Earlier this week over at Daring Fireball, John Gruber had a couple links related to refunds for mobile software purchases. The first was a link to Michael Tsai's post on App Store Usability. Both Gruber and Tsai agreed that they find themselves truly satisfied with only about 1/3 of their App Store purchases, but they're content with that because the prices are so low.

The second item, posted later the same day, pointed to some small details on Google's Android mobile OS. Specifically, Gruber stated that he wishes Apple's App Store had a similar refund to Google's App Market, where any purchase can be returned within 24 hours.

To be sure, there is some sort of refund policy for the App Store, but it's not easily accessible, nor is it clearly laid out, as it is for Android. However, while a proper refund policy should be elucidated, I don't view it as the cure to the problem of being dissatisfied with purchased software. Purchasing software, then using it, and finally requesting a refund if unsatisfied, is obviously not an efficient system.

Ideally, purchases where the customer is left unsatisfied wouldn't happen at all. In practice, the number can certainly be reduced. If customers were able to try software prior to purchasing it, we'd avoid purchasing much of the software that wouldn't ultimately be suitable, leaving us far more satisfied with our purchases. That would be a good thing all around, as satisfied customers are more likely to purchase software, and developers would be more able to charge a fair price, without needing to underprice to appeal to wary buyers.

Free trials have long been a hallmark of independent software on the Mac, particularly with the rise of the web, as I noted previously. Thus far, however, trials have not been a part of the App Store. The thing that I find most striking about this is that Apple has all the pieces needed to make seamless free trials. Software could be made to work for a set time period (say 7 days), and then be automatically deleted. If you've ever rented a movie via the iTunes Store, you've likely seen this at work. When the rental period is up, the file simply disappears. Alternately, the software could alert the user that it's expired when it's next launched. Regardless of the specifics, all the pieces needed for developers to offer trials are there already.

Apple has complete control over the App Store and its component parts. I've bemoaned this control in the past, but it could easily be used to benefit developers and customers alike. Hopefully, as the App Store continues to mature, Apple will consider making it possible for developers to offer free trial versions of their software.