I asked the same question 854 days ago .. i still love desktop app's wander if small indies can make a living from it ?
Ask HN: Anyone making a living from Desktop apps?what had been changed?
1–10 of 26 posts
Re: Ask HN: Anyone making a living from Desktop apps?what had been changed?
#2[deleted]
Re: Ask HN: Anyone making a living from Desktop apps?what had been changed?
#3There's a much higher probability of getting that question answered on the Business of Software Forum which can be accessed through joelonsoftware.com
Re: Ask HN: Anyone making a living from Desktop apps?what had been changed?
#4Let's assume Desktop includes Mac, Windows and Linux.
First You need an app that solves a need (doesn't matter if other commercial or open source alternatives exist) and does not completely suck.
That's the easy part.
Then you need a channel to display your app. That also does not seem so hard these days. Mac, Windows both have stores, we can consider Synaptic and Ubuntu store thing to be a channel too(setting aside money question for now).
Unfortunately channel is not going to suffice.
The hard part is getting a funnel, that is a way to guide your prospective customers to your product.
One method perfected by patio11 was to create SEO friendly content for one audience, but use the SEO juice to sell to completely different audience. This is very very hard to do.
Of course, if you already have your own channel(nice e-mail list), then you can push your apps too.
But building an e-mail list is again very hard.
The days of late 1980s shareware boom have been over for a long time, but I suspect with razor sharp focus there are still some success stories(paging Patio11 and his Bingo Card Creator).
Disclaimer: I write internal apps at mediumcorp for a living and have no personal indie success stories.
Re: Ask HN: Anyone making a living from Desktop apps?what had been changed?
#5There's a much higher probability of getting that question answered on the Business of Software Forum which can be accessed through joelonsoftware.com
Its dead , Almost no one there ( used to love Business of Software Forum)
Re: Ask HN: Anyone making a living from Desktop apps?what had been changed?
#6There's a much higher probability of getting that question answered on the Business of Software Forum which can be accessed through joelonsoftware.com
Its dead , Almost no one there ( used to love Business of Software Forum)
I guess you have your question answered than. I was also a BoS forum user since 2008.
With the XYZ (Apple, Microsoft) stores these days I wonder if a $39-99 desktop software can truly have success on these compare the the average High-end B2B software can certainly be profitable, I would guess the $500-2500 software coming with support, integration, training etc.
Re: Ask HN: Anyone making a living from Desktop apps?what had been changed?
#7Earlier quoted context omitted.
Its dead , Almost no one there ( used to love Business of Software Forum)
I guess you have your question answered than. I was also a BoS forum user since 2008. With the XYZ (Apple, Microsoft) stores these days I wonder if a $39-99 desktop software can truly have success on these compare the the average High-end B2B software can certainly be profitable, I would guess the $500-2500 software coming with support, integration, training etc.
My wife recently became familiar with the Mac AppStore after only ever using the iOS AppStore. Her first comment upon seeing the initial screen was "$19 for an app?? That's crazy!" I cringed a bit. Has the $0.99 app ruined everything for us?
Re: Ask HN: Anyone making a living from Desktop apps?what had been changed?
#8You mean other than Notch, or anyone in the video games business, or the iLife team at Apple, or the Microsoft Office team?
Sure. Lots of people are making money from desktop apps. Just because it's not hip or cool these days doesn't mean it's useless.
Re: Ask HN: Anyone making a living from Desktop apps?what had been changed?
#9Earlier quoted context omitted.
I guess you have your question answered than. I was also a BoS forum user since 2008. With the XYZ (Apple, Microsoft) stores these days I wonder if a $39-99 desktop software can truly have success on these compare the the average High-end B2B software can certainly be profitable, I would guess the $500-2500 software coming with support, integration, training etc.
My wife recently became familiar with the Mac AppStore after only ever using the iOS AppStore. Her first comment upon seeing the initial screen was "$19 for an app?? That's crazy!" I cringed a bit. Has the $0.99 app ruined everything for us?
I sometimes get mails from (not really) customers like: 'can you add feature x of the paid version to the free version?'. The paid version is $4.99 by the way.
If you have decent app that solves problems well and you have enough energy left to do some marketing then probably you can make a decent living. Or you have a lot of luck, then no problems at all. But if you hope that customers find you by themselfes, maybe you shouldn't bet on the business.
Re: Ask HN: Anyone making a living from Desktop apps?what had been changed?
#10Earlier quoted context omitted.
My wife recently became familiar with the Mac AppStore after only ever using the iOS AppStore. Her first comment upon seeing the initial screen was "$19 for an app?? That's crazy!" I cringed a bit. Has the $0.99 app ruined everything for us?
I sometimes get mails from (not really) customers like: 'can you add feature x of the paid version to the free version?'. The paid version is $4.99 by the way. If you have decent app that solves problems well and you have enough energy left to do some marketing then probably you can make a decent living. Or you have a lot of luck, then no problems at all. But if you hope that customers find you by themselfes, maybe y…
This very very sad ...
I really don't understand how someone can
Live from 0.9 - 4.9 $ apps