How does one stifle an app addiction?

[Kamazar]

It'a tiny purchase after tiny purchase that turns into a big hefty purchase that hurts to look at. How do I stop it? Or slow it down? It huuurts... make it stop...

[Killquake]

It'a tiny purchase after tiny purchase that turns into a big hefty purchase that hurts to look at. How do I stop it? Or slow it down? It huuurts... make it stop...

I recently got a new labtop and I havn't bought anything in a month compared to my constant spending a while ago

[AppStoreGamer]

HA!

Steve Jobs has you right where he wants you.....

(if you're a member of this forum, chances are you have the same problem too)

[MetaNick]

Try viewing only the free apps. Look at all the Top 100 Free lists and download a ton of those. Maybe that will take your mind off wanting more.

[PoV]

*cough* *cough*, play more Smiles (http://www.smiles-game.com). ;)

[applesauce25r624]

Try viewing only the free apps. Look at all the Top 100 Free lists and download a ton of those. Maybe that will take your mind off wanting more.

either do this or smash your device with a hammer many times as hard as you can

[arono]

I would love to hear a good solution coz i actually have the same problem. Though i don't spend as much of people around here that has blown more than $700 dollars in the app store i would be happy to stop spending money on it i have spent exactly $143 and i really promise that bobby carrot will be the last one

[RedStaR]

Your not addicted to buying apps
Your addicted to buying things in general.
Seeings how the appstore always has something to buy thats where you can get your fix.

I am the sameway, but I found after impulsive purchase after impulsive purchase, that something just don't add up. Somewher good value some stunk. But why the need to buy? Because I just have to see how it is.

Lately the games have been getting better...which gives me better forsight before purchasing. Comparing to other apps and their prices. Knowing the app store stigma for imenent price drops.

Before I found a way to preview and or get apps for free (NOT BY JAILBREAKING) I easily have bought 90% of the games in the store.

I don't spend near as much as I do in Dec-Jan then Jul-Aug.

But resourcing and reviews, not having to be the first, and setting a standard of app development all helped shape my future purchase desicions.

So I said to myself "what is on my phone/mac now that I would keep forever?"
and I set a standard right there.
no more cutsy games. no more puzzles......If it isn't as good as the least best game I would keep then I'll wait for someone eles to play because they will lord knows theres gonna be someone before you.

[Flunkie]

Run out of money and it won't be a problem anymore.

I was addicted too.

[CBraun53]

Don't buy a new game until you complete a couple of the games that you already have purchased.

[PHARTGAMES]

Make your itunes go directly the the DS Effects page when it loads.

Problem solved.

[BOWB4ZOD]

i bought AppSniper and ever since then i tend to not buy new apps right away. I want to put them in this app for a while to let them drop in price. I have kind of made my addiction less about buying them right away to adding things to AppSniper.

Also I have changed my App Store pass code to something quite long. Sometimes I am just to lazy to enter all the letters and numbers. I also had an idea of generating a complicated pass code and making that my App Store one. Then I can't just buy apps anytime anywhere, I have to be at home and look up my pass code. But i have not tried this yet.

I find it helps a lot to get yourself over the initial new app excitement. There have been a few solid apps that i wanted so bad and could not wait for (Hero of Sparta and Monopoly are the two big ones) Once they came out I added them to AppSniper to wait for reviews. Then I decided to get them on the next price drop. That has come and now i am in no huge rush to buy them. So just getting over that first excited period I find helps a lot.

hope this helps

[RedStaR]

as an *appdicted (copywritten) person It's wierd to see people post new threads asking if they should get Brothers in Arms or Hero of Sparta.

As I read those threads I'm thinking to myself "How have you not bought both of them yet?"

[RaNd0m]

Try getting a next generation console... my ps3 wasn't distracting me from the apps because cod4 was getting old... until I got socom and fallout =)

[NotYou]

How does one stifle an app addiction?

You might as well ask a room full of drunks how to stop drinking:p

[alza]

you might as well ask a room full of drunks how to stop drinking:p

lol !

