I have downloaded and used a lot of apps over the years and have seen a number of interesting attempts to get me to buy a paid version or make in-app purchases. I'm completely OK with that, as long as it isn't too intrusive. This little quiz app sets a new standard for punishing anyone daring enough to try and use it. There are 6 second delays between every action. It's not even a very good game. geographiQ Worldwide requires iOS 6.0 or later and is compatible with iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch. This app is optimized for iPhone 5.
I am a big fan of educational apps and thought that a quiz about countries, states, capitals, and flags might be interesting and helpful. Let me get this out of the way first: even ignoring the punnishing aspects of the developer insisting that I buy their app, their quiz is almost impossible to use and extremely frustrating, even on my new iPhone 6. The maps do not allow zooming or repositioning and even on the larger screen I find it very difficult to pinpoint a tiny country or state. Switching from portrait to landscape doesn't help matters much, but presents the maps in a completely different, but still unusable fashion.
Put let's set all that aside. What is both frustrating and actually very interesting is how much effort the developer goes to in trying to goad one into buying they paid version. When one selects a specific quiz the app displays a screen with a progress bar, a big "Buy Ad Free Version," and two different ads. The delay is at least six seconds. After you're done waiting you are still required to touch the X beside the progress bar to move on to the selected quiz.
OK, take a breath and take the quiz.
Then, when you're one with the quiz and want to return to the main menu to select another quiz the app displays the plea and punishment screen again. Every time. Select a quiz, accept your punishment. Finish the quiz, it punishes you again.
I fully support the "freemium" approach to apps, especially games. Some developers are extremely clever about how they do it. I have recently enjoyed playing Retry. It's a fun little app that let's you save individual stages by either using collected or purchased coins or use a limited number of "view ad" buttons every day. I happily click the button and let the ads play. I'm not annoyed at all, in fact, I'm happy to do it to save my progress. This is a great way to generate income with ads.
I am disgusted with how geographiQ Worldwide's developer hammers the user at every point, begging for money and actively punishing the user when they don't pony up the cash. At least they could design a better app that might be worth paying for.
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