Matt Gemmell:
No company has done as much damage to the perceived value of software, and the sustainability of being an independent developer, as Apple.
Not that other companies wouldn’t have done the same thing — they would have. It’s just that Apple was the successful one.
It’s resolutely the fault of us as consumers, and it’s actively encouraged by the App Store.
While Gemmell will be perceived as biased, he’s not far wrong. It must be disheartening for developers to see the race to the bottom on the iOS app store where people bitch about paying $4.99 for an app and complain about paying for updates/upgrades in the form of new versions.
For me the value of apps on the phone is less, I have been disappointed more often than not with apps purchased for the phone. On the iPad I only use a few apps and am willing to pay more for proven products. The Mac on the other hand is far more productive for me, and the price I am willing to pay is much higher, and I also am willing to pay for substantial upgrades. Eventually most software may be subscription based anyway.
I get what he’s saying, but I’ve heard these arguments from small developers going all the way back to when shareware was still a thing. If there’s no money to be made, then don’t play. But it seems to me there must be opportunity there or the Appstore would be a ghost town.
iOS apps are priced according to their value. Most apps are one trick ponies that perform one thing extremely well.
Apple’s App Store for the desktop haas had the undesirable effect of making complex software worthless. That is not a good thing.
That thinking then spills over to the complex software companies like aAdobe who think that $50/month is the value of its software.
The desktop App Store should never have happened.
People are conditioned to expect more for less. More often than not, the job simply goes to the lowest bidder.
To put the blame on Apple is nearsighted. Every small business and startup in every industry is asking the same question, ‘How do we get ahead?’. Apple may have been the catalyst in this regard, but they are far from being the substrate.
So what can we do? Change societies perceptions or change the way we do business. The former may happen, slowly over time, but the latter seems to be the only survivable option. The only thing you can’t do is expect things to go back to they way they used to be, just ask the newspapers how that turned out.
I don’t buy it. Not all of it anyway. 20 years ago top shareware items might be $20, $30 or more. And if it was good and I needed it I bought it. Many didn’t. Many just pirated it or used it without paying. Those same people don’t want to pay more than $0.99 today for an app
Developers don’t need those customers. They are toxic to the business.
Price your app at $19.99. You might not sell many, but 20 years ago how many did you sell when just going word of mouth or getting a mention in MacWEEK or someone finding your website?
Selling software as an independent has always been hard. I really don’t see that the App Store changed that. Not really.
Its time for app buyers to grow up and pay for high-value software.
He’s wrong as day is long.
Developers set their pricing, no one influences this. The amount of people who pay for your apps is based on how many
Apple had nothing to do with but create a large Battle Royal scenario and we’re now seeing that a lot of devs just can’t cut it. Find a new trade
I’ve paid up to $50 for an iPad/iPhone apps. I have paid for games that are $10+. But a lot of stuff isn’t worth more for me. To help keep the price down I buy discounted iTunes cards, which saves me some money while the publishers still get the same amount of money.
I’m not going to claim that most iOS sofware is properly priced. But I think makers of productivity software, especially for iPad, should be able to charge more than they often do. The low prices might give the impression that they aren’t valuable products.
The problem isn’t bias, it’s that he mixes up several classes of arguments and comes out with not much more than a muddled post about how it’s hard to make money on the App Store.
There are definitely problems with the App Store, like the lack of upgrade pricing. But if you’re a developer you should have an idea of what your app is worth and how many people might buy it. Failing to set your price to sustainable, even profitable, levels is your problem. Not marketing is your problem.
Sure it’s hard sometimes. If this was easy everyone would do it.
I totally disagree with you on the Mac App Store. The fundamental problems with it are all fixable: Trials, fees for major upgrades, and sandboxing fixes. (Yes, sandboxing. If your app won’t run in a sandbox I can’t trust it.)
Apple needs to finish the Mac App Store.
