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Android is for startups

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Re: Android is for startups

#111

Post by corresation »

Steko wrote: post #69
ajross wrote: post #50

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is another post that seems to have missed the point of the linked article. The last graph I saw estimated total revenue from iOS apps was about 2x that of total Play Store revenue (though to be fair, this undercounts Android a little as you can monetize apps via Amazon et. al. too). And of course Android is growing much faster. The contention in the linked article is that by pushing your "startup" app (which the…

The last graph I saw estimated total revenue from iOS apps was about 2x that of total Play Store revenue If Google had sent that much to developers they'd be saying something. 90% of the data points we see are of the form: My app made X on Android and 5-10X on iOS

My app made X on Android and 5-10X on iOS

Of the data points that in your circle you see, you mean? I've seen anecdotes recently of publishers making much more on the Android market. That's the thing about anecdotes.

The most recent stats are that they are closing very fast.

Re: Android is for startups

#112

Post by jcromartie »

KirinDave wrote: post #47
jcromartie wrote: post #21

I know that Android users are starved for slick apps that look good and work well, because I'm one of them (when using my Nexus 7). But as a developer I know that I can't make money from them. There is no way forward for (paid) Android apps that can make a living. You need to sell on iOS in order to make any sort of revenue. So if your startup is built on a free app, then by all means use Android to test your idea. B…

> I know that Android users are starved for slick apps that look good and work well, because I'm one of them (when using my Nexus 7). But as a developer I know that I can't make money from them. > There is no way forward for (paid) Android apps that can make a living. Why do you say this? I concede it may be true for games, but games are actually one of the hardest places to make a living. Make not-game apps and your…

Maybe it is just for games, but that's the segment I pay the most attention to. I'd love to be proven wrong through experience, so maybe I'll throw some Android apps out there.

Re: Android is for startups

#113

Post by corresation »

discostrings wrote: post #4

Being in the process of registering my LLC for an iOS Apple Developer account, I couldn't agree more. It's been over two months now of back-and-forth with Apple and Dun & Bradstreet, and the end is still not in sight. All I'd like them to do is take my $100 and give me the ability to test the free app I'm making on a device and then publish it, but apparently Apple feels a longer-than-two-month turnaround time is acc…

Just to offer a counter-anecdote, I created a federal corporation in Canada, did the process to get a DUNS number using the free option (which everyone warns against, but I was in no big rush), and had the number the next day, and then the fully validated Apple developer corporate account. Was the most painless, brilliant process I could imagine.

Re: Android is for startups

#114

Post by aryastark »

ensmotko wrote: post #31

Another thing that bothers me with development for iOS is that you need apple hardware and software. I can't develop an iOS on my Linux machine (I've tried running OSX in virtualbox, but it's slow and not to mention illegal). I really wish Apple would make their platform a little more available. Lowering the $100 yearly fee would be a good start...

> you need apple hardware and software

It's worse than that, I'm afraid. You need the absolute latest of both.

My perfectly fine Macbook from 2008 should be more than adequate for developing iOS apps. It's a core2 duo with 2GB of RAM. I mean, these aren't exactly the days of Pentium 60 vs. XT 8088.

Yet the max OS I can upgrade to is Lion. And that's with going through Snow Leopard first. And who knows how much longer Xcode will work on Lion.

Re: Android is for startups

#115

Post by speeder »

corresation wrote: post #109
benihana wrote: post #39

Another post on the top of Hacker News making the mistake of thinking paying customers give a crap about how easy it is to [write|deploy|test|debug] your app. Even with all the pain associated with the App Store people still write more apps for it than ever. Why? Cause people pay for apps there. They don't on the Play Store.

While I entirely agree with your lead in, your last bit is very "where the puck was" thinking. Two years ago the Play store yielded 1/10th the revenue of the App Store, by common metrics. One year ago it was 1/4. The most recent stat is 1/2 -- still months old. Do you see where this is going? The #1 source of revenue for many games and other media on the App Store is via gifted iTunes cards. This is a mechanism that…

Care to elaborate on the iTunes cards thing??

It is not just a 50 USD card (or other similar values) that people buy and gift around? What this has to do with games?

Re: Android is for startups

#117

Post by jcampbell1 »

corresation wrote: post #109
benihana wrote: post #39

Another post on the top of Hacker News making the mistake of thinking paying customers give a crap about how easy it is to [write|deploy|test|debug] your app. Even with all the pain associated with the App Store people still write more apps for it than ever. Why? Cause people pay for apps there. They don't on the Play Store.

While I entirely agree with your lead in, your last bit is very "where the puck was" thinking. Two years ago the Play store yielded 1/10th the revenue of the App Store, by common metrics. One year ago it was 1/4. The most recent stat is 1/2 -- still months old. Do you see where this is going? The #1 source of revenue for many games and other media on the App Store is via gifted iTunes cards. This is a mechanism that…

I'd also add that Apple had a head start on doing payments in many countries. Google is catching up in this respect as well. If Google were to promote paid apps a bit more, we could see developer revenue parity a year or so.

It is also a bit comical that iTunes Connect is down today.

Re: Android is for startups

#118

Post by KirinDave »

krschultz wrote: post #96
KirinDave wrote: post #86

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You can shave away a LOT of form factors if you just agree to cut off development before Android 4.0. This is tough for people to resolve to do, but in the US that's 60% of the market. I'd rather ship a good product to 60% of the people in a reasonable amount of time, rather than spending a ton of time working on tiny slices of the last 40% and limiting what the product can do overall. You also end up targeting much…

For my market, 90% of my app's users are 4.0+. 97% of all sessions are 4.0+. I still support & test pre-4.0, but I'm starting to consider options for spending less time on Gingerbread support. Progressive enhancement helps (we just don't do a lot of things on Gingerbread at all), but it still clutters up the code. Even a few months ago I couldn't imagine dropping Gingerbread support, but I have seen almost no growth…

I am glad to hear stories like this. Thank you very much for sharing that.

Re: Android is for startups

#119

Post by mekoka »

benihana wrote: post #39

Another post on the top of Hacker News making the mistake of thinking paying customers give a crap about how easy it is to [write|deploy|test|debug] your app. Even with all the pain associated with the App Store people still write more apps for it than ever. Why? Cause people pay for apps there. They don't on the Play Store.

You missed the point as well. Author is a proponent of the lean startup approach to product development: customer development -> validation -> pivot -> mvp -> product market fit -> etc. It's not about customer caring how you're building your app, it's about building a product truly worth their while, while saving time and money. Author posits that as it stands, the iOS ecosystem hinders on that approach, while Android's encourages it or at least does not discourage it. Author notes that oddly enough, many startups still choose to go iOS first even as it makes less and less sense.

On a personal level, I'm currently witnessing the phenomenon. We're at the moment creating a mobile app for an organization. When development of the Android version ended, people at the organization chose to shun it and decided to rather wait to test the iOS version, thinking that delivery was just around the corner. It's been 3 months now.

Re: Android is for startups

#120

Post by KirinDave »

jcromartie wrote: post #112
KirinDave wrote: post #47

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I know that Android users are starved for slick apps that look good and work well, because I'm one of them (when using my Nexus 7). But as a developer I know that I can't make money from them. > There is no way forward for (paid) Android apps that can make a living. Why do you say this? I concede it may be true for games, but games are actually one of the hardest places to make a living. Make not-game apps and your…

Maybe it is just for games, but that's the segment I pay the most attention to. I'd love to be proven wrong through experience, so maybe I'll throw some Android apps out there.

Personally, I know 3 people who make a living doing productivity and utility apps on Android now.

I've actually never personally met an indy iOS developer making their money on not-games, come to think of it.

I easily spend $15-30/mo on android apps. I go out of my way to buy ad-less versions but I do appreciate that I can try an app for a few days even with an ugly, unfit ad.

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