Point taken. The intention was not to claim that all free apps are crap. There are definitely plenty of good ones like you mention.
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Consumers Less Willing to Pay for Content as Free Apps Surge
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Yup. And now that we don't even have that option of course free apps are downloaded more. (see: PvZ2, RobotUni2, etc)
The free apps that are good are normally paid for off the AppStore. See apps like bank apps, store apps, etc.
Study is worthless without in-app purchase data.
They mention in-app purchases at the end of the article, but it doesn't appear they bothered to do detailed research on it. They did post an assumption, but how exactly would they know unless they dug into it?
The study is even more worthless than that. Just because there are more free apps doesn't mean that more are sold / used / downloaded. I know that my kids hate spending money on apps so they go out of their way and download tons of crappy free apps instead of spending $0.99 on something that they would like. (they have both purchased stuff that they didn't like so they feel burned)
But look at flashlight apps, there are 1000 free ones, some OK some not so good. Maybe 25 asking $0.99 for it. But does that mean, just because there are a ton of free ones people are being cheap? No, it means they also see little value in them. 90% of the apps on the app store are NOT worth anything.
But those that are decent I'm more then willing to pay for, and so are just about everyone I know. At the same time, people love it when the apps go free for a day or so.
Free is great, but few people complain about paying for an app as long as it does what it claims and is reasonably priced.
Will people stop using this argument? It's not valid. Besides, over here in the UK, the iPhone 5 is free on pretty much any contract over £36 per month, any less and the Phone is £99.
The iPhone is NOT expensive, the argument "If you have X, you can afford Y" is so meaningless and full of holes it's like a Swiss Cheese. Do you know these people you are effectively mocking? Do you know their personal finances? How do you know how balanced their money is? Do you personally manage their finances for them? The iPhone only gets expensive if you buy one upfront with cash on no contract. But the majority of people don't do that. And how do you know the reasons why they are reluctant to purchase apps for the reasons you think? Maybe they don't believe the app is worth the money? Maybe they're fed up with buying junk apps on the App Store with no possibility of a refund, maybe they worked out one day they'd spent hundreds of dollars on Apps they hated?
Ironically since getting an Android handset I've begun buying more apps, knowing full well if I hated it, or it wasn't for me I can get it refunded with the push of a button.
I hate that too, if there's an app I love and there are a free version and a paid version, I opt right for the paid one, it's shocking how much data and battery power Ads can burn through. On Angry Birds Android, the ads used to use more battery than the app itself did, when the ads were displayed even during the game screen.
Now I have adblock installed because it irritated me so much. If App Devs aren't willing to take my money with a paid app. I'm not going to tolerate ads forced on me.
That's what I do: your app has ads / requires in-app purchases? Then keep it. I won't be buying into your scam.
I do this also. I don't mind at all paying for something I want as long as it is a nice quality app. I don't expect things to be free, just reasonable. Circus Ponies was a good deal at $20 because it did things I liked/needed/used.
Friends tried to get me sucked into Candy Crush, but that game is ridiculous and just about greed. I would prefer to buy apps from developers who have some love for what they are doing and some care for their customers. I would probably quite happily have paid $10 for CC after the free levels, but I am not going to be paying .99 every few levels to continue, and I am also not going to start spamming my Facebook friends. CC is a great example of a money grab; it just makes me angry to play (I paid for the first three level packs before becoming disgusted with the whole thing) because there is no end in sight to the constant requests for money to unlock things or permission to post on facebook. This just tells me that the developers are only all about the $$ and not at all about user experience or satisfaction. I think it would cost $30 or so to unlock all the levels.
In other news, a new study by the Meat Council concludes that vegetables are not as popular as bacon and steak, and will probably be going away.
Hi everyone,
Im a Developer on iOS devices. And I figured i put in my 2 cents and see what people have to say.
1. Last Year I released my First game on iOS (Night Whisper Lane) A Survival Horror Point and Click adventure Game.
How i released the full version for $0.99 and a FREE Trial / Version.
Now in the Free version you get to play 50% of the game, there are a few ads as it is the free version. Where as in the full version you get the Full game, A bonus Mini game called boss rush mode and its AD Free.
The funny thing is people have emailed me regarding why the free version isn't the entire game but only half.
I don't think there is anything wrong with giving people a 50 % sampler of your game for free with just a few ads.
What do you people think??
