iPad Is there a catch installing free apps from Apple's app store?

[hajime]

Hi, on PC, we have to be very careful about downloading programs from unknown sources or developers. How about iOS/iPad OS apps? In the Apple's app store, there are lots of free apps. While it may be fun to install these apps and try them out, I am concerned about privacy issue. Also, it seems that more and more apps ask you to subscribe monthly after installation and running of the apps but they don't explicitly say that in the app store.

Why there are so many apps available for free? Do I need to worry about installing these apps and get some of my data collected behind my back? Can we fully trust developers we don't know and think that Apple is able to catch apps designed for bad purposes before they allow developers to post the apps in the app store? I recall reading that at least for Android, some apps designed for bad intensions passed through the checking system easily.

 

[wilberforce]

In general, I think there is a low (not zero) risk in getting free apps from the App store. There is not zero risk in anything, but this is the whole point of Apple tightly controlling the App store (plus so that Apple can make money off it). To collect your data, you will have to agree in a pop-up window, or actually enter your data. Sometimes if you do not agree, it will make the app useless.
The "catch" is that the full functionality of the apps is not free, or there are ads. The authors of the apps have to make money somehow, they are not providing these apps just to be generous (with a few exceptions).

 

[Kalzem]

In general, there is no catch per se - as in the negative connotation.

Originally, people wouldn't buy a premium app without a trial because you can never be sure that the app is good, right?
And trials of premium apps don't exist.

So the editors just started to roll out free apps that are limited and come with a premium IAP to fully unlock them.

You can see it as a form of trial. No catch here.

The problem now is that some editors are just plain greedy or even bastards and decided to switch to the subscription model. What was a premium 10$ app is now a free app with a 5$/month fee for the exact same thing.
Sometimes it is justified, sometimes it's close to a scam.

Some free apps with show you ads to compensate for being free. But can you consider this as a catch?

I would say the only thing you have to look out for is free apps that show you as soon as you launch it (so before you actually tried the app) a full-screen popup which says "SUBSCRIBE NOW FREE TRIAL" and in very small "5$/week" and without a clear, visible and honest way to close the popup without clicking on the "subscribe" button.

These are legitimate scam apps.

 

[ackmondual]

You can generally trust apps from larger or well known companies companies. Some issues abound, like the Facebook app being a 20% battery hog (dunno if this is still true). Apps like Netflix will be free to download, but they make money off subscriptions.

A lot of free-to-play games rely on ads and/or IAP (in-app-purchases) to make money, but some of them do track other things in detail. Apple has new measures for you to limit what they can track and such, but I hear you're better off not dealing with said apps in the first place if you're concerned