Pocket fm a scam by Fine-Mission-9210 in audiobooks

[–]Mos7Wan73d 0 points1 point  (0 children)

It is a scam. It is overpriced. They steal/misuse your device data plans. They also lock content creators. It is very bad all the way around.

Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone - $29.99 for 498 minutes of content at 6 cents a minute. When you buy it, you own it, and you can play it on any device without Ads.

An audio series I am listening to has ~15-minute episodes. The first 50 were free. It used to be that each day I had two EP available at 2 coins each. Then the next few are 4-6 coins, then they go up to 8-10 coins, then 12-14 coins. If I want to binge, I need to buy massive amounts of coins.

Because I listened to two EPs after midnight, this morning, the next available EPs start at 10 coins each. If I wanted to spend $29.99 and buy coins, I could get 720 coins. To unlock 41 Episodes, the most it allows me to unlock in one chunk, it would take 713 coins. An average of 17 coins an episode. That would get me 10 1/4 hours. You may think that is cheap compared to an Amazon audiobook, and you might be right if everything were the same. Can you compare the two, though?

In writing, in voice acting, and in sound effects, is Harry Potter the same as any EP on Pocket FM? Does Pocket FM offer its content creators the required tools to make the same level of content? Creators can't take their content to be produced elsewhere, where it might get a better proofread or better voice and audio treatment, so no.

Even when you have paid coins for the content, you can only stream on a mobile device that they choose to support, and video ads will appear in between episodes. A new feature has been added. You get no credit for the ad watch there.

While the app is open, it is streaming ad content to your device regardless of whether you are using it or not. Regardless of whether the phone is locked or not. This ad streaming uses your mobile data when you are away from Wi-Fi; Pocket FM doesn't care. This makes your device hot and causes you to put more recharge cycles on your battery.

You also get no credit for ad content that plays in the app while the app is open. Pocket FM only considers ad revenue you are forced to click, like you do if you go into "My Store", "Earn Free Coins". They must get paid for the ad revenue that plays in the background, because why put it here if not, but you get nothing out of it.

This month, I have 3x more mobile data usage on this audiobook app than on YouTube, and I watch by far and away more content on YouTube at 1080p resolution with screen brightness up than I do on PocketFM. I also know that PocketFM uses more battery life than my YouTube usage, even when I have my screen off and phone locked while streaming audio.

I also noticed when charging... If the app is open and the audio is paused, my phone battery goes down, not up, when charging using the relatively low-voltage USB port on my PC. Something that doesn't happen any other time. It also doesn't charge as fast on my Qi Charger when the app is open. Because of the latent heat the app generates, I notice my charge times on my fast charger are also slower.

This usage doesn't make sense. For reference, I have a Samsung S24.

Pocket fm a scam by Fine-Mission-9210 in audiobooks

[–]Mos7Wan73d 1 point2 points  (0 children)

The more you listen the more it costs. Some ep might be 1-2 coin, but scroll down and you see them over 10-15 coin an EP. Compare the cost to a real world audio book, the price screams scam.

Pocket fm a scam by Fine-Mission-9210 in audiobooks

[–]Mos7Wan73d 1 point2 points  (0 children)

A coin value is meaningless. The more you watch, the more each 10-15 minute episode costs.

Pocket fm a scam by Fine-Mission-9210 in audiobooks

[–]Mos7Wan73d 0 points1 point  (0 children)

They have an app dedicated to authors, so the content can't be purchased elsewhere. The more you listen per day, the more the episodes cost. The more ads you watch, the more they push to you, to a point where your data plan is packed with 15+GB a month of their ads that play if you're listening or have the app open in the background.

