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AppGratis pulled from the App Store. Here’s the full story

appgratis.com

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Re: AppGratis pulled from the App Store. Here’s the full story

#81
post #68
post #50

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The problem is low quality software and no trials. I can't tell you how many times I've seen an app, paid $2.99 for it and then found out it was garbage.

Dunno why Apple doesn't do as Google does (at least did when I had a Droid, pre-Play store), where you had 24 hours to get a refund, presumably with some sort of fraud trigger if you request too many refunds.

I believe that is down to 15 minutes now.

Re: AppGratis pulled from the App Store. Here’s the full story

#82
The lesson here to me is simple. If you do not have an email address, you have not 'acquired' a user. If they had email addresses, they could have focused on sending out emails while trying to seek other platforms to develop for.

As for the people offended about AppGratis' business model. Can you explain the difference between it and Groupon? Or any super bowl ad? It is wrong for someone to have money to promote their apps?

Re: AppGratis pulled from the App Store. Here’s the full story

#83
post #55
post #43

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You can get OSX up and running in VirtualBox/Vagrant. Not that I'd want to do actual development that way, but we do it for iOS CI.

Which is a violation of the OS X EULA. install, use and run up to two (2) additional copies or instances of the Apple Software within virtual operating system environments on each Mac Computer you own or control that is already running the Apple Software, for purposes of: (a) software development; (b) testing during software development; (c) using OS X Server; or (d) personal, non-commercial use. http://www.apple.com…

When was the last time a developer got sued for violating the OS X EULA? Start worrying about real world problems for a change.

Re: AppGratis pulled from the App Store. Here’s the full story

#84

I hate the idea of AppGratis and I'm glad its been removed. Who really benefits? The cheap user who will not normally pay for a high quality app? The app developer who spends $$ to get featured in AppGratis to then artificially climb the app store ranking? Dls are one of the worst vanity metrics out there. Devs should focus on building high quality products, monetize, then acquire quality users in a sustainable manne…

They are just playing the game as Apple built it to be played. They were just playing it a little bit to well. Apple doesn't want to see high quality apps with sustainable growth, they don't not want to see that either, but what they really want to see impulse-buy shovelware that keeps lots of money flowing in every day from kids pockets who have the most disposable income and interact with iOS the most. If AppGratis is twisting the game so that they are receiving the marketing money, and they're building more analytics by capturing the market, then Apple is not very happy. I think this is pretty clear and transparent.

Re: AppGratis pulled from the App Store. Here’s the full story

#85
post #14
post #2

I will save HN the time: "I can't believe that it's 2013 and people are still basing their entire company around the App Store with it's murky rules" "But there's a lot of money to be made there, it's worth it!" "Apple needs to change their procedures" They're all true. Basing a business around an app is both risky and potentially very profitable. Apple should change their practises but have little incentive to. So,…

I've been recommending Android for a while, and here is another concrete reason why. Every time one of these stories appears I write the following: I develop for iPhone and I used to love OS X. The iPhone in entirety and OS X lately are aimed directly at people who don't know how to use computers even if it comes at the expense of those who do. Everyone do yourself a favor and switch to Linux on your computing platfo…

You should be aware that a hefty percentage of software developers use OSX, I'd say 70% around here. They are easier to use for everyone, not just "people who don't know computers", and one of the best unix environments for development.

They are certainly (specially iOS) not aimed at people who like to spend hours messing with a thousand settings screens, buttons and checkboxes - self-proclaimed "power users".

Re: AppGratis pulled from the App Store. Here’s the full story

#86
post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I've been recommending Android for a while, and here is another concrete reason why. Every time one of these stories appears I write the following: I develop for iPhone and I used to love OS X. The iPhone in entirety and OS X lately are aimed directly at people who don't know how to use computers even if it comes at the expense of those who do. Everyone do yourself a favor and switch to Linux on your computing platfo…

You should be aware that a hefty percentage of software developers use OSX, I'd say 70% around here. They are easier to use for everyone, not just "people who don't know computers", and one of the best unix environments for development. They are certainly (specially iOS) not aimed at people who like to spend hours messing with a thousand settings screens, buttons and checkboxes - self-proclaimed "power users".

He did say "OSX lately", and I agree. Snow Leopard was probably the best version of OS X, it's just been downhill from there. I don't want/care for things like Launchpad being in my OS.

Re: AppGratis pulled from the App Store. Here’s the full story

#87
post #86

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You should be aware that a hefty percentage of software developers use OSX, I'd say 70% around here. They are easier to use for everyone, not just "people who don't know computers", and one of the best unix environments for development. They are certainly (specially iOS) not aimed at people who like to spend hours messing with a thousand settings screens, buttons and checkboxes - self-proclaimed "power users".

He did say "OSX lately ", and I agree. Snow Leopard was probably the best version of OS X, it's just been downhill from there. I don't want/care for things like Launchpad being in my OS.

I liked SL for it's stability and performance, but nothing changed much in my workflow after ML. Sandboxed apps are nice, now I don't have to worry about every download. Launchpad doesn't do anything unless you launch it, and it can be disabled.

Re: AppGratis pulled from the App Store. Here’s the full story

#88
Amazing how drastically things can change in a couple months. This is an interview with the founder two months ago, http://www.forbes.com/sites/parmyolson/2013/02/18/5-minutes-...

"We see so much growth that we’ll be past 100 million users in the next two years. There’s such a huge shift from desktop to mobile that the potential for growth is unlimited."

Re: AppGratis pulled from the App Store. Here’s the full story

#89
post #80

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Lets say you need 20k DLs to get top 5 in a notable category. Lets say you get another 20k of real DLs from the app store ranking. Incentivised DLs are $0.35 each, but they are Dls and not real users. So $7k for 20k DLs. You usually want a LTV of 3:1. So your LTV would need to be $2.10 per user. These users are way worse than acquiring them from other channels because they only briefly see your logo and a brief descr…

> You usually want a LTV of 3:1. So your LTV would need to be [...] Lifetime value of a customer ? ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lifetime_value )

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