consider quality. I tolerated them because they were free.

Then the mentality spread to the Mac App Store as well.

I fear that is the future of software. People who think it’s acceptable to not have to pay for software. And devs who think it’s acceptable to put crappy free software out just to get in-app purchases. Neither side is “wrong.” Unfortunately, I don’t think either side will ever be happy as long as that is true.