More app Bait and Switch – this time from the app store

I ranted before about how there are some apps on the iTunes store for iPhone/iPad that are full of Bait & Switch. They offer a “free” version of their app, but later REMOVE features and then have the balls to say these features are now only available in a “full version” you have to pay for.

This B&S has found its’ way into the Mac desktop app store. Specifically Breathing Zone Limited’s app “Breathing Zone Free”.

The first version of the app had no limit on time scheduling. You set the time…

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…and press play. Done.

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But the “new and improved”  update in the app store?

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Now there’s a 5 minute limit. Give up some cash if you want the original features back! Ha ha!

It’s sad there are companies like this out there. The only way I can think of to fight B&S like this is for Apple to have an option to NEVER UPDATE an app in their update que for their app store. That way the consumers win, and not the greedy B&S companies that remove features to justify charging for future updates.

Without this option, the customer has to cherry-pick the updates they want to apply. If the B&S company ever adds another “update”, the original warning about the feature removal from the first “feature update” is replaced with the news about the most recent update.

I sent this to Apple at their official iTunes feedback page, so hopefully some engineer gets it and goes “AH HAH! THERE’S MY 2011 PROMOTION RIGHT THERE!”