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Android Market's "25 Billion Downloads" - 5 Days. Apps $0.25, Movies for $0.99 & Books for $2

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That's right folks, IT'S BACK!
OzBargain's favourite type of sale is happening again!!

Direct link to the Google Play sale for:
Apps at $0.25 cents
Movies at $0.99 cents
Books at $2.00

Directly announced on the Google Android Blog, this sale will be running for the next 5 days.

Google Play hits 25 billion downloads

Whether you’re looking for directions, checking email or sharing a picture with friends, apps are now an indispensable part of life. And if you’re using Android, it all starts with Google Play, home to 675,000 apps and games. That’s a lot of choice. We’ve now crossed 25 billion downloads from Google Play, and to celebrate we’re offering some great discounts for the next five days.

Every day you’ll be able to choose from a collection of apps from some of the world’s top developers including Gameloft, Electronic Arts, Rovio, runtastic, Full Fat and more. And all for just 25 cents. We’ll also be offering some special collections like 25 movies you must own, 25 banned books, 25 albums that changed the world and our 25 top selling magazines, all at special prices. Visit Google Play a little later today to check them out.

Twenty-five billion is more than twice the distance, in miles, that the Voyager 1 spacecraft has travelled since its launch 35 years ago. It’s the amount of time, in minutes, that have passed since some of our earliest ancestors began to set foot in Europe. And now, thanks to all of you, it’s a Google Play milestone. We look forward to the next 25 billion.

Day 1:

Apps Link Books Link Movies Link
Angry Birds Space The Secret River by Kate Grenville Brokeback Mountain
Asphalt 7: Heat The Light Keeper’s Wife by Karen Viggers Pulp Fiction
Clouds and Sheep The Good Father by Diane Chamberlain The Wrestler
Draw Something Wicked Nights by Gena Showalter Exorcismus
Granny Smith The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini Scream 2
Let’s Create! Pottery The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer Vicky, Cristina Barcelona
NFL Kicker 13 The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafón Good Will Hunting
Ocean HD The Immortal Rules by Julie Kagawa The Reef
OfficeSuite Pro 6 The Game: Penetrating the Secret Society of Pickup Artists by Neil Strauss Pan’s Labyrinth
Runtastic Pro Before I Go To Sleep by S. J. Watson Where The Wild Things Are
Sudoku The Power of Now: A Guide to Spiritual Enlightenment by Eckhart Tolle Ninja
Symphony of Eternity The Australian Book of True Crime by Larry Writer Evening
Tasks Lone Wolf by Jodi Picoult Inkheart
The Cat in the Hat – Dr. Seuss The Happiness Trap: Stop Struggling, Start Living by Russ Harris Aftershock
Nowhere Else by Fiona McCallum Bring It On
Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter by Seth Grahame-Smith Chocolat
Eat, Pray, Love: One Woman’s Search for Everything by Elizabeth Gilbert Born To Race
The Happiest Refugee by Anh Do IP Man 2
You’ll Be Sorry When I’m Dead by Marieke Hardy Law Abiding Citizen
Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen Little Big Soldier
An Idiot Abroad: The Travel Diaries of Karl Pilkington by Karl Pilkington Bodyguards and Assassins
God Is Not Great by Christopher Hitchens Bordertown
The Drop by Michael Connelly Across The Line
The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins 2 Days In Paris
Great Apes: Reissued by Will Self The Rebound

Day 2:

Apps Link
Cut the Rope: Experiments
doubleTwist Alarm Clock
World of Goo
SketchBook Mobile
FIFA 12
Paper Camera
Shark Dash
The Going to Bed Book
Flick Nations Rugby
Dungeon Village
Mini Motor Racing
Color & Draw for kids (phone)
Color & Draw for kids (HD)

Day 3:

Apps Link
Amazing Alex
TuneIn Radio Pro
Temple Run: Brave
HD Widgets
PicSay Pro – Photo Editor
Monsters Ate My Condo
Flick Golf
ezPDF Reader PDF Annotate Form
Kids ABC Letters
Rebuild
ZombieSmash
mSecure – Password Manager
Mass Effect Infiltrator
Dragon, Fly! Full

