Right now the model used for purchasing digital movies, music, and apps is still largely based on an ala carte system, where you pay for what you want. However we’ve started to see a shift towards a subscription service, where you pay a flat monthly fee in exchange for access to unlimited music and movies.
It seems that Google could be moving towards such a system, or at least that’s according to the folks at XDA who discovered something called the “Play Pass”. Based on its name and also the strings that they discovered, it seems that Google could be toying with the idea of creating a subscription service that would give users access to certain premium apps and games for a fixed monthly fee.
It is unclear as to how this will work and who determines which apps will be part of this subscription, but it’s not surprising that this is being considered. We’ve seen companies such as Microsoft and Adobe use subscriptions successfully, plus it also seems that Apple is also encouraging developers to adopt a subscription model.
Such a model is more sustainable for everyone as a steady stream of revenue would incentivize developers to keep their apps updated with new features. It also ensures that companies like Apple and Google receive a steady stream of their cut from such subscriptions, and it also benefits users who can be more or less reassured of constant updates. Like we said it remains to be seen how exactly Google plans on implementing such a system, so we’ll just have to wait and find out.
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