Title: Mac App Store causes customer confusion with trial versions.
Product: App Store
Version/Build Number: Version 1.0 (54)
Is It Reproducible?: Always
Classification: UI/Usability

Problem Details

Summary: Mac App Store causes customer confusion when the customer views an app in the Mac App Store app that has the same bundle identifier and version as an app that exists on the customer’s computer, such as a trial version. The reason it has the same bundle ID is that it’s the same app, and when the user buys it from the Mac App Store, the user expects the purchase to replace the trial version. But the App Store app shows that app as “Installed” and does not give an option to buy it. There should be a way to buy it, or at least to uninstall the app so the user can buy the full version. The existing way, showing an app as “Installed” even though the user did not purchase it through the Mac App Store, is confusing to users and causes me to get more support emails over this issue. Users might assume that they will get free updates through the MAS because it’s “Installed” or be able to buy it again without being charged, as that is the iOS App Store model.

Steps to Reproduce:
1. Download Sound Studio 4.0.3 from http://felttip.com/downloads/sound_studio_4.0.3.zip.
2. Extract the app and place it in /Applications.
3. Open the Mac App Store app and search for Sound Studio.
4. Verify that Sound Studio is in the search results.

Expected Results: The app should show its purchase price and allow it to be bought, because the user has not yet bought the app from the Mac App Store. (This is only valid if the version number in the App Store is older than the one in the copy of the app on the disk. As of 1/8/11, this is true.)

Actual Results: The app is shown as Installed and cannot be bought, even though it’s a trial version, because the bundle ID is the same and the version on the disk is equal or newer than the version in the App Store.

Regression: If the version of the app in the App Store is updated to be newer than any downloadable trial version, then the app can be bought. If the app is put in the Trash, the app can be bought.

Notes: Using a different bundle ID would also be confusing to the user because there would be two apps that are functionally identical but are treated as two separate apps by the system. If the app is allowed to be bought outside the Mac App Store, there needs to be a way to let the user know they’ve already bought the app so they don’t buy it again by mistake.

(Submitted to Apple’s bug reporter Radar today. Radar number 8838556)