[Nextgrid]

Paying doesn't actually solve the problem. Some time ago I bought "Angry Birds classic" app on iOS - it's a paid app that promised to bring back the "old" Angry Birds before it turned to crap.

On first launch I was met with a mandatory "privacy" policy I couldn't decline that was asking me to consent to being spied upon. I ended up getting a refund through Apple.

[zmnd]

Sure it does, there are definitely exceptions and Angry Birds is among them. And your example is probably from a while back, since you can disable tracking on iOS from 2019 or so.

I intentionally find products where I can pay. I like YouTube, and I gladly pay for it to not see ads. It's a simple transaction, they provide a service - I pay for it. Sure, you can complain about sponsored content and other crap, but overall YouTube premium experience is great. Whenever I want something to play on my phone - I find a cheap game and just spend 2-5 dollars. In some of the free games, I intentionally spend money on cosmetics to support developers. Without this relationship, you are just a non-paying user who brings no value, and you have misaligned incentives with the app developers.

So I don't understand the mental gymnastics of well paid people (given the audience of hackernews) for why they don't want to pay a few dollars. This way you would support people who provide value to you and dictate how the industry should evolve. Instead, we have a Guac-A-Mole game with advertisers and complain every other day on forums.