There’s a subscription service for everything now whether it's tampons (Callaly), make up (Birchbox) or even washing tablets (Smol).
And whilst we’re used to digital subscription services for our music (Spotify) or films and TV (Netflix), the next step looks to be subscription services for apps.
This is the strategy Apple and Google are betting on with Arcade for app games on the iOS App Store and Google’s new Play Pass for the Android App Store.
According to Android Police, Play Pass will offer users a range of premium apps and games for a monthly fee, around $4.99 a month in the US (at the moment). Unlike Apple’s Arcade, which looks to be just focusing on games, the Google service will include different types of content from content to puzzles, and will remove all ads and in-app purchases. Screenshots show games including Stardew Valley and Marvel Pinball as potential apps available on the service.
The big kicker will be if it is able to offer exclusives that wouldn’t be possible to access anywhere else. This is something Apple is going to be doing with Arcade, working with developers including LEGO, Sega and Cartoon Network, to bring new and exciting games onto the platform.
There is always the fear that another subscription service will lead to that all-encompassing issue: subscription fatigue. The term, which peaked in Google searches back in March – around the same time Apple announced its new Apple TV and Arcade subscription services – is when people realise how much they are spending in monthly services.
A Digital Media Trends survey by Deloitte published earlier this year found that nearly half (47 per cent) of US consumers say they are frustrated by the growing number of subscriptions and services required in order to be able to enjoy the shows or films they want. By throwing in an app subscription or two, not to mention Google’s own gaming streaming platform set to launch in the UK in November, that’s a whole lot of digital outgoings.
Google is only testing the service at the moment so things may change by the time it launches, but it will be interesting to see how an app subscription will play out on your phone.
