Well, this is certainly unexpected. Apple may have kept secret a big change to the App Store that they’ll announce at the “Let’s Talk iPhone” event tomorrow: app rentals.
First uncovered by Tech Erra, strings inside the latest iTunes 105. Beta 9 suggest that Apple will soon allow developers to rent their apps out for a period of time.
The strings read:
The strings suggest that Apple will allow users to rent apps for a limited time, which will then be automatically deleted at the end of the rental period.
Rentals in a landscape of 99 cent apps doesn’t make a lot of sense, but trial versions do. Apple may intend to allow users to rent apps for free for a day or so to see if they like them, as long as the developers opt in.
App rentals would be a huge change to the landscape of the App Store. Personally? I’m all for it, especially if it finally gets rid of all the separate “Lite” demo apps.
[via App Advice]
