Not sure if anyone else got the email, but I just did and judging by reviews on the Google Play store, there's many annoyed people!
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.lsdroid.ce…
So just a heads up that your 'lifetime' free license isn't actually valid for your lifetime, or the company's lifetime…!
See past deals here:
https://www.ozbargain.com.au/node/64471
https://www.ozbargain.com.au/node/105992
https://www.ozbargain.com.au/node/141765
Your Cerberus license is expiring in a week. If you received it in a "free licenses" promotion, we are sorry but we could not make those licenses last for a lifetime. We hope Cerberus helped you recover a lost or stolen device during these years, and that you will consider buying a license.
If you paid for the license, we apologize for the error. Please use the support contact form on the website to send us the Google order number/PayPal transaction ID of the purchase for the license, so we can fix the issue and reactivate your lifetime license.
Thank you,
The Cerberus Team
Pretty naughty. I'm surprised they didn't just switch to a freemium business model. That would have pissed off less customers.
I got this aswell although I'm currently not using the product but I had used it when I lost my phone (in my car:) ). It's certainly a good product although I'm not sure how well it rates against any other products but for the free price it was certainly awesome.
Are there better alternatives out there now or should we just buy the license? Does anyone know how much it is?
Says on the google play store page:
In-app Products
$8.07 per item
Oh well. Its a pretty decent product, and has more control over your phone than Androids built in Android Device Manager..
I guess I will have to buy it using my accumulated Google Play credit.
For those who still have loads of amazon appstore coins, you can use those coins to purchase the Cerberus License Activation app there but keep the original app from google play (most likely more updated than amazon). The license from amazon should be compatible with google play.
Im not 100% sure if that will work, as I havent got that email yet, but worth a shot!
Just logged in and saw my coin balance has been zeroed!! TT coins do expire it seems..
Could you please send the link? Cannot find this in Amazon App store (US)
Damn it looks like theyve removed it from the appstore. Clicking on the app from my order history takes me to a 'document not found page'. sorry
Haven't had a need to recover a device in the years I've had the free licence - mostly been a set and forget thing, except on my current phone it takes a photo/emails me every time the security pattern is entered/detected incorrectly (though that's due to something with my phone/OS, not Cerberus itself).
More to the point, what does Cerberus have that free alternatives (such as Where's My Droid and Android Device Manager) don't, and might be worth paying for? Anyone done the research / have a comparison handy?
Try this:
http://www.androidauthority.com/best-android-apps-to-help-fi…
Some of the others look interesting..
Ended up using Play Store credit to buy the license grr ah well at least it didn't cost me real money!
How did you purchase? I couldn't find any option to buy the lifetime license… I do have another year though
BTW, how much it cost? The description in Google Play store say 4.99€
Cost me $7.79. License purchase was in-app, but done through the Play Store
Thanks, for some reason I couldn't find the purchase option through the application.
Could you please provide bit more info where should I go inside the app?
@Bappy:
I'm in the same boat, I think I'll have to de-activate it and log out, then maybe I can purchase.
I have emailed the support, I will let you know the response
I think the purchase option is not available because I still have more than one year left
@Bappy:
Thanks! I was about to do the same.
I de-activated it, but that didn't help.
I couldn't log out of the app, so I cleared the data for it instead. When I log back in I still don't have an option to buy it.
Through their website I can buy additional licenses, but it's 9 Euros for 3 devices… very different to Spackbace's $7.79.
@legiong:
I can't double check as I've since uninstalled the app, but before that I did check the price. Pretty sure it (and the option to purchase) is visible if you go to the app listing in Google Play store on your device. Can't recall the exact number but can confirm I saw $7.XX.
@quop:
The store says in-app purchases, so I can't purchase it through the store. And because I already have a license, it seems I can't purchase it through the app either.
Oh well, time to start spamming the devs.
Here is their thread on the matter within Google Groups Support forum for Cerberus:
https://groups.google.com/forum/#!topic/cerberus-support-for…
I really dont mind paying 5 Euro's for their services if it is truly a lifetime license. However, they have really broken the trust and not sure if they'd do it again in the future. Then again, the meaning of "Lifetime" is the life time of the product and not the life time of the user.. so nothing to stop them from pulling the product out as "End of Life" and rebranding it something different to make more money as well. Worse case, wrap up the company and start afresh with new one and new product.
got the email as well.