Revamped Google Play Store to bring operator billing support for India

theserpent

Firecracker to the moon
Looks like along with the cosmetic and visual changes in the Play Store, Google has added the ability for Android users to pay using their billing plan with the mobile carrier.

This means that in addition to the debit and credit cards, users of the Play Store will be able to add their purchases to their post-paid account with the operator. The feature can be found if you have installed the leaked apk of the Google Play Store, which updates the app and content storefront for the popular OS to version 4.0.25.

However, it must be noted that selecting operator billing as a payment option returns an error currently. This could be explained by the fact that the update hasn’t rolled out officially to many handsets yet.

The operator billing option in the checkout dialog



Early Symbian users would recall a similar payment option for games and apps on the Nokia store, but this functionality for Android would further increase the sales of apps on the Play Store, thanks to the ease in which one can potentially get paid apps. It would also give Android a leg up over iOS in terms of payment options for apps on their respective stores. iOS users in India do not have the option of carrier billing when it comes to app purchases.

We reached out to Google asking when we can possibly see the official update and the proper implementation of the operator billing feature, however the company’s spokesperson declined to comment on the subject.

The new Play Store was announced by Google last week and it can be downloaded as an apk from several websites, including this thread over at XDA. The update brings a much cleaner look to the Play Store. The new design is pretty image heavy, but is easier on the eyes thanks to ample use of white space in the design. It looks like the home page now no longer contains featured apps but shows off movies and books. As you scroll down the landing page, new recommendations will keep populating on the screen

It also brings faster download and installation of apps, as well as a smoother checkout process for paid content. Similar themed content has now been strung together so it becomes easier for you to discover new apps, movies and books on the Store.

Revamped Google Play Store to bring operator billing support for India

I think this is a great move, especially for a country like India
 

Vignesh B

Youngling
That's a very good move by Google.
Hope we see more purchases from now onward especially since almost no debit cards work in the play-store and not everyone has a credit-card.
 

coderunknown

Retired Forum Mod
^^ looking at track record of some operator (or should i say Airtel directly) maybe not.
but the +ve side is this will reduce piracy.
 

coderunknown

Retired Forum Mod
What are you trying to say?

it was for Serpent actually. if one can buy apps through the operator (think postpaid), Airtel may bring back its pack of cheap tricks. what if you get a 2k bill for postpaid saying you downloaded some games when in realty it doesn't support your mobile. just an example. lets see what kind of purchase verification is put in place.
 
OP
theserpent

theserpent

Firecracker to the moon
^^ looking at track record of some operator (or should i say Airtel directly) maybe not.
but the +ve side is this will reduce piracy.

Thats true.Airtel is crap crap they eat a lot of money that way.
But once, I was fed up of these ads in ebuddy, around 5 times i clicked on them and ended up loosing 50+Rs. So I bought the ebuddy app for 15 bucks via airtel.(Instead of a CC).

But why only Postpaid users, Why not charge the money from the persons balance?
 

Flash

Lost in speed
But why only Postpaid users, Why not charge the money from the persons balance?

Postpaid is lots more convenient. You don't have to worry about the low balance, of-course one can do top-ups.
Yet, Postpaid accumulates the charges over the month and present itself a NET.AMOUNT where one can pay wholly.


Now it's the trend that people are actually buying GAMES (iOS/Android/WP) for tablets/mobile at a reasonable price - provided the game is truly enjoyable + nice graphics.
How many of us have ever bought a Java/Symbian game for its gameplay/visuals?

So, quality at a reasonable price (In this case, quality apps/games coupled with billing) reduces piracy.
 
OP
theserpent

theserpent

Firecracker to the moon
^Agree, but so in postpaid Airtel and other's can't "charge" you for stuff you din't download, who knows a person might end up with a 1 lakh bill if he has a 2 year old kid? I once read somewhere a kid played a game pressed buy buy in IN-GAME-PURSHACES and spent more than 3000$
OT:
There are many apps out there that are worth purshacing, If you can buy Tapatalk use the beta version its as good as the PAID version, you need'nt pirate it
 

rhitwick

Democracy is a myth
Very good move, most of us have postpaid connections but at times no credit card support. This is gonna be more hit than Apple's wallet app.
 

