Pocket Casts is showing ads to people who paid for an ad-free app

Pocket Casts, a popular podcast app, has come under fire for showing advertisements to users who had previously paid for an ad-free experience. The issue is a bug, according to Automattic's CEO Matt Mullenweg, and the company is working to fix it. Pocket Casts launched as a purchase-only app in 2010, with users paying a one-time fee. In 2019, the app became free, and the company introduced a subscription-based model. To appease users who had paid for the app, Pocket Casts offered them a free lifetime access to its premium subscription service, Pocket Casts Plus. However, some of these lifetime members are now reporting seeing ads in the app and being directed to the subscription page to remove them. This has caused outrage among users, who feel that the company is trying to increase its conversion rate by making the base product worse. Mullenweg has acknowledged the issue and stated that anyone who has ever paid for Pocket Casts should not see ads. He has also clarified that Automattic does not create new "lifetime" purchases, but has honored the legacy deals made by Pocket Casts when it was a startup. The company is working to fix the bug and ensure that all users who have paid for the app receive the ad-free experience they were promised.