Don’t Lock User Data Behind Paywalls – Online Goddess

Don’t Lock User Data Behind Paywalls

10 Aug, 2026

I have a pet peeve when it comes to apps with any kind of paywall. I appreciate developers need to earn a living and have no qualms paying for the hard work they put in or the resources that may be required. But there’s one thing that sometimes gets locked behind a paywall and it really pisses me off.

Data export.

Sorry, but this is a really dirty trick. Whatever data I put into the app is mine. Why should I have to pay to pull it back out again? We’re not talking about anything complex or fancy here, just a simple CSV, text file or similar. Yet sadly this often crops up as a premium feature.

I find this often goes hand-in-hand with cloud sync. I pay Apple for my iCloud storage - I don’t expect to also pay random developers just to be able to use it. Most apps do offer cloud sync by default, so I’m really not impressed if it’s part of a subscription offering. Of course, if the app offers its own proprietary sync service then that’s perfectly justified.

Locking these 2 “features” behind a paywall is a) lazy and b) tells me your app doesn’t offer enough to get people wanting to pay for it.

Last night, I downloaded and started testing a task-logging app. If I were to use it, it’s likely to end up with quite a lot of interesting data I might want to backup or use in another app. But only if I pay, as shown in the list of “Pro” features:

So I deleted it. If the developer thinks it’s ok to hold my data to ransom, then I don’t trust their ethics overall.

This one’s a movie & TV show tracking app I used to subscribe to (so it has around 100+ movies/shows I’ve added). I can’t get my collection out now as it’s for subscribers only - note the lock icon on the export tab:

When you consider how much attention the issue of user privacy and data collection has generated over the last few years, you’d think developers would be keen to promote this angle. It’s a really easy win too. Hey, look how user-friendly our app is - you can take your data with you any time.

Frankly, Apple (and Google etc) should be enforcing this at App Store level. There’s absolutely no good reason for developers to lock this data away.

So if you’re a developer reading this, I urge you to please keep user data exportable for ALL users and - unless there’s a genuine technical limitation - let them sync it to the service of their choice.

If you’re already doing this, then thank you - you’re awesome!

#blogging