[RedStaR]

You might as well ask a room full of drunks how to stop drinking:p


too true

[Kamazar]

Try getting a next generation console... my ps3 wasn't distracting me from the apps because cod4 was getting old... until I got socom and fallout =)

good idea. I have a 360, incidentally. hard to play fallout 3 with little kids running around, though. they keep pulling off the earplugs and blindfolds.

You might as well ask a room full of drunks how to stop drinking:p

LMAO!

[floob]

Hi. I'm floob. I too am an appstore addict.

[RM imagery]

See what you can afford on a monthly basis and set a weekly budget for yourself. I avg. $8-$10/week but i'm trying to bring it down to $6.

Maybe yours will be $5. $20/month is not that bad - considering the enjoyment we get out of it. There's a lot of good stuff avail. @ the $5-$6 range. If you buy one of those - that's it for the week (outside of free apps of course).

Those .99 games add up but 3 or 4 of those per week is alright.I love appsniper and went crazy with it when i first got it. Now, i have 8 snipes in my range but i'm not pulling the trigger as fast.

With this site and all the info we have - we can make educated purchases much better. It just takes discipline.

[jecebn]

You might as well ask a room full of drunks how to stop drinking:p

Haha - thats the funniest thing I've seen all day.

I'm one of those idiots who have spent $500+ in the app store (its probably a lot higher than that, Im just really afraid to look).

I took my debit card info off of iTunes and am limiting myself to using giftcards. This has helped a lot when it comes to impulse buyiing (if I dont have enough money on the gift card to buy an app, I have to go to the store to buy a new gift card. 9 times out of 10, by the time I get home with the new card, I really don't even want the new game anymore). Oddly enough, I am more concerned with using up gift card balances than I was when I was using my debit card. I never want to use the gift card balance for bad purchases for fear that I am wasting my money. Compare that to blindly clicking "Buy" when I was using my debit card without thinking twice about it. It always stung a little when I would get an email for my iTunes receipt and have a balance of $50.

Another thing that has helped a TON is limiting myself to one page of games (16 games). In other words, I only keep the games I play alot on my phone, and if I want a new game, its got to be better than one of the games I already really enjoy playing. By doing this, I have cut my spending per month to less than what I used to spend in a week (or less).

[RM imagery]

Another thing that has helped a TON is limiting myself to one page of games (16 games). In other words, I only keep the games I play alot on my phone, and if I want a new game, its got to be better than one of the games I already really enjoy playing.

One page of games?! Now that's just silly. And here i am, hoping for an update that will add a page or two to the limit. 9 pages is not enough!!

[OahuSurf]

Buy iTunes gift cards, because you can see how much you are spending, and how much you have left.

IM DEAD SERIOUS, DO IT. :mad: :mad: :mad:

I was addicted to buying games but once I bought some Itunes cards, just seeing how much I had left before I had to buy a new cars, stopped myself from buying an app unless I REALLY REALLY wanted it. I went from spending 20 bucks a week on average, to spending 22 dollars TOTAL in the past 2 months.

[BulletDev]

*cough* *cough*, play more Smiles (http://www.smiles-game.com). ;)

Yes, that will do you some good. Avoid games with text in the icons, or expensive ones with no use.

Just kidding, the real cure is to carefully pick out one app you are sure you want, and then suck all the goodness out of it, like a vampire. This way, you will be entertained for longer in between purchases, curing the virus knows as "Appetitus"

[BOWB4ZOD]

gift cards don't work in Canada

Buy iTunes gift cards, because you can see how much you are spending, and how much you have left.

IM DEAD SERIOUS, DO IT. :mad: :mad: :mad:

I was addicted to buying games but once I bought some Itunes cards, just seeing how much I had left before I had to buy a new cars, stopped myself from buying an app unless I REALLY REALLY wanted it. I went from spending 20 bucks a week on average, to spending 22 dollars TOTAL in the past 2 months.

[BulletDev]

gift cards don't work in Canada

I know! I wish I had a cure.....