Day 4:

Apps Link
Broken Sword : Director’s Cut
Pool Break Pro
Order & Chaos Online
Cogs
Camera ZOOM FX
Ski Safari
Cut The Rope or Cut The Rope HD
Where’s My Perry
Endomondo Sports Tracker PRO
RealCalc Plus
MADDEN NFL 12 by EA SPORTS
UK Bus Checker
Dr. Seuss’s Sleep Book
Farm Invasion USA – Premium
BONUS: SwiftKey 3 Keyboard @ $0.99

MOD: Move the link to Google Play.

Frequently Asked Questions:

Q: It's the first time I made purchase on Android Market and I got charged $2 for "PENDING — GOOGLE CHECKOUT INTERNET"!!!
A: See "Authorisations" section on Google Checkout Help. This is normal for the first time purchasers, and you will get the amount back between 1-14 business days, depending on your bank.

Q: I just purchased a bunch of Apps all at once and my bank is rejecting the purchase or I'm getting other errors.
A: Remember to not purchase all the apps at one go. Keep at least a few minutes between each purchase to avoid having them pending / cancelled. If you are having such problem, just click refund in the Market app and purchase again!

Q: Can I use my app purchase on other devices?
A: Yes, app purchases are tied to your Google account, not the device you're using. Any device that supports Google Play will have access to previous purchases.

Q: Can I buy apps now for use on a future Android device
A: You cannot purchase items from Google Play until you have logged into Google Play with your Google account at least once on an Android device.

  • A technical workaround has been posted by 'Anominous Sign' here. Great work, thanks Anominous Sign!

  • A less technical workaround can be achieved by borrowing a friends device, using a demo device in a retail store. You'll need to add your Google account to the device, access Google Play and possibly make a free purchase. It should go without saying that you'll need to remove your Google account from the device once this is complete otherwise your Google data (emails, calendar and contacts) will be synced to that device.

Related Stores

Google Play
Google Play
Marketplace

closed Comments

    • +1

      Nope, you were blind. The movies were always $0.99, and the books were always $1.99

  • +2

    Today's deals are up now. Nothing really appealing to me unfortunately.

    • +1

      Already got "World of Goo"?

    • Yes, bit of a snoozefest today.
      The play store reviews for Shark Dash and Mini Motor Racing are quite bad.

  • +1 for World of Goo and Sketchbook Mobile.

  • Papercamera is pretty decent too, got it for 10 C before

  • Got Fifa 12

  • +1

    swiftkey is on sale at 0.99…is it really worth getting for the Nexus 7 ?? Seems to be getting rave reviews…

    • It's pretty amazing, yeah - makes typing on a touchscreen actually enjoyable

      • yeah.. coming from a qwerty phone, I found all touchscreen keyboards frustrating. Swiftkey made it much, much better. I can't use any other keyboard now.

    • If you like using predictive text, Swiftkey > Swype, but if you want to use the trace text thing, I'd say Swype > Swiftkey. Plus, Swype is free :)

      • How does one get Swype, exactly? I've been looking for it on the Play store for my N7, and can't seem to find it (it came installed on my GS2).

      • Well… if you want to use the trace text thing, Swype > Swiftkey is not a valid comparison, because Swiftkey can't do the trace thing at all. :)

        But yeah I agree, Swype has the best trace thing, Swiftkey has the best standard keyboard thing.
        I'm still waiting to see what Google does with Blindtype though.
        http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m6eKm1gUnTE&feature=player_de…

      • +1

        Its even better then predictive text. It learns from your previous usage and you can get to the point where some SMS's you send require almost no typing as it predicts everything after the first letter you type. Great app. Swiftkey that is.

  • -5

    Not that I condone it but these can easily be downloaded to your PC from the stream

    Because they are UDP there is no error correction and the data may not be 100%

    Then again if you do, do that, then you might as well just not pay for it because the intention is that you can only rent the movie

    • We may as well not post any software bargains at all by that reasoning since all software can be pirated in some way.

