I think I might have accidentally discovered how to get free Google Play Store apps...

I wanted to buy Swiftkey 3 for my new tablet, but the buying process is a lot quicker on my phone (it just gets charged to my phone bill as opposed to having to mess about with credit card details). I bought it on the phone, then as it was installing, went to the google play store on the tablet where the app was now showing as 'purchased' so I could download it without needing to buy it again.

Once that was downloading/installing on the tablet, I went to the phone to uninstall the app there (as it was the tablet version of the app, I didn't want it on the phone) and was surprised after the uninstallation to see a message saying my purchase had been refunded, presumably because I'd uninstalled within the 15-minute refund window.
Thing is, the app happily continued installing on the tablet and is still working fine there. I've also received a confirmation email about the refund.

To summarise:
1. Buy app on device 1
2. While that's installing, go to Play Store on device 2 and download/install as soon as the app's status changes to 'purchased'
3. While it's installing on device 2, uninstall from device 1 and hopefully you'll get it refunded even though it's now on device 2 as well.

Let's wait and see what happens when an update for Swiftkey comes. Probably then it will detect that the app is not purchased.

I don't have more than 1 device so...I won't be able to try this trick hehe.

For multiple devices you can use the device emulator in the android SDK. Somehow I don't think this is valid though, I'd imagine it's one of the first scenarios tested. At some point an uninstall event or nag screen will be triggered. Not that you can't get an .apk of the installed app in the meantime...

Interesting... try it with another app and see if it works there's always 4shared to get free apps though

Technically kinda interesting.

Not to attack any one (I've done similar stuff, TBH.), but I just don't get it when it comes to mobile apps: The Oatmeal: This is how I feel about buying apps .

Quote from Keling :

Technically kinda interesting.

Not to attack any one (I've done similar stuff, TBH.), but I just don't get it when it comes to mobile apps: The Oatmeal: This is how I feel about buying apps .

Well, the guy running theoatmeal is a bit of a dick, so who cares about what he thinks.

Quote from Yuri Laszlo :

Well, the guy running theoatmeal is a bit of a dick, so who cares about what he thinks.

Turns out a lot of that article was made-up bullshit. Just FYI.