tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8564487215688752291.post4963669738501613952..comments2023-09-30T02:48:11.532-07:00Comments on Latenitesoft: Mac & iOS Applications: The Cruel Economy of the App StoreJorgehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17980674643563684531noreply@blogger.comBlogger8125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8564487215688752291.post-27523915424194358662008-10-14T12:02:00.000-07:002008-10-14T12:02:00.000-07:00@jon I agree. Release planning is very hard. You h...@jon I agree. Release planning is very hard. You have to get everything ready for the moment Apple publishes your update. I hope that Apple can provide an estimate in the future.<BR/><BR/>@markm I agree that being pioneers, we suffered from the bad things at the beginning (our star rating is 3.5 due to lots of people disliking our price), but we also enjoyed the additional exposure. Now there is no NDA, so feel free to comment further. <BR/><BR/>@ben There have been a couple of major changes in the App Store. One of them is that people cannot post comments without buying or downloading the app first. Second, updates do not affect the sorting order of the apps. <BR/><BR/>Thanks for the positive feedback. Next, I would like to write a post about possible improvements for the App Store. I hope to get down to it soon.Jorgehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17980674643563684531noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8564487215688752291.post-26258742847455830632008-10-11T20:53:00.000-07:002008-10-11T20:53:00.000-07:00Very, very well said. I'm the developer of NetSket...Very, very well said. I'm the developer of NetSketch, and you've summed up my feelings exactly: <BR/><BR/>"This prospect basically leaves out the space for small but carefully crafted apps with a long time-span, such as those from indie shops we are so familiar about in the Mac shareware market".<BR/><BR/>I love writing software and I've tried my best to create a solid, reliable app. It looks like I need to adopt a much more "one-hit-wonder" approach, though. <BR/><BR/>Also: I noticed today that an update to my app didn't bring it to the top of the "Entertainment" category. It has in the past - maybe Apple has changed the way it works in the last week or so?<BR/><BR/>Thanks guys!Ben Gotowhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05592771933006881264noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8564487215688752291.post-59835394503339391562008-10-10T04:01:00.000-07:002008-10-10T04:01:00.000-07:00you can browse app store without itunes hereyou can browse app store without itunes <A HREF="http://app-store.appspot.com/" REL="nofollow">here</A>Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8564487215688752291.post-88446862392230923152008-09-27T09:51:00.000-07:002008-09-27T09:51:00.000-07:00Potential sales will increase as more and more peo...Potential sales will increase as more and more people buy iPhones and iPod Touches.<BR/><BR/>Most of the reason I don't buy applications is that they're not good or useful enough. Developers can complain all they want, but improving (or sometimes even rethinking) the application is the best way to get sales.<BR/><BR/>Ability to grab foreign sales will also be important. The U.S. is just part of the market.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8564487215688752291.post-33254559806044336292008-09-27T05:32:00.000-07:002008-09-27T05:32:00.000-07:00@julianI totally agree. I think we are all learnin...@julian<BR/><BR/>I totally agree. I think we are all learning as we go, including Apple, and I completely understand there is a lot of caution involved. I expect a lot of small changes in the following months.<BR/><BR/>I also second your try-before-buy comment. I think it is the next step after just having noticed that reviews are now only accepted from people who have bought or downloaded your app (http://twitter.com/mattgemmell/statuses/936992473).<BR/><BR/>Regarding pricing, so far it is a matter of not standing out too much and being ridiculed. Our initial price idea was $9.99, we decided to go $7.99 during WWDC when Sega announced Super Monkey Ball was going to be that price. When the App Store launched we lowered it further to $5.99 because all prices were much lower than we anticipated.<BR/><BR/>Contrary to popular belief, a good app is not done in 2 weeks then you just magically get loads of cash. We have been working on Sketches for one year (not full time), and have yielded results for just the three initial weeks after launch. I think people will realize soon that not all apps are equally complex, useful or fun, so it is sensible to expect different prices. Again, this would happen faster if trials could be offered and people could compare more easily.Pedrohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13374439513311117016noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8564487215688752291.post-65819692747538991832008-09-27T04:55:00.000-07:002008-09-27T04:55:00.000-07:00Good essay.I want to believe the App Store is yet ...Good essay.<BR/><BR/>I want to believe the App Store is yet unfinished and that it will be adapted (slowly I'm afraid) to the software business in the near future.<BR/><BR/>In my opinion the single must-have feature for the store is try-before-buy mechanism. This feature will impact both pricing strategies and unfair user reviews.<BR/><BR/>I don't understand why developers price their valuable apps so extremely low. I know, short-term profits are tempting. But they should take advantage of the loads of patience cultivated during the apple approval process to think at least mid-term.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8564487215688752291.post-76083232228774324882008-09-26T10:20:00.000-07:002008-09-26T10:20:00.000-07:00This is a great article and so much describes my c...This is a great article and so much describes my concerns about the AppStore. I have been using every angle that I have to communicate to Apple that they need to seriously re-think how the AppStore works if they want to keep the store fresh with new and interesting applications. They are not responding to me either.<BR/><BR/>What you did leave out is how developers themselves are a bit "dog eat dog". I had a case (that I can prove) where another developer 1 star'd my application. A discussion with them and not Apple got the review removed. I have no idea how prevalent this is--but the fact that it happened to me probably means it happens to others.<BR/><BR/>I think another issue that is also not mentioned is that the iPhone is far from perfect. Developers get ridiculed for crashes in their applications that are not caused by the application. I can't go into details because of the @#$# NDA--but developers know what I am talking about.<BR/><BR/>Great article. Frankly Apple really needs to democratize the AppStore further and give developers a bit more control on what appears. I don't mind a 1 star from someone who actually bought the software and has legitimate concerns. What I don't like however is that the voting system is such that there is little do to if a 1 star that is inaccurate becomes popular. We should not have to suffer a "Don't Buy Me" sign outside our shop on the AppStore without the ability to respond or at least be able to contact the person who left it.<BR/><BR/>Great article.Unknownhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12547193441624382575noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8564487215688752291.post-26801898635772629762008-09-23T07:40:00.000-07:002008-09-23T07:40:00.000-07:00Very well said. While my iPhone game never made ...Very well said. <BR/><BR/>While my iPhone game never made it into one of the "Top" lists, sales have definitely been heavily influenced by placement in the recent updates lists.<BR/><BR/>On the desktop, I carefully plan releases to coincide with days and times that generate the most sales. This is impossible with the long and unpredictable wait times in the app store.<BR/><BR/>Much of the things you've written about have played a large part in my decisions on how often to update my iphone game and what my next product will be.<BR/><BR/>It will certainly be interesting to see how this all plays out.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com