  • Aww. Only slightly interested in doubleTwist alarm as I have all the other doubleTwist stuff from the 10c sale.

    Paper Camera and Sketchbook are sort of okay, also got those from the 10c sale. I never really use them - in fact, I have just checked and I don't even have Paper Camera installed anymore. I remember looking through each effect, then never using it again. I occasionally use Sketchbook to write 'I LOVE YOU' in different colours, then show my partner… I totally make good use of it.

      • +1

        Go Mr positive…

      • +10

        'Boyfriend' sounds immature to me, so I use the word partner. Get over it.

        • Chemda feels the same way and uses "seriouso".

          (I wonder if anyone will get the reference)

  • I'm all for buying apps/games when they're cheap @ 25 cents, but what's stopping people (in general) from pirating them? From my understanding you don't even need to 'jailbroken' in order to do so (not that I do it as I still have an iP4). Just curious.

    • +5

      Nothings stopping people, but the play store makes purchases very easy and you can install to all your devices and it'll always be available from the store.
      Also you don't get updates with pirated apps, and some do stop working if they think they're pirated. I downloaded a few apps, then figured it wasn't worth it and it's easier just to spend the few cents to buy them.

      • +1

        Exactly my line of thought too.
        As I mentioned, for 25c you can't really go wrong.

    • You have to manually update if you don't buy through app store, and you're not notified when updates are available. Also you may lose all your settings when you remove and install a new version manually, then have to reconfigure it all over again.

      For 25c, it's well worth it for the convenience.

    • +2

      What's stopping people? being decent human beings… there is a valid easy alternative to pirating and (loo and behold) people are using it.
      If you think that the fact that you can pirate something will stop many people from buying it (given a cheap and easy alternative) then you have been brainwashed successfully.

      Also it is much easier to get it from the Play store (with all the added upgrade and support) then to go looking for it pirated.

  • +4

    So far the deals are not as good as last 10 cents sale. I recall I got Swiftkey, Paper Camera, GameDev Story, Apparatus, EzPDF Reader, Where's my Water.

    All better than what they have so far…..

  • +3

    Should add that the movies are for rent. Quite important I would think.

  • +1

    Day 2 looks pretty good to me. Cut the Rope, World of Goo, Dungeon village. Toilet time just got a whole lot funner.

  • +8

    Completely unrelated to the sale…
    Saw this BBC Good Food - Recipes where you can download all the books for free for a limited time.
    The app itself is free.
    https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.bbc.gfrtac…

    GET ALL AVAILABLE COOKBOOKS IN THIS APP FOR FREE FOR A LIMITED TIME ONLY - USUALLY £1.49 EACH
    Whether you’re looking for weekday inspiration, trying to cook the perfect steak or attempting your own homemade ice cream, get cooking with the new BBC Good Food - Recipes, tips and cooking tools app. This app lets you buy and store all the existing BBC Good Food cookbook apps, and organise your favourite recipes and shopping lists in one place.

    The app is free to download, and comes with 20 of our favourite recipes, like, Beef & beer pie, Summer vegetable curry and Chocolate & raspberry pots. It also includes tools like our simple-to-use roast timer, handy weight converters, and a basic glossary of ingredients and techniques, to get you started.

    • Thanks so much for this! it's a nice-looking app.
      Btw it is also available on iOS too…

  • I would buy Cut the Rope Experiments if it was the HD version. SD will look crap on my 720p screen.

  • -2

    Too bad I cannot pay with PayPal and I have to use my credit card to open a Google Wallet account.

    • You can always remove your payment details from Google Wallet. No sweat.

  • +1

    I thought that the books and movies would be new each day too, but it's only the apps and games. Got a couple of books, and a movie. Got a bunch of apps and games, 25c is very cheap. Got Fifa 12, The World of Goo, Cut the Rope experiments, sketch book, office suite pro, Asphalt 7, and Granny Smith. Barg!
    Glad a bought an Android tablet.

    • Yeah, I thought they would refresh too, bit of a disappointment. But I, too, have bought a whole heap of apps (first time ever, on my Nexus 7)

  • +1

    I've got a real dumb question - but are the movies for $1 on a watch once/rental basis or yours to cherish everlasting?(until the Google empire finally collapses in the year 2050 because of SkyNet)

    Excusing my ignorance and jaded sci-fi predictions, there are some nice deals to be had on this glorious day.

    Mass Effect Infiltrator - The closest thing you're going to get to the real MA on a portable device. Combat system looks functional and gorgeous visuals. Possibly my first mobile "hardcore" game. purchased

    Flick Golf - You're better off flicking them on the green, not the green stuff from your nasal cavities. It's a dirty habit, truly. purchased

    Rebuild - Simcity with zombies. I'm kinda sick of all these zombie cross-over titles. Sure, it is probably a good game but all the blood and gore offends me. no-sale

    TuneIn Radio Pro - You will never ever need to buy a record, cassette, LP, CD, vinyl, mp3 ever again. You can find millions of obscure radio stations that only play 80s metal and glam rock which is all I ever need because I have such a broad taste in music. Great for parties and even daily listening when you don't have time to organise a music set-list and just prefer to pick a random style or genre. already purchased

    • +2

      Well.. it wouldn't really be a rental if you could keep it forever would it!

      You have 30 days to start watching it. Once you've started, you have 48 hours to finish watching it.

      • Uhh in theory yes but that doesn't stop iTunes from 'renting' you music.

    • Agreed, TuneIn Radio Pro is a winner.

  • Anyone know if I can buy books on my google account and transfer them to ipad somehow? Books are better to read on my ipad but I am getting a new Samsung S3 and just wanted to know if I could somehow read them on the ipad. is there an app that lets me read them I can download on the ipad

    • google play books app on ipad

  • +1

    New Apps released

    Got Tunein Radio Pro & HD Widgets

    • +2

      Good choice, me too

  • I purchased 3 apps today but they're not showing in 'My Android Apps' :(
    I used the BlueStacks trick as I don't have my Galaxy S3 yet.

    EDIT: They're there but showing as 'Installed'. How is that even possible considering I don't have a phone?

    • They should be installed on BlueStacks on your PC if that's the case. Don't worry, you've done the right thing. You'll also be able to install them on your Android phone when you get it.

    • mine is the same , they are showing on Bluestacks which I think is all that matters. I downloaded bluestacks on forgot69 advice and works a treat. there is an option to sync your phone to download the apps once you get your phone but i turned off auto sync so it doesnt keep trying to find a phone that doesnt exist. I am getting the s3 4g when it is released and will then sync it

    • funnily enough on google play it is saying that I have a Samsung GT -N7000 which I dont

  • Is the only difference between TuneIn Radio Pro and the free version (https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=tunein.player&…) the option to record, pause and rewind songs on stations?

    TuneIn sounds good, but I won't use the above functionality, so I'm thinking the free one would be fine for me.

  • +2

    Day 3 I purchased 22 out of 25 apps lol.

    I don't intend to play/use half this stuff, just bought it because I can.

    I hope MX Player Pro will be part of the sale. I've never seen that on sale before, and it's like $5.70 for just an ad free version of MX Player.

    • +4

      Such a high roller.

  • Day 4 now but there appears to be only 14 apps on sale instead of the usual 25.

    • Yep and they're all pretty crap too. I don't play games very often on my phone so IMO there's far too many of them in this deal :(

    • But I bet you still bought all 14 cause you can?

  • +4

    Looks like SwiftKey 3 Keyboard @ $0.99 is also on sale. Added to the OP. I don't think it requires it's own post, right?

  • -2

    Todays deals suck

    Got Order & Chaos Online only

  • Madden 12.is listed by the opportunity but I can see it on play store. Can anyone also see it.?

    • I can see it. If you can't see it, it means it's not compatible with your device.

  • -1

    Amazon has price matched the US list of Google Play books and some not all are now available in the Aussie Amazon Store for 99c for a list of the price matched books see this post on the mobilereads formum - Note the links in the post are affliate ones(not mine)

    • Amazon has an AU store now?

