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Coming changes to Apple's App Store

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Re: Coming changes to Apple's App Store

#161

Post by post_break »

MBCook wrote: post #148
post_break wrote: post #134

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If I buy Tweetbot today, and it works today, it should keep working tomorrow. If I want new features I will pay for those features, update the app or make them an in app purchase, or create a new version number and charge for it. This is like leasing vs buying, the only difference is with your example you'll get one choice, pay the lease, or pound dirt. I'd rather buy the app once and be done, and have the choice to…

If you buy Tweetbot today, it will work tomorrow. If Twitter changes the API on Monday, how many versions back should Tweetbot have to support based on a single $2 (or whatever) a few years ago? That's the issue. People get pissed there isn't perma-support for apps that need constant updates. This is a way to make that more feasible.

Tweetbot is kind of an edge case since they depend on a third party. A better example would be an application that does something, like a notes app, like noteability.

Re: Coming changes to Apple's App Store

#162

Post by kybernetyk »

> All he will say about free trials and paid updates is that Apple "looks at everything. We evaluate what will be a better experience for the user, and we make choices based on that."

How are free trials not a "better experience for the user"? I just don't understand Apple's paranoia when it comes to free trial versions.

Re: Coming changes to Apple's App Store

#163

Post by khedoros »

tolmasky wrote: post #135
bad_user wrote: post #92

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There aren't many apps that can save you 1000/year. I keep hearing this, but that's nonsense. If a "service" is not producing money and isn't saving you time allowing you to produce money, then it's not worth paying for. Yes, I have subscriptions for IntelliJ IDEA, for Dropbox, for FastMail and for a DigitalOcean VPS. All these are producing money for me. But the list ends here. Because here's the thing: $5/month her…

> ore importantly, subscriptions are immoral because the end result is robbing users of any sense of ownership. And as a software developer, you no longer feel compelled to innovate, to improve, in order to convince users to upgrade. I for one hate renting things, I prefer ownership. Sure as long as you also accept that you are not owed bug fixes it updates. If you however believe that with system upgrades you should…

> Sure as long as you also accept that you are not owed bug fixes it updates.

"Bug fixes" and "updates" are both too broad. If a feature is broken enough that an advertised feature of the software doesn't work, or in the case of something criminally negligent on the developer's part, I'd consider myself entitled to an update to fix the issue. Either that or a refund for whatever amount I paid for the app (or potentially damages, if I could prove them negligent).

New features and functional changes should be available as an upgrade, perhaps with a discount over buying a new copy of the software.

I'd expect the app not to break over minor OS updates, but major versions changes are always a less predictable.

Re: Coming changes to Apple's App Store

#164

Post by alttab »

theli0nheart wrote: post #104
bad_user wrote: post #92

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There aren't many apps that can save you 1000/year. I keep hearing this, but that's nonsense. If a "service" is not producing money and isn't saving you time allowing you to produce money, then it's not worth paying for. Yes, I have subscriptions for IntelliJ IDEA, for Dropbox, for FastMail and for a DigitalOcean VPS. All these are producing money for me. But the list ends here. Because here's the thing: $5/month her…

> I for one hate renting things, I prefer ownership. I applaud your idealism, but with this attitude, you might as well not buy any apps at all. When you buy an app, or TV show, or pretty much anything digital in 2016, you're purchasing a license, not the thing itself. You don't "own" anything. Even if you can download the app you buy in 2016 in 5 years from now, what are the odds that it still works on whatever oper…

I still buy Blu Ray box sets. I own the shit out of those, and can watch Indiana Jones when the power is out as long as my generator is running.

Re: Coming changes to Apple's App Store

#165

Post by WA »

chasing wrote: post #103
bad_user wrote: post #92

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There aren't many apps that can save you 1000/year. I keep hearing this, but that's nonsense. If a "service" is not producing money and isn't saving you time allowing you to produce money, then it's not worth paying for. Yes, I have subscriptions for IntelliJ IDEA, for Dropbox, for FastMail and for a DigitalOcean VPS. All these are producing money for me. But the list ