I was thinking about Apple having a completely different approach regarding paid applications.
Right now, the dev membership is some kind of entry fee that enables you to participate, which is all-right, but think about this:
Most apps are slowly shifting towards the ugly "freemium" or "free to play" approach which I really dislike. I like to know what I pay for upfront and not be sucked into to a "pay to proceed" scenario.
What if Apple would make the dev membership free of charge if you don't plan to sell.
You could submit free apps that don't have In-App purchase options.
It would be a great opportunity for inexperienced developers to learn and improve their apps over time.
Most of these Apps get lost on the noise anyway and Apple doesn't spend much time reviewing these anyways, at least that's my opinion.
Those Apps don't have to sign all those paid contract agreements anyway, so make it free for all, but that's not really my point.
My second point is paid Apps without In-App purchase should be "promoted" by allowing free demo versions and most importantly upgrade options.
Apple could easily sign them for 24 hours, like they do with rented movies.
I'd be willing to pay more than 1,99 for good Apps if I would really know what their capabilities are. I would also be willing to upgrade them if a new version comes out. This would make in-app purchases of "features" unnecessary.
But my main idea would be that all those "free to play" and "freemium" apps would have to pay upfront whenever they submit to the store. It should not only be visible that those apps use this model, but it should be harder to submit them in the first place.
If you want to earn $1,99 from every user, pay the first 1000 in-app purchase transactions upfront while submitting.
This would get rid of most of the ripp-off's I've seen and heard of and the risk of earning money would be on the publisher.
The reason I'm advocating this model is simple. Devs that provide cool apps need to be able to monetize their work through upgrades, without limiting the functionality.
All the mobile gaming companies that try to get the lunch-money from kids should pay upfront and not use the store as an easy way to "get rich quickly".
This might have been discussed already, but Apple should really take notice and offer other business models.
Of course I'm well aware that Apple earns loads of money because of those in-app purchases, but it should be harder for the publishers.
Right now, devs are forced to move to in-app models because most of the big apps are free and people care less and less about payed apps. I think Apple should reward quality and not greed.
Sorry if I wasted your time
Right now, the dev membership is some kind of entry fee that enables you to participate, which is all-right, but think about this:
Most apps are slowly shifting towards the ugly "freemium" or "free to play" approach which I really dislike. I like to know what I pay for upfront and not be sucked into to a "pay to proceed" scenario.
What if Apple would make the dev membership free of charge if you don't plan to sell.
You could submit free apps that don't have In-App purchase options.
It would be a great opportunity for inexperienced developers to learn and improve their apps over time.
Most of these Apps get lost on the noise anyway and Apple doesn't spend much time reviewing these anyways, at least that's my opinion.
Those Apps don't have to sign all those paid contract agreements anyway, so make it free for all, but that's not really my point.
My second point is paid Apps without In-App purchase should be "promoted" by allowing free demo versions and most importantly upgrade options.
Apple could easily sign them for 24 hours, like they do with rented movies.
I'd be willing to pay more than 1,99 for good Apps if I would really know what their capabilities are. I would also be willing to upgrade them if a new version comes out. This would make in-app purchases of "features" unnecessary.
But my main idea would be that all those "free to play" and "freemium" apps would have to pay upfront whenever they submit to the store. It should not only be visible that those apps use this model, but it should be harder to submit them in the first place.
If you want to earn $1,99 from every user, pay the first 1000 in-app purchase transactions upfront while submitting.
This would get rid of most of the ripp-off's I've seen and heard of and the risk of earning money would be on the publisher.
The reason I'm advocating this model is simple. Devs that provide cool apps need to be able to monetize their work through upgrades, without limiting the functionality.
All the mobile gaming companies that try to get the lunch-money from kids should pay upfront and not use the store as an easy way to "get rich quickly".
This might have been discussed already, but Apple should really take notice and offer other business models.
Of course I'm well aware that Apple earns loads of money because of those in-app purchases, but it should be harder for the publishers.
Right now, devs are forced to move to in-app models because most of the big apps are free and people care less and less about payed apps. I think Apple should reward quality and not greed.
Sorry if I wasted your time
