Quote:
Originally Posted by Cactus Chef
The advantage, for those who care, is that now the Kobo Android app appears to be fully hooked into your Kobo account, as I could see that the purchase was applying some of my account credits before showing me the total. But the downside is, again, it's no longer using Android's "in-app" purchasing model, which I rather liked. I don't want to sign into my Google account on the Kobo app, so I guess I'll just go back to pre-loading my account with gift cards.
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Google (and Apple) actually forbade in-app purchases that bypassed the store. They then took a percentage simply for existing. The EU rightly ruled that such behaviour is both anti-competitive and also a "rip-off", as Google (or Apple) then gets a percentage of every sale. That's why for ages you couldn't purchase Kindle ebooks on Android or iOS in the App. You had to go Amazon's web site in a Browser and purchase as if on a computer (Mac, Windows, Linux).
There are also other problems with Google Playstore payments. You can add a method to pay Google in the Playstore, but you have to use a Google account on a Browser to remove a payment method and they don't really remove it! You then have to go to payment provider and get them to remove Google. I'm guessing this is why Playstore ebook sales are so poor compared to almost anyone else.
So this is actually good news. I know people that have payment methods with Kobo and/or Kindle but not Google.
Also if you buy a Google Playstore "gift" aka advance credit in a supermarket etc, Google often insists its fraudulent and it can take a week or never to get the value applied to your account.
Nintendo, Kobo, Amazon and UK/Irish booktokens just work (though with Amazon they have to be bought from the Marketplace where they will be spent, but that works even if not your own). The UK/Irish booktoken system never adjusted for the Sterling / Irish punt break, even before the euro, so you have to buy the booktoken in Sterling for UK (inc NI, natch) and Euro for Ireland if using their online site! The Booktoken people can even send the card in the post to the recipient with a personalised message. Almost all Irish & UK physical bookshops take the gift token, inc one off independents.