      • No but Kindle books are set by region so if you're Australian you see different books and prices than if you're US that is of course unless you fiddle with you address and region in your kindle account settings

  • +3

    less games, more apps please, Google? For once I'd like to see some launchers like Apex and tools like Tasker go on sale.

    • Nova launcher is $0.25 today. Shame, this paid version is still inferior to the free Apex version on my HTC Desire. Home screen scrolling is not as smooth. I frequently get the wait to load Drawer when backing out of another app.

      On the plus side, it manage to import my Apex desktop layout so I only have to setup the widgets.

      • Yeah, Apex is still the bomb for ICS and up. For a while I quite liked GO Launcher but the amount of new features they're cramming into the app makes it quite bloated.

  • +1

    Broken sword looks really fun, have purchased :)

  • -1

    Be aware that in app purchases do NOT transfer to other devices!

    I have been burned with this before and when I get the Note 2 is will be again :(

    I bet it's the main reason in app purchases exist for some games. Some use them to remove ads.

    • You can probably back up and restore those apps to retain your in-app purchases. Would need a rooted phone though, Titanium Backup or MyBackup Root and both great

    • +1

      They transfer for me, SG2 + HP touchpad. I had to change the device id in the build.prop file on the touchpad to make more apps available.

  • Hi All, my wife and I both have an android phone but with two different gmail accounts. Is it possible to transfer my apps onto her phone and vice-versa. It is the same credit card for both of us.

    • +1

      Apps are not transferrable between 2 different accounts, but different accounts can be used on different phones.

      If she wants to use apps that YOU bought, then you must setup your Google account on her phone. And vice versa.

      Go to Settings => Accounts => Add Account

      Caveat — she can read your emails and access your Google account if your account is set up on her device.

      • -1

        Thanks

  • Horn isn't compatible with my Samsung G2, doesn't allow me to purchase. Any way around it?
    Thanks

  • Is this the last day already :(

  • Something is annoying me, i already have my HTC Legend and downloading apps into it, however i want to use the apps on my google nexus tablet when it reaches here (damn kogan), will these apps work full screen on it or simply say incompatible when i connect the tablet ?

    • +1

      It depends on the apps, so it will be on a case by case basis unfortunately. Most likely a bunch of them will work, but some most likely won't. If you want to know whether specific apps do work, I can check what it says when I visit the app's Play Store page with my N7 if you like.

      Once you have finally got your N7, in future you will be able to visit the web play store, and it will say "works on all of your devices" or "works on some of your devices", and you will be able to get elaboration on the latter by clicking the plus sign next to that message. Unfortunately, that's not much help to you right now of course.

  • SCRAMBLE 25C YES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

    • Buying :) but do you know how much it was before?

  • Expired

    • Was that it? The apps didn't seem to be that great this time around.

  • +2

    Did anyone else get broken sword? it looks terrific

    • I did, but haven't played it yet.

      • my chinese tablet won't let me install it - too big apparently!

  • +4

    495 votes just because the last sale was awesome, however this one left me with a "what? was that it?" kinda feeling…. Am I alone in this?

    • +1

      You're not alone, I felt the same. The last sale was great - 10 days, 10 cents, and 10 great apps per day. This one was shorter (and over a long weekend), 2.5x the price per app, and the apps were either the same as last time, or seemed of lower quality or less useful, although they did seem to have more than 10 apps per day. Left me feeling a bit under-whelmed.

      I think maybe next time they should let people nominate what apps they'd like to see on sale, that way if their makers agree, it could be really good.

    • +1

      Completely agree. I still think this is worth a positive but the 495 positives makes it look better than it really was. In hindsight, I'd say it was worth about 40 positives.

      As nickj above me said, nothing that special but it was so well received because of the last deal last time round.

    • It was still a good sale (I bought my first app from the Play Store ever, and then about a dozen more), but yeah, it mainly accumulated so many +'ves because of the previous deal. Though the previous deal could also be the reason that this one was deemed so lacklustre. shrug

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