Apple Provides iPhone Developers with Daily Download Stats

[johnnybluejeans]

The really funny thing here is that iPint is not only FREE, it's by far the better app. It includes a game and is more realistic than iBeer.

So "take that!" you filthy Capitalists!

A free market does not always lead to the consumer getting the lowest price, nor does it always reward the best product with the most profits. Seriously though, the people that make iBeer have a completely absent moral compass IMO.

Developer 1: "Hey, our **** app is still selling even though there's a better one for free!"

Developer 2: "Go figure, oh well, as long as we are making money we might as well keep going."

??? ????

Sooooo.. should Apple stop making OSX because Linux is free?

 

[KindredMAC]

If I developed some ultra great game, I think I would really start the price at $1.99 or $0.99 only because the more copies you sell the higher you get on Apple's Top 25 list which in turn spurs more sales. The $0.99 to $1.99 has more of a chance to sway the people on the fence about an app than if it is priced at or above $4.99.

$2.99 and $3.99 are almost like a wasteland.... An app could be great or you could feel like you spent your money on crap, it's a horrible gamble. Apps over $4.99 are almost expected to be good and worth it. But when you reach the $9.99 mark you are hedging back into the wasteland territory and approaching the end of the world. Nothing could really be worth the potential cost of a fullsized app that is parred down to the iPhone.

 

[bob_hearn]

I dropped the price for my app Subway Shuffle they day they put it up, from $4.99 to $2.99. I think it was a good idea.

Now, with the daily sales stats available, I can see that I got a big sales boost when the free version Subway Shuffle Lite was finally posted. Without that I just had no visibility, in spite of excellent reviews.

 

[batchtaster]

I really don't care what they charge for their apps. The market will sort it all out.

What bothers me more is some of what's casually linked from the main MR item, the "pricing adjustments" link that directs to Forbes. It appears that the advertising lobby is not satisfied to have us littered with advertising just on TV, the internet, billboards, vehicles, buildings and everywhere else, but we must surely be expected to carry around advertising rubbish wherever we go, on our Apple devices. Surely beaming them directly into our brains via gamma radiation must be at least in the R&D stage.

Okay, maybe too much.

Suffice to say, I will steadfastly refuse to ever buy any app that includes advertising garbage in it, regardless of how "must have" people imagine it is (I live perfectly well without Facebook and MySpace). I don't put up with it on my desktop, I'm not putting it in my pocket.

 

[DiamondMac]

There are still far too many applications that are way overpriced. The chances of me buying a $0.99 -> $3.99 app are very high. Anything beyond that, it needs to be something very ultra special before I will even consider it.

However, at the same time there are too many developers selling small silly apps for $0.99. You have to provide me with some value before I purchase it.

Agreed. I bought a few very over-priced apps at first but not anymore. I have bought many more much lower priced apps now if not just free

 

[branjosef]

Yeah!!!

 

[christian_k]

I wonder why so many people are just talking about the price?

Why not talk about quality?

The iPhone is much more powerfull than the Nintendo DS for example. For a pocket device it has a fast CPU, a lot of memory (both flash and RAM) and a decent 3D chip. So really great games (and other Apps) are possible on it.

Do you really expect great games for it when everything over $5 called "overpriced"? Even cheap DS games are much more expensive than that....

Christian

 

[bigmc6000]

This occurred to me also.

The $.99 app is the one I don't understand at all, unless as you say, they are intentional rip-offs.

There are so many of them, and they all suck, or are basically of the same quality as the free ones.

1. If it isn't worth even two dollars, then it should just be free IMO.
2. If the developer thinks it's a good app, why is it only $.99?

It's like the developers are saying right up front that it's a POS or possibly unfinished app, they don't feel good enough about making anyone pay for it, but could you pay them a dollar anyway? Crazy.

I would gladly pay up to $40.00 or so for an app that's worth it and does something worthwhile, but I won't pay even $.99 for someone's ripped off sudoku code, wrapped in a lime green UI.

I wouldn't necessarily say that. If I were to develop a game or an app on the iPhone that I think is pretty cool and I really want to make a name for myself at the same time I can make some money to cover my costs and maybe help with some bills I'd price my app at $0.99 to help achieve both goals. I will agree that there are a ton of apps that are $0.99 that are just junk but at the same time it's a great tool for up and coming developers to get their name out there and see how popular the game becomes. If it turns out that it sells like wild fire is there anything in the agreement w/ Apple that you can't raise the price? I know that violates supply and demand since there is technically unlimited supply but if you can raise the price 100% and only decrease purchases by 20% it certainly would be the better financial decision...

 

[stagi]

I wonder why so many people are just talking about the price?

Why not talk about quality?

The iPhone is much more powerfull than the Nintendo DS for example. For a pocket device it has a fast CPU, a lot of memory (both flash and RAM) and a decent 3D chip. So really great games (and other Apps) are possible on it.

