A few days after Apple, the major competitor Google also introduces a subscription offer, where selected apps without advertising and other costs can be used. The Google Play Pass grants access to more than 350 games and other selected applications for $ 4.99 per month.
The service will be available this week in the US and "soon" in other countries, announced Google in the night of Tuesday. Prerequisite for use is a device with the Android operating system. The first signs of the new Google service had been around for some time.
With his subscription, Google pursues a slightly different strategy than Apple: The iPhone group limited in its recently launched service Apple Arcade exclusively on games (read our test here). In addition, the likewise 4.99 dollar or euro in the month expensive Apple subscription covers above all games, which gives it exclusively in this package. In Google's offer, however, are also applications that can be purchased individually or on systems of the competition.
"Limbo" and "Tunable" here
Included in the Play Pass for the start, for example, the adventure game "Limbo" (regular 5.21 euros), the puzzle game "Monument Valley 2" (regular 5.49 euros) and the musician tool "Tunable" (regular 3.89 euros) , If a user has already installed one of the mentioned app, all the payment contents available in it will be unlocked after the subscription has been purchased.
A big question is whether the subscription offers of the two companies can change the current business model of app economics. In recent years, the trend has been to offer apps for free to very cheap - and then earn money through in-app purchases or advertising. In the subscription models, the developers should get a share of the monthly fees depending on the activity of the users.