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iPhone vs Android app sales: numbers from an indie developer

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Re: iPhone vs Android app sales: numbers from an indie developer

#41

Post by dpcan »

baconner wrote: post #29

Another android dev with (much) lower volume here. Curious how you know about errors driving that 20% number. Is there a report somewhere with this detail or is it just inferred from customer emails? The only failures I ever see come through are declined credit cards or the regular cancellations from users who used the 15min refund window.

The orders show up as "Payment Declined" in the order inbox, or "Cancelled by Google".

If a customer just refunds, then the order just says "Cancelled" and the details of the order say that the card was successfully authorized.

It's those people that WANT to give you their money but get stopped because of a Payment Decline or Google Cancel that are ridiculous.

Re: iPhone vs Android app sales: numbers from an indie developer

#42

Post by SomeCallMeTim »

avgarrison wrote: post #28

It may be worthwhile for me to chime in here with my own stats, which are far less impressive than bignoggins. I recently ported my iOS app, BridgeBasher, to Android. I took a different route though. Since I had no users on Android, I thought the best thing to do would be to create an ad-based version on Android, mostly because I've heard a lot of people say that Android users are less likely to pay for apps. I decid…

MobClix has big promises as to eCPM, but in the past month, AdMob has been KILLING my MobClix performance. I have AdMob AND MobClix in place, and recently dialed it to send 80% of my impressions to AdMob because of >$1 eCPM from AdMob.

Also, be sure you HAVE a paid version with no ads available to buy -- and don't forget to cross promote it using house ads. I have about a 1.4% conversion rate to paid (at $2), which accounts for more income than the free version so far.

Granted I'm still not getting rich on my Android version, but I'm trying to get a publisher for it (ONE clause left in the contract still to iron out), which should help a lot.

Re: iPhone vs Android app sales: numbers from an indie developer

#44

Post by avgarrison »

SomeCallMeTim wrote: post #42
avgarrison wrote: post #28

It may be worthwhile for me to chime in here with my own stats, which are far less impressive than bignoggins. I recently ported my iOS app, BridgeBasher, to Android. I took a different route though. Since I had no users on Android, I thought the best thing to do would be to create an ad-based version on Android, mostly because I've heard a lot of people say that Android users are less likely to pay for apps. I decid…

MobClix has big promises as to eCPM, but in the past month, AdMob has been KILLING my MobClix performance. I have AdMob AND MobClix in place, and recently dialed it to send 80% of my impressions to AdMob because of >$1 eCPM from AdMob. Also, be sure you HAVE a paid version with no ads available to buy -- and don't forget to cross promote it using house ads. I have about a 1.4% conversion rate to paid (at $2), which a…

Thanks for the tip. What publisher are you working with?

Re: iPhone vs Android app sales: numbers from an indie developer

#45

Post by gte910h »

Anti-Ratfish wrote: post #30
marquis wrote: post #13

There are huge issues buying content on iTunes. Apple doesn't fix it or tell you, or help you get in touch with the developer to work around it.

Can you expand on that? What are the issues?

One I can think of now: It doesn't tell you when someone with prior versions of the OS tries to download something you built with too high of a deployment target. This happens so often right now with the Verizon iPhone versioning being <4.3.

Re: iPhone vs Android app sales: numbers from an indie developer

#46

Post by Macha »

dpcan wrote: post #37
avgarrison wrote: post #28

It may be worthwhile for me to chime in here with my own stats, which are far less impressive than bignoggins. I recently ported my iOS app, BridgeBasher, to Android. I took a different route though. Since I had no users on Android, I thought the best thing to do would be to create an ad-based version on Android, mostly because I've heard a lot of people say that Android users are less likely to pay for apps. I decid…

Android users are paying, I can attest to that as well. Mind sharing about how high you rank on iOS? Also, I just went to download BridgeBasher. Your game wants crazy permissions. Why should a game have to update my SD card contents, need my location, AND have access to device calls and identity?

1. Save files. 2. Targeted ads 3. To get a unique identifier for the phone. (I.e. ads again)

Number 3 is an example of Android permissions being insufficiently granular. It's nice that you know when installing apps that they can get a unique identifier (which until iOS5, apps always had access to on iOS. It's randomised or something on iOS5), but its also a nuisance that it requires giving other permissions too.

Number 2 and number 3 are arguments for being able to refuse apps permissions like you can do with iOS location settings.

Re: iPhone vs Android app sales: numbers from an indie developer

#47

Post by avgarrison »

dpcan wrote: post #37
avgarrison wrote: post #28

It may be worthwhile for me to chime in here with my own stats, which are far less impressive than bignoggins. I recently ported my iOS app, BridgeBasher, to Android. I took a different route though. Since I had no users on Android, I thought the best thing to do would be to create an ad-based version on Android, mostly because I've heard a lot of people say that Android users are less likely to pay for apps. I decid…

Android users are paying, I can attest to that as well. Mind sharing about how high you rank on iOS? Also, I just went to download BridgeBasher. Your game wants crazy permissions. Why should a game have to update my SD card contents, need my location, AND have access to device calls and identity?

The permission requirements are ridiculous, but are required for Mobclix. I would like to get away from all that, with a single requirement for Internet.

Re: iPhone vs Android app sales: numbers from an indie developer

#49

Post by bignoggins »

sounalath wrote: post #48

just curious, what is the magic formula for high iOS downloads whether paid or free? good graphics? games? how do you go from zero downloads to many with new apps?

My strategy was to target a well-defined niche and dominate it rather than trying to compete in a saturated category (like games or entertainment). I think overall polish is extremely important. You can't just release an MVP and iterate like you can on the web. You really have to hit a homerun from the get go or you have no chance of survival.

Re: iPhone vs Android app sales: numbers from an indie developer

#50

Post by acangiano »

bignoggins wrote: post #14
seancron wrote: post #6

Any reason you didn't include iPad sales? There are also Android tablets, so unless none of your sales are for Honeycomb users it might not be a fair comparison. I'd also be interested in seeing how it changes when you take into account ad revenue and in-app purchases. Do the numbers stay as close when you add them, or does one platform take the lead?

Because the iPad version is a completely different app at a different price point, so it would skew the results. If I counted iPad/in-app/ad revenue it would nearly triple the iOS numbers.

Damn, you are doing well. Is it just you behind this operation?
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