Do you really expect great games for it when everything over $5 called "overpriced"? Even cheap DS games are much more expensive than that....

Christian

I totally agree. I was looking at the reviews for Pacman on iTunes last night and my wife walked by and was amazed at all of the bad reviews for the game all based on the price. She is not a gamer or a tech person but does have an iPhone and thinks $10 is cheap for a game. I totally agree with her, even though the games aren't like a console game $10 is 1/5 the cost of a $50 wii game and a pretty good value.

 

[MacTheSpoon]

I have zero problems paying $10 for an app, if it's good. Software for a computer is way more expensive than that. And I think the little $1 apps are great. So what if they're usually not very polished, they still can be useful/fun, and it's only a dollar!!!

Developers, don't listen to these people who could care less if you starved while they downloaded all your stuff for free. Just charge a fair price and the rest of us will buy it.

 

[AvSRoCkCO1067]

I feel great about the $10 I spent on Super Monkey Ball. The game is definitely difficult enough to last me a while (I've played it quite a bit and I'm now on World 4). Also - I can go back and try to get all the bananas on each level (which extends the lifetime of the app).

I would easily spend $20-$30 on a GPS turn-by-turn application.

Otherwise, though, I look for free Apps (but wouldn't hesitate to drop $5-$10 on a few games...I'm looking at Crash at the moment)

 

[whosyourtator]

Beware of the Freetards

I think you need to open your mind and consider the fact that there might be some small developers out there that make good software but decided to charge 99 cents because

a)they are working on this as a second job/hobby and don't need to rely on it for income but still want/deserve compensation for their effort

b)know that a good way for a no-name developer to get noticed is to have a cheap app that is still good.

I have an app in the store for 99 that is not groundbreaking but I have received enough positive feedback to know that it definitely doesn't suck.

I think people need to get over the idea that having to pay a little for decent iPhone software is some horrible travesty. Paying for an app that just displays a donkey or elephant is one thing, but anything a bit more complicated than that does actually take time and effort to create and support, and you shouldn't just assume someone will be willing to do this for free.

I agree totally. I'll add this it is terrible how all the little "freetards" in the app store whose mommies bought them iphones snipe non-free apps by putting in one star and not even trying the app. So what if you can use a calculator to calculate a tip. Apparently, 500 people in one day still wanted to buy my "stupid" tip app. Those jerks need to get a job who want eveyrthing free or want everyone to have the same free app.

You people that aren't charging for apps are missing out and screwing others in the process. You should charge first, then adjust for the market.

 

[whosyourtator]

I have zero problems paying $10 for an app, if it's good. Software for a computer is way more expensive than that. And I think the little $1 apps are great. So what if they're usually not very polished, they still can be useful/fun, and it's only a dollar!!!

Developers, don't listen to these people who could care less if you starved while they downloaded all your stuff for free. Just charge a fair price and the rest of us will buy it.

Right on, you don't see people griping in the app store that all music is not free. Most .99 cent apps are like songs but better, you never get tired of it and it doesn't get old if it is a useful app (maybe games get old). From here on out, these people in the app store griping about apps not being free shall be known as "freetards". They don't contribute to society and expect everything to be handled to them.

 

[bacaramac]

I think Apple should watch the free apps and how crappy some of them are. I downloaded Lander last night and boy, can you say free app just to advertise the companies apps that are not free. If you tap the screen it takes you to the companies stupid webpage and lists their other apps like G-Spot, etc. This pissed me off as the app was only created to advertise and nothing more. I now will never buy their apps becuase of this stupid free app.

 

[akac]

The hard thing is that for every other mobile platform the pricing is around $10-$30 on average with most of the good apps at about $20-$30.

On the iPhone its just not the same. People can say its all about volume - OK - sure, but that doesn't really fly completely. You simply can't make a business on $0.99 apps. You're going to saturate pretty quick.

 

[NAG]

Agreed, I'm just amazed at all the stupid reviews saying "but I want it free!" Apple really needs a way for the review system to not be abused by people who have no concept of money. It makes it hard to tell when an app truly is bad or if some people are just having a tantrum for no reason. Maybe if they allowed the developer to reply to comments (specific or in general).

 

[Yvan256]

I dropped the price for my app Subway Shuffle they day they put it up, from $4.99 to $2.99. I think it was a good idea.

Now, with the daily sales stats available, I can see that I got a big sales boost when the free version Subway Shuffle Lite was finally posted. Without that I just had no visibility, in spite of excellent reviews.

If I may suggest something. I have just downloaded the Lite version and I'm on level 5. I have a really hard time telling green and yellow apart. If green was a bit darker I think it would be easier.