2. I have recently started working on my Next game and I'm debating on a few price models.
A. Freemium (But without nickle and dimming the customer to keep playing) I would use the iAP for people who want to Level up faster and or speed up there progress. I don't like the model where you play for a bit and then you see that it cost you more to keep paying. kind of like those old arcade machines. insert coin to continue.
B. $ 2.99 Game with little bit of iAP.
C. a $4.99 premium developed title with huge replay value without any iAP
I am a one person studio and i would like to cover my costs of development.
P.S.
If you have played Night Whisper Lane let me know what you like / dislike, plus check out the FREE version.
I want to see what the people think and create a better product
Im a Developer on iOS devices. And I figured i put in my 2 cents and see what people have to say.
1. Last Year I released my First game on iOS (Night Whisper Lane) A Survival Horror Point and Click adventure Game.
How i released the full version for $0.99 and a FREE Trial / Version.
Now in the Free version you get to play 50% of the game, there are a few ads as it is the free version. Where as in the full version you get the Full game, A bonus Mini game called boss rush mode and its AD Free.
The funny thing is people have emailed me regarding why the free version isn't the entire game but only half.
I don't think there is anything wrong with giving people a 50 % sampler of your game for free with just a few ads.
What do you people think??
2. I have recently started working on my Next game and I'm debating on a few price models.
A. Freemium (But without nickle and dimming the customer to keep playing) I would use the iAP for people who want to Level up faster and or speed up there progress. I don't like the model where you play for a bit and then you see that it cost you more to keep paying. kind of like those old arcade machines. insert coin to continue.
B. $ 2.99 Game with little bit of iAP.
C. a $4.99 premium developed title with huge replay value without any iAP
I am a one person studio and i would like to cover my costs of development.
P.S.
If you have played Night Whisper Lane let me know what you like / dislike, plus check out the FREE version.
I want to see what the people think and create a better product
This is unbelievable, I saw a guy a a week ago complying about Roxio's charging 4.99 for its new spy game. What a bunch of crybabies. Apple App Store prices are way too cheap, i't might be much for compulsive buyers but if you buy wisely is almost a steal.
I hate in-app purchases. What if Apple's server goes out, or something happens? I hate the idea of remote activation. Never support in-app purchases.
I'm not going to pay an "iPad tax" which is usually twice the price because it's a universal app. Somehow it being make for a larger screen means it must cost twice as much?
It's either $0.99 or free/ads.
I'm not going to pay an "iPad tax" which is usually twice the price because it's a universal app. Somehow it being make for a larger screen means it must cost twice as much?
It's either $0.99 or free/ads.
Interesting. My reaction is quite the opposite. I check to see if an app is ad supported or not. If there is a paid non-ad app then I buy that. I don't want to look at ads.
I never ever pay for an in app purchase, but I'll gladly pay a fair price for a full app/game. Like I did for xcom and kotor. Would have paid for real racing 3 but they sold out to ea and made it pay to play, so they didn't get a penny! In app purchases need to die!
The iPhone is never free, nor cheap. (Ditto for any quality smartphone.) You ARE paying for the whole thing, even in a subsidized plan. The carrier just sets monthly rates high enough to reimburse themselves for the "loan" they gave you.
And you don't have to know someone's personal finances to know that an app under £1 is a drop in the bucket compared to £36 times 12 months. Thus it is very reasonable to say that if someone can afford an iPhone, they can afford such a tiny additional sliver one time, to get the quality work of a good developer who makes that enormous phone purchase serve the user even better and in new ways.
By that logic, iPhone and iPad apps should cost $15 to $150, the same as Mac and Windows software and utilities. Why should a smaller screen mean an app costs 1/10 as much?
The fact is, the iPhone's race to the bottom is the deviation, not the natural state of affairs, and it carries problems with it. The iPad being just slightly a separate market can bear slightly higher prices--still absurdly low. So don't wonder why iPad apps cost more—wonder why iPhone apps cost so little, and what can be done to solve that so that more great apps can be financially viable.
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I very rarely download games on my iPhone or iPad anymore because 99% of them are F2P/P2W games.
I would much rather pay a couple of bucks for the game and have none of this in-app rubbish that is flooding the app store these days.
I'm all for in-app purchases when done right. I'd be willing to pay an extra dollar here or there for a pile of extra levels that are going to give me at least as much play time as the original game did, but other than that, no thanks.
I would much rather pay a couple of bucks for the game and have none of this in-app rubbish that is flooding the app store these days.
I'm all for in-app purchases when done right. I'd be willing to pay an extra dollar here or there for a pile of extra levels that are going to give me at least as much play time as the original game did, but other than that, no thanks.