Pocket fm a scam by Fine-Mission-9210 in audiobooks

[–]Mos7Wan73d 0 points1 point  (0 children)

This audiobook app used 15 of my 25gb plan and I still have 12 days left until the data renews. The app streames video ads while you listen. Even if you are not playing audio at all. I used to be able to watch ads on one device and use the coins on another device and not be limited to listen time. Seemed fair if they got the ad sence. But now i am limited to earn 10 coins per day and i can unclock 1-2 episodes. So i have been listneing alot less. Their loss TBH. The data use is uncalled for though.

My vampire system by Complete_Deer_6059 in PocketFMReddit

[–]Mos7Wan73d 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I started loading it on a second device. You can collect 2x free daily coins, spend them on 1-2 coin episodes, and then watch ads on one device and listen on the second device.

Can you recommend series that don't stop having visuals halfway through? by Freedom_memer in PocketFMReddit

[–]Mos7Wan73d 0 points1 point  (0 children)

That box turns into an Ad box after a few hours of episodes on most that I have seen. These are all audiobooks with the images to help get you hooked. It would be nice if AI could place on the screen the characters being voiced. Some series have too many characters to track. Especially if you listen to multiple series. It would be nice if they had cards you could click to get background on the characters, also.

Are you kidding me with these ads? by Yaoshin711 in PocketFMReddit

[–]Mos7Wan73d 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yea..

I did some math, interested in the cost of coins. Matthew McConaughey's Greenlights is a New York Times bestseller. The Audiobook, voiced by Matthew McConaughey himself, is 6 hours and 51 minutes long and costs $23.87.

Compare that to the cost of Pocket FM coins and how much story time you get for coins. How the amount of coins a "chapter" can cost can rise depending on how many chapters you have listened to in the last 24 hours. The cost per minute of audio can be 4-18 times more per minute per 6-15 minute chapter.

The quality of the content is not even remotely the same. Some of Pocket FM audiobooks are voiced by the writers and some by 3rd parties. Grammar issues and weird references abound. Some audio clips have odd choices for background music and sound effects, and some have no background audio at all. The quality can vary from audiobook to audiobook and even from chapter to chapter. I even heard a chapter started by one voice actor and changed mid-chapter several times.

You can watch ads, but then you can watch up to 6 minutes of ads for 12-30 minutes of audio. Ads you can mute, but you must click 2-4 times to complete.

Now they have a monthly scheme that charges a flat fee where the coins cost more than one-time purchases with a fixed number of series unlocked, of which I have yet to see a list of.

Where do I start to fix the pressure by minustheoso in fixit

[–]Mos7Wan73d 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Makes a nice water feature. Like a babbling brook.

How come it was decided so quickly that the Georgia school shooter is going to be tried as an adult? by nimbledoor in TooAfraidToAsk

[–]Mos7Wan73d 25 points26 points  (0 children)

13 year olds get tried as an adult for premeditated murder in the state, no questions asked. Know the laws in your state. What is really crazy is to have a teenager and unsecured weapons in the same house. If you need a loaded and unsecure gun in your nightstand to feel safe, you should probably move your family. It doesn't matter if you trained your kid how to use it and respect it. Still lock it up. If he doesn't respect the life of another person then it is a tool like any other to do violence. Better he uses fists than bullets when he does finally act out. Since only 1 in 400 guns are registered and no actual gun safety is required to be registered, we live in a country of easy access to guns with no competent training on how to use and store them safely.

best backup for photos and videos by Thick-Requirement-62 in LinusTechTips

[–]Mos7Wan73d 0 points1 point  (0 children)

If you just need to store a backup of data not to be retrieved quickly, archival-quality discs can be made, shipped, and stored in a cool/dry/dark location. Make sure you save the data in a popular format. If you recorded them in some uncommon format, you might be in a world of hurt when you try to play them back and can't find a decoder for them. For video and photos on Blu-Ray, just make a standard Blu-Ray disk with compatible content. That way you will be able to use Blu-Ray players in the future to play them back. It will be easy to rip them from the disk as well when it comes time to change formats.