Agreed. I love the Mac App Store for purchases it has advantages of the iOS app store. I don’t need to track licenses and I can run on many devices. The neglect of the Mac App store tells me that Apple thought they’d be in a different situation than they are today. iPhone sales good but iPad sales are on a slow decline. It’s time to close the gaps between the stores and focus more attention on the Mac line.
What’s been frustrating to me lately is paying good money for apps, only to have them disappear through aqui-hires, or abandoned because the devs feel that ongoing maintenance doesn’t make them enough money. THIS is why I’m hesitant to buy a $10 app, and I don’t think I’m alone in this.
Developer are simply not being realistic about the state of the industry. What you’ve stated here is not unique. I’m routinely clearing out abandoned apps..most where the dev doesn’t even send an email to let you know its dead.
I’m seeing basically dead apps being sold in bundles. Basically the equivalent of selling a few corpses along with wounded apps.
I’ve had paid apps go subscription on me, force ads on or go in-app purchase (giving me no credit for my initial purchase) .
Why would I give a unknown developer money after seeing so many that have no business acumen?
Truth is, the good developers need to weather the storm and let the market purge the poor devs who are trying to make a quick buck,
Good points, a friend recently released a game, and it’s hitting quite high numbers already.
The App Store reviews are maddening, all of the negatives are “it should be free!” Or other complaints about the price – initially set at $4.99. Now, bizarrely, after he raised the price to 6.99 he’s actually selling more! The complaints are increasing but it’s just silly.
Haven’t checked the average today but on google play and apple App Store the average ws around 3.5~ thanks to all the “price whiners” – he has structured the game in an episodic format, and the first episode is free; enraging players. Nobody seems to respect the amount of writing and coding involved and want to play free or pirate, not understanding that it will lead to another thousand trash games and no innovation or Indy Developement. It’s a damn shame when you look at the top grossing apps, very rare to see anyone that isn’t a “aaa” budget level large corporation and most of them are “free to play” tricks with many willing players ready to be slightly fleeced.
Worst: I am on a tight budget, and I do not like the game myself. It’s my FRIEND’s game and I was about to pull the trigger at $4.99 why not support a mate etc, when the price rose, I did not purchase. And I still have not.
Yes the game is not my thing and I’ll never play it if I buy it (I’ve helped test a little and played through the free portion, determining that it was not my sort of game) but most of us should definitely support our friends art and other ventures if we can afford to!
All of these apps free. All the whiners have to do is download Xcode (Free) type in thousands of lines of code (Free) debug code (Free) beta test (Free) and then pay $100 to submit through iTunes Connect. Yeah…yeah…that process is certainly trivial and worth begging someone to give you for free /s
Agreed.
Both App Stores did one bad thing: they destroyed the ability of devs to do paid & discounted updates. I think things would improve if that was allowed. Eternal free updates isn’t a good solution, and neither is subscriptions, and neither is in-app purchases when you remember how many of the best updates used to involve rewriting the code from the ground up.
Fees for major updates. Yes. That’s 90% of what needs fixing.
I think has an acquired brain injury or something because his line of reasoning makes no sense. Hope he gets better soon.
I buy apps that I need for my work, whether within the App Store or not, and I don’t whine about the price if the app functions well for me.
Who forced devs to underprice themselves? Yes, Apple’s limitations on upgrade pricing are awful, but the only culprits I can see are reviewers who don’t want to pay for anything, possibly because nobody is hiring them for jobs that pay very much, either.
Good time-limited trials would also be helpful so the prices could come up a bit. It’s hard to justify a $50 software package without a good review by someone you trust (rare these days) or a trial.
I largely agree with you, but 20 years ago that $19.99 would’ve bought a lot more groceries.
It’s crazy. And I think the curators should remove most of the low reviews that have no good reason. The only legitimate negative review I saw was one criticising the grammar or plot etc, which can be addressed.
The amount of “I’d give you 5 stars if it was cheaper/free!’ Is disgusting and a waste of time to leave.
Brb going to the local Mercedes dealership with a big sign
“Mercedes Benz sucks unless they give me a free s63 or c63s at the least”
Agreed.