As a developer, we set out to price our latest App (Sterling) at a price we thought was reasonable. We also use iOS as consumers, and there are practices we don't much like:
- Free + IAP: Initially this was a workaround because Apple refused to add free trials in the AppStore, but still required Apps/games be complete as downloaded. It's ruined gaming on iOS for lots of us, and we're not much fans of Apps that use it either. That's why Sterling has one price and no IAPs, and never will.
- "HD" versions: We all own iPads, and we didn't like paying a second time (and a higher cost) for an iPad-compatible version of an App, with no universal option. We decided that Sterling (when it eventually comes to the iPad) will be a universal App. What we're planning on doing is:
1. Make the existing App universal, at a (slightly) higher price. All existing users get iPad support for free.
2. Release a separate, "Sterling for iPhone" App at a lower price for new customers that don't own an iPad and don't plan to.
That way, there will still be a single price for those that want to use Sterling on both of their iOS devices. We actually don't expect there to be too many takers for option #2, so we might delay it and only launch the iPhone-only version if necessary.
So we're doing things very differently on the pricing front: we're acting as we wish other developers would act.
The comments in response to this data seem to suggest we were right (at least about the first point).
- Free + IAP: Initially this was a workaround because Apple refused to add free trials in the AppStore, but still required Apps/games be complete as downloaded. It's ruined gaming on iOS for lots of us, and we're not much fans of Apps that use it either. That's why Sterling has one price and no IAPs, and never will.
- "HD" versions: We all own iPads, and we didn't like paying a second time (and a higher cost) for an iPad-compatible version of an App, with no universal option. We decided that Sterling (when it eventually comes to the iPad) will be a universal App. What we're planning on doing is:
1. Make the existing App universal, at a (slightly) higher price. All existing users get iPad support for free.
2. Release a separate, "Sterling for iPhone" App at a lower price for new customers that don't own an iPad and don't plan to.
That way, there will still be a single price for those that want to use Sterling on both of their iOS devices. We actually don't expect there to be too many takers for option #2, so we might delay it and only launch the iPhone-only version if necessary.
So we're doing things very differently on the pricing front: we're acting as we wish other developers would act.
The comments in response to this data seem to suggest we were right (at least about the first point).
Agreed! One-time IAP is fine: it lets you try an app free then buy it, or buy add-on levels or a "pro" upgrade. It's really no different than software has always been, just more convenient.
But consumable IAP where you're enticed to keep re-stocking is seriously objectionable.
(In between is the subscription model: I don't mind that--it's really nothing new either. If the services is worth it, then it's worth it. I personally prefer media subscriptions like Netflix, over game subscriptions like WoW.)
Yes but app purchases soon add up. It's not just £1, it could be £10 a month on apps.
And again just because somebody has an iPhone doesn't mean they can afford unwarranted extras with it. Just because somebody has budgeted £36 a month on their phone, doesn't mean you can pile extra charges onto them with the logic "Well they own one expensive thing, they can afford these".
According to one review I've read, PvZ 2 doesn't appear to be a failure out of the gate. I'm still a little pissed that I have to purchase the snow pea for $3. That guy helped me a lot in the original PvZ. I'll see how much EA makes me grind through the levels if I don't want to pay.
http://www.ign.com/articles/2013/07/17/plants-vs-zombies-2-review
You do realize you're contradicting yourself, right? I'm pretty sure plenty of free apps offer an in-app purchase to remove ads. I think a mini-golf game I play was like that. The game is free, but for $2 or $3 you can kill the ads. They got annoying after about two days, so I paid in the app to remove them.
This is really what all app developers should do instead of making a free and paid version if that's the only difference. Words with Friends has two separate apps, which I guess is because it was created before the rules allowed this type of in-app purchase.
So much for the argument so many like to use about android. "People don't develope for android because users are cheap and don't want to pay for apps". Your argument is invalid.
That's basically the reason for the so-called free app increase.
It's got nothing to do with the reasons stated in the article, and simply reflects the shift towards giving away the app and making the money on the in-app purchases that companies have identified as the new goldrush.
the thing is that free apps are full of ads, which are really annoying, that's why i first try a free version of an app and if i use it frequently i buy the premium version, that's how i dont have to spend money on each and every app.
too bad all the great apps aren't sold for free, you will have to pay for the best apps out there.
the good part is that more and more apps are selling for free but the sad thing is that the best apps, the most useful apps, top-rated and most-popular apps still have a price tag, a very high price tag.