diff --git a/examples/ApplicationList.php b/examples/ApplicationList.php
index <HASH>..<HASH> 100644
--- a/examples/ApplicationList.php
+++ b/examples/ApplicationList.php
@@ -37,7 +37,7 @@
         if ((!$result) && (count($result)))
             throw new Exception("phpari error occured", 503);
 
-        print_r (json_decode($result));
+        print_r ($result);
         exit(0);
 
     } catch (Exception $e) {
diff --git a/src/interfaces/applications.php b/src/interfaces/applications.php
index <HASH>..<HASH> 100644
--- a/src/interfaces/applications.php
+++ b/src/interfaces/applications.php
@@ -117,7 +117,7 @@ class applications // extends phpari
 
 			$response = $this->ariEndpointClient->get($this->ariEndpointURL . $uri, $this->ariEndpointOptions)->getBody()->getContents();
 
-			return $response;
+			return json_decode($response);
 
 		} catch (Exception $e) {
conform back to legacy phpari interface - don't break backward compatibility