When I paid for Shopper I entered into an agreement with MidCentury.
I did not agree to pay for an application that displays ads.
Invasion of advertising into my paid application space amounts to "Bait and Switch".
Full refunds should be offered for those interested.

As others have suggested, "free" and "paid" versions are the standard iPhone users expect. Many of us using Shopper feel $5 (or more) is a reasonable and justifiable cost. I hope that your advertising agreements (contracts) do not prevent quick removal of ads... you may face rapid market share loss otherwise.

The iTunes store prominantly displays glowing reviews in your product description. Shopper is no longer the application reviewed by MacWorld Magazine and others. You should remove those endorsements, resubmit to those entities, and hope for the best.

We wanted to make a bit of info from the What’s New section of our new release (in review by Apple and to be available in iTunes shortly) available to you a little early. The new release includes some needed changes to the app solely to accommodate the Shopper Connect web portal (which will be available today). Please note that the upgrade will resolve some issues the currently available app version will experience with the web portal.

To get back on-topic here...

We would like to thank you all for the feedback on the messaging capabilities from the last release - just so you know, the costs associated with all of the recent upgrades are now much greater than the $0.99 download fee. So in order to keep the platform up and running, while continuing to build your suggestions into the most capable shopping app available (including this months addition), brand sponsorship is needed. We hope you understand and stick with us, but if not - we will be offering an opt-out subscription in the next release (not the one in review by Apple now).

If this option remains unsatisfactory, please reach out to us at support@myshopperapp.com with your contact information so that we may try to arrange an alternative solution.

I'm with everybody who is unhappy with the ads in this paid app. Given that the original complaint was posted four days ago, and the developers have remained silent, it's pretty obvious to me that they have no intention of doing anything about the ads. During this same timeframe, they've responded to other comments and requests in their forum-- it just seems that they're ignoring the fact that users are really unhappy about the ads.

I'm uninstalling off my phone tonight.

If you have a backup, you can replace Shopper.ipa in iTunes with the backup. I had a backup at version 3.0.4. Restoring it lost all my lists, but at least now I have the app I paid for rather than the advertising billboard Shopper has become.

So if you're an old user who updated and you have a backup, consider a restore. If you've not updated, don't. If you're a new user who believes paying for ads is wrong, run from Shopper and look for a better app.

OK, here's the problem. I paid for an app with no ads. I did not choose how much it cost, the devs set the price for it, and that's what I paid. Then, with an update, my app was turned into a useless pile of junk because of all the ads. Now I am being asked to pay an *additional* subscription fee to have the ads removed??????? Really?

This is dishonest and immoral on the part of the devs. I'm also annoyed by the BS term "brand sponsership." Come on, devs, it's advertising. Nothing more, nothing less.

You really need to charge the actual cost of the app. If it is a good app, people will pay that amount. I have purchased more expensive apps than this, and been quite happy with them. Stop trying to pull this bait-and-switch garbage.

Download fee? Forgive me for thinking i was making a "purchase".



I think the alternative solution is clear. However I'm not hanging around hoping you guys do the right thing by those of us that supported you in the beginning. Bye, Shopper...

I agree with what's been said here. I can accept that some of the new enhancements do cost money, but forcing existing users to endure ads is just unacceptable. If the developer feels that these new enhancements are so valuable then charge incrementally for them. I hate ads, and I especially hate ads that interfere with the user interface like these do. I recommend this app to all my friends that have iPhones and get new ones, but not anymore. For the life of me, I can't believe the developer doesn't understand this.

[Edited by moderator]

I don't understand this. It used to be such a good app...

The offer of a (paid?) opt-out subscription for the ads just sounds ridiculous. They could easily up the price for the app! Or perhaps offer a free version with the ads.

But this... this feels very bad, and I won't use this app anymore unless it changes.

Its gotten hard to figure out which user is what on twitter/here/email/etc... but I wanted to thank a user that called us and offered constructive criticism around brand messaging. We understand the pushback we've heard about messaging (even when it was simply FDA alerts and hints), but our goal is to address the heart of the issue as we proceed.

We are working hard (seriously, I didn't have lunch yesterday we were so busy in the office) to evolve our brand support and were thankful to constructive feedback we get (Thank you whoever you are that called us!). As we've stated in the past, we're looking at providing options around the messaging, however, we also will be looking at ways to include spacial and visual options around how you receive the brand messages to make them more distinguishable from the notes you've taken time entering. As we're actively discussing ways to improve this we would certainly appreciate any ideas/suggestions any of our users care to offer. Your ideas do mold the product as it evolves.

Also wanted to say that on Tues we made an update to how we deliver messages to users to improve accuracy. Please let us know if you are still seeing FDA/USDA alerts against totally inaccurate items (of if you see them as an international user!). The accuracy improvements carried out should have improved brand messaging as well.

To those users that have decided to stick with us to see how we adapt, we wanted to thank you and ask that you not explicitly seek to hurt us in the app store via your review. We are hearing you...loud and clear. However, we're not exactly able to adjust course and improve in the future without continued growth and your support. We are much readier able to adapt with constructive feedback.

In the end we hope you decide to stick with us. We are quickly working to improve based on the overwhelming feedback we've had in the last few weeks. And we hear your concerns and desires... they are not falling on deaf ears. I assure you of that.


Wow...long post... cant really twitter all this can I?

One thing I forgot but wanted to mention. The support team is primarily there to alleviate confusion and help users with Shopper. We are rather limited (as most support teams are) in our ability to comment on business direction. We are, of course, always here to help with app issues and take any constructive suggestions you might offer and will pass along any comments.

Thank you for understanding.