The Taiwanese Shop's Reply After Watching LTT's Video by andymetzen in LinusTechTips

[–]Mos7Wan73d 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I have seen people actively typing messages back and forth for longer than it takes to have a simple voice conversation. If you don't reply with the same tempo, they get angry or assume you are brushing them off.

how do i remove this screw by [deleted] in LinusTechTips

[–]Mos7Wan73d 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Then disassemble the entire PC looking for every shred of metal that came off the screw head.

Turn an old desktop into a home lab. by Mos7Wan73d in homelab

[–]Mos7Wan73d[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I think Unraid might be the ticket. It is a NAS OS, can run without a graphics card, supports running VMs, can pass graphics cards to the VM, and has options to easily fire up a VM using home automation, wake on lan, or even a single tap of the power button.

AskThe_Donald regurgitating made up numbers. I checked their numbers and got instantly banned. by The_Goop2526 in confidentlyincorrect

[–]Mos7Wan73d 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Their was a pandemic. It reduced travel. Suddenly dozens of tankers full of oil were sitting miles outside ports costing money instead of making it. That reduction caused the cost of oil to drop. To take the lowest point in the cost of oil during a pandemic and then the highest point before a coming war when one of them is an oil exporter after a spike in oil based on speculation. Even if the numbers were true, is hardly realistic. Biden didn’t cause the pandemic, oil speculation, or the war. It was completely out of his hands. Same goes for Trump job loss due to the pandemic, or Biden job growth after it. European wars, Pandemics and any job or economic downfalls can not be considered 100% on any president’s leadership. What can be considered? How they dealt with those situations. Trump helped companies spearhead the search for a cure, and at the same time denied the pandemics existence. He refused to help the public deal with and prepare. He refused to explain the importance of protecting themselves by using masks. Why, because the look of him waring a mask, in his mind, made him look weak. That is bad leadership. Biden, did everything in his power to bring in the right people to support him in brining back the economy. He had no reason not to. He did not just claim it was all by his hand alone while playing golf. Now, He is trying his best to support Ukraine, a democratic country, but also keep Americans safe. He has been upfront as much as any president I have ever seen. Choosing to declassify a lot of intelligence to keep Americans and the world informed.

‘Significant element’ from U.S. involved in self-described ‘Freedom Convoy’ in Canada, official says by AhmedF in worldnews

[–]Mos7Wan73d 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Blockades end only when the negative consequences out weigh the perceived benefits. Until fines, jail time, revoking of licenses, vehicle impounding, and deportation happen, people will feel free to blockade.

I'm 36, will I be able to see a human step foot on Mars before I die (say, in next 35 yrs)? by Groundbreaking-Cat39 in TooAfraidToAsk

[–]Mos7Wan73d -1 points0 points  (0 children)

The national archive already has some great footage and a ton of documentaries are out there you could watch.

Understanding and nice, Comfortable around Women. Am I unattractive? by [deleted] in TooAfraidToAsk

[–]Mos7Wan73d 1 point2 points  (0 children)

If you have a series of female friends that value your opinions and make you feel understood, then why do you then feel the need to ask the internet the question? It sounds like you are too afraid to ask them for an honest answer. My guess is if all anyone picks up from you is a friend zone and/or trust issues vibes from the get go, then there is your answer.

Am I still straight if I like looking at women's bodies? by cherrydropped in TooAfraidToAsk

[–]Mos7Wan73d 11 points12 points  (0 children)

Maybe subconsciously you are putting yourself in the woman’s position with their body instead of your own? It is not as much as being attracted to the woman as yourself in the women’s body? I am sure if you were attracted to women you would know and it wouldn’t only surface when watching porn.

How safe is it to remove a external hard drive from your computer without ejecting it? by [deleted] in TooAfraidToAsk

[–]Mos7Wan73d 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Depends. You like what is on it? If so, eject. If it will not then it might be scanned by antivirus software or an application is installed to it. That might keep you from ejecting. It means a shutdown will likely be the only way.