[snow_mani]

I wish I knew how to solve an app addiction. I'm trying hard but for each step forward I seem to take two backwards.

On another note, can a mod please move this thread to the Lounge forum.

[NotYou]

On another note, can a mod please move this thread to the Lounge forum.

Thanks for pointing that out.

[Hello]

OR...
beta test apps/earn promo codes in forums here.
this saves you a lot of money, and helps the dev. too
for example, i thought of buying spore but didnt because of its expensive tag,
but i got one of those 200 codes from that survey and saved myself 10 bucks. :D

[Billhouse]

I was going to suggest this app anyway. It used to be free.

If you REALLY, REALLY want to stop your addiction, I have a 99 cent solution.

If DS Effects doesn't do the trick, I've got your transdermal app patch right here.

Pay 99 cents for this cure.

http://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewSoftware?id=300445059&mt=8

This is the only app you will ever need. The animations are the most polished that I've seen since Rolando.
The gameplay and over all replayability are equaled only by a select few epic games.
I beg of you, go forth and download "Fingermill Revenge".

[THEDeliriumTrigger]

Either you are joking, or you are the dev of that app.

[Kamazar]

fingermill revenge? a tiny virtual treadmill for fingers? I'll go with the giftcards, thx.

[PoV]

Yes, that will do you some good. Avoid games with text in the icons, or expensive ones with no use.
:). I know what you mean. I can't win though, since I sell Smiles Zen and Smiles Drop separately. I *have* to be clear that Smiles is both games. Only shows up like that in iTunes though.

Sadly, Smiles has the trifecta of game shame working against it.

1. Matching game
2. Text in name
3. Priced over $0.99

It doesn't matter how good or highly praised the game is, the trifecta strikes again. ;)

[Billhouse]

Either you are joking, or you are the dev of that app.

I'm not joking, if you pay real money for Fingermill Revenge, it should stop your addiction. It was hands down the worst free app I had ever downloaded, now it costs a buck.

[DanM]

If you have a job/source of income you are more likely to buy stuff!
So when I start my job I hope I don't blow my first weeks wage on the 20 apps I added to appsniper :(

[hkiphone]

Use AppSniper, use their Free Apps filter. If looking at paid apps, put them onto the Snipe list at a lower price and wait. You should be busy enough with the free apps or currently owned games to tide you over.

Follow games forums like here, and see what everyone says about a game before diving in. Alternatively, search for video reviews on YouTube. Get a better idea of what the game involves before buying. We've all suffered from paying for games overpriced for what its worth, and are now more experienced and savvy any making informed decisions rather than impulsive buys. So most of us are able to judge a game's value. eg. I would value Slotz Racer at $5.99 while on retrospect, Spore is only $0.99.

Promise yourself to finish off existing games first. Reward yourself this by buying a game from your AppSniper list only after you've finished one.

Make sure you have the time to play the new games! No point buying an RPG, Monopoly or Sim City if you only have time to play in short bursts of 2-3mins. (It'll take you that long to load up a big city anyway!)

Oh, and others' suggestions to use gift cards instead should also help!
Good luck!

[BulletDev]

OR...
beta test apps/earn promo codes in forums here.
this saves you a lot of money, and helps the dev. too
for example, i thought of buying spore but didnt because of its expensive tag,
but i got one of those 200 codes from that survey and saved myself 10 bucks. :D

SPAMMER!!

Please, don't ever, ever try to "earn promo codes" here. That's not how it works :)

[BulletDev]

:). I know what you mean. I can't win though, since I sell Smiles Zen and Smiles Drop separately. I *have* to be clear that Smiles is both games. Only shows up like that in iTunes though.

Sadly, Smiles has the trifecta of game shame working against it.

1. Matching game
2. Text in name
3. Priced over $0.99

It doesn't matter how good or highly praised the game is, the trifecta strikes again. ;)

:P That's alright. Despite the text, we all still love your game.

As a last resort, my might want to consider App Rehab.