Never before have users been able to rent apps for iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch from iTunes. Sure iTunes allowed movies and television shows to be rented from iTunes, but not apps. Latest news suggests that this could be changed and that Apple might disclose this new feature in the Let's Talk iPhone event tomorrow.
Tech Erra reports that a string has been discovered from iTunes 10.5 beta 9 which makes it quite obvious that users will be rent apps for iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch if this feature is ever released. It is also mentioned in the string that the app will automatically be removed from users iTunes library and also from the iOS device, after the rental period expires. String shown below:
Piracy has plagued iOS app developers. After learning how to jailbreak any iOS firmware, users immediately want to know how to install paid apps for free on iOS devices. This new feature by Apple can curtail piracy to some extent . Being able to rent iPhone apps will certainly create a distinct between paid and free apps on the iPhone App Store. If an app is priced over 99 cents, users wish for the ability to try them first before spending their hard earned money on it. Since they can't try it, most users start installing pirated apps because they won't have to pay for an app that they don't even like. You might think what harm a user's bank balance will get if an app costs a little more then 99 cents? Actually, buying and installing apps from the App Store is such an addictive habit that before you know it, you would have spent a couple of hundred dollars without even knowing about it, trust us, this happens all the time.
This ability of users to rent apps for iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch could be a blessing in disguise for such users. Users will be able to completely used the expensive apps for a certain period of time and will only have to pay a fraction of their original cost. Nevertheless, at the moment this is just a rumour and we can't be too sure about this until Apple makes the announcement tomorrow at the next generation iPhone release event. We'll be covering the full Let's Talk iPhone event LIVE! Be sure to find out event timings for your country from the chart we have already posted.