 

[Yvan256]

Best three dollars game I've found so far

Dizzy Bee. It's more than worth the three dollars they're asking for it. I'll be checking Igloo Games, that's for sure!

 

[irun5k]

This whole thing is kind of a mess really:

1) There is too much junk on the app store. Many apps are buggy, just don't work, or they remind me of 80's shareware trash that you'd download from a BBS. I mean really, some of these apps are like the things we loaded on our first PC's, just because of the newness of a computer. In 20 years do you think people will still want a beer app for their handheld?

2) Don't get me started on the guys who keep releasing "books" as individual 99 cent apps.

3) To sustain quality apps, we have to demand quality and be willing to pay for it. If we settle for using free alternatives that don't work correctly, nobody will build a business around providing quality apps. It takes a lot of work to develop software, period- be it a desktop app or handheld. $10 is NOT unreasonable if it is quality.

 

[jplan2008]

This occurred to me also.

The $.99 app is the one I don't understand at all, unless as you say, they are intentional rip-offs.

There are so many of them, and they all suck, or are basically of the same quality as the free ones.

1. If it isn't worth even two dollars, then it should just be free IMO.
2. If the developer thinks it's a good app, why is it only $.99?

It's like the developers are saying right up front that it's a POS or possibly unfinished app, they don't feel good enough about making anyone pay for it, but could you pay them a dollar anyway? Crazy.

I would gladly pay up to $40.00 or so for an app that's worth it and does something worthwhile, but I won't pay even $.99 for someone's ripped off sudoku code, wrapped in a lime green UI.

A free trial system would be ideal, but if you're saying $.99 is like nothing, then why is it a big deal to pay? I don't download even free apps that I don't think I'll use, and I'm willing to try out an app I think I will only use occasionally for 99 cents. I've bought songs I only listened to once. I don't think developers are necessarily saying their app is only worth X, but maybe they have a certain goal of money in -- maybe they just want to recoup the $99 developers' fee and their bandwidth charges from extra hits from iTunes. Or they're going for volume. I'd rather pay for an app than give a "donation" via paypal, which gives them my Paypal email address, full name, etc. (and I don't know what the minimum Paypal amount is, but I wouldn't Paypal only 99 cents). There's going to be a lot of junk out there from free on up, but I'm glad that there's no more censoring by Apple than there is currently and that the minimum price isn't higher. How much I think I'm going to use it, and how well it serves its purpose (whether it be killing time playing a game or a utility app) and what the alternatives are ( going to a blank safari page instead of flashlight app, for example is something anyone can do with no coding knowledge) is what dictates what the price I'm willing to pay is.

 

[dudemac]

Some iPhone games can be compared to Nintendo DS games, and in those cases even the higher price point (9.99) is quite cheap (Super Monkey Ball for DS costs 19.99 dollars). When developers get more time to develop more complicated games, I think there will be games costing over 10 dollars and I think it's okay.

While you are correct that DS games cost more, there is also some level of difference in which they are delivered, which most like influences the cost of the DS games. DS games come on a piece of hardware which costs money, the packaging costs money, the store takes a cut (probably a higher percentage than the Aps store). So the game itself is probably a lot cheaper than the 20$ you pay at walmart. Where the 10$ game is almost all profit and you don't even need to advertise, host, or pay for bandwidth (actually this is paid in your percentage to apple but you get my point). So, more than likely a lower price point would probably be delivering similar margins to a 20$ packaged DS game.

All the puzzle games should be 1.99 or less. The card, slot machine, and word games should all be .99.

Now I don't know if you remember when palm was big, but for a long time most of the software for palm was overpriced too. I had all kinds of stuff for my palm. Most of it was free. The way things look right now, looks like this is what the next version of palm os should have inspired. In many respects the iphone does represent the evolution of what palm started and failed to carry forward. Which is really too bad. Nothing beats the way palm was instant on, could run for days on a single charge. I actually am going to miss my T/X a little. But once there is a good notes app sync for iphone and a substitute for rich text editors (pocket office) the iphone will have it all.

thedude

 

[bob_hearn]

If I may suggest something. I have just downloaded the Lite version and I'm on level 5. I have a really hard time telling green and yellow apart. If green was a bit darker I think it would be easier.

Yeah -- I've heard that from some people who are red/green colorblind. It will be fixed. Are you colorblind?

 

[Yvan256]

Yeah -- I've heard that from some people who are red/green colorblind. It will be fixed. Are you colorblind?

Yes, but strangely enough it's more toward the light green/cyan colors.

I think a good rule of thumb is to try it in grayscale.

 

[Galley]

I had no problem paying $10 for AcidSolitaire Collection, because it's from a proven developer, and I will easily get 40-50 hours of playtime out of it.

 

[Buschmaster]

Can anyone else see before the last 3 days?

I'm not able to view anything before that, but in those last 3 I've sold 111 units.