Vignesh B

Youngling
^Agree, but so in postpaid Airtel and other's can't "charge" you for stuff you din't download, who knows a person might end up with a 1 lakh bill if he has a 2 year old kid? I once read somewhere a kid played a game pressed buy buy in IN-GAME-PURCHASES and spent more than 3000$
OT:
There are many apps out there that are worth purchasing, If you can't buy Tapatalk use the beta version its as good as the PAID version, you need'nt pirate it
Corrected :p
I agree with you. But usually I find the beta editions to be too much buggy to be used as my primary app.
 

Flash

Lost in speed
^Agree, but so in postpaid Airtel and other's can't "charge" you for stuff you din't download, who knows a person might end up with a 1 lakh bill if he has a 2 year old kid? I once read somewhere a kid played a game pressed buy buy in IN-GAME-PURSHACES and spent more than 3000$

That's hilarious. Ofcourse with postpaid, you will have a log where you can see a purchase (whether you did/your child) on a specified date.
You can even fight with them. Think of the same with Prepaid.

One of my friend got balance deducted from his prepaid amount for some "Hello-tune", though he din't set any. When called to the customer care, they said

My.Frnd
: 30/- has been deducted from my account on XX-XXXX. Why the hell it was?
C.Care: Sir. Your balance is deducted because of the hello-tune purchase.
My.frnd: I din't set/buy any hello-tune.
C.Care: Sir. I understand your situation. But our records show you purchase the tone (Though you can't see the records, even if you wish to)
My.frnd: What?
C.Care : Sir, someone from your home would've bought that. Check with them.
My.frnd: No one from my home, ever called a customer care to set tones.
C.Care: In that case, some child from your home called our "Hello-tune" service by mistake, and should've randomly click some option.
My.frnd: There's no child in my home.
C.Care: Sir, But our records clearly show a purchase was made from your number.
My.frnd: I din't do any. Refund my amount or show me a proof that the purchase was made
C.Care: Sir, we can't do that. According to our company policies, that's not possible.
My.frnd: Well, OK. Stay with your company policies and i will switch to another operator. I will also induce others to switch network from yours.
C.Care: Ok, sir.
My.frnd: (hangs up)

Operators can't pull this crap to postpaid customers, because he is aware of his downloads. He can check his monthly log for hidden purchases and question them, if any.
 

Vignesh B

Youngling
Operators can't pull this crap to postpaid customers, because he is aware of his downloads. He can check his monthly log for hidden purchases and question them, if any.
Exactly. In case of postpaid you can always check your logs. Even I had been subscribed to the Vodafone 3G unlimited pack(Rs 1599) by mistake. I had a log of all the calls and SMSs, so could show them that I had never activated such a service. Got it corrected within a day.
 

Nipun

Whompy Whomperson
Operators can't pull this crap to postpaid customers, because he is aware of his downloads. He can check his monthly log for hidden purchases and question them, if any.

They many times "push" subscription-boxes(don't know what exactly they are called) on user's mobile phones. One accidental press of a button and you lose 30 bucks! :x
 

coderunknown

Retired Forum Mod
Most of them just say - Why to buy, when you can download for free. :evil: :|

if a movie is streamed (700MB+ data downloaded) and you can't store it for later viewing then its a fail idea here where most people use cheap 2G pack (making it almost impossible to download such huge amount of data) or 3G which cost a bomb. but for apps you download once and keep using it unless you do a factory reset or uninstall it. this will reduce app/games piracy but not movies. moreover apps mostly weight in at few MBs.

also nowadays most games include downloading some amount of data externally (done by app itself) and i have seen many people downloading a cracked app and data but ultimately can't get it to work because the app or data or both are not compatible with the mobile. after a few tries they get frustrated and stop trying. instead buy the game (will cost around 50-250 bucks) and use it without any of the headache.

They many times "push" subscription-boxes(don't know what exactly they are called) on user's mobile phones. One accidental press of a button and you lose 30 bucks! :x

maybe i was mistaken. if the user is tricked into buying an app, money will go towards google/app developer and maybe 10% into the operator's pocket. Play Store is not Airtel's playground where they can invent their own services and forward them to the user.

i just they don't come up with their own paid "bloatwares" calling them best app.

I once read somewhere a kid played a game pressed buy buy in IN-GAME-PURSHACES and spent more than 3000$

5-Year-Old Spends £1,700 / $2,500 on iTunes, Apple Agrees to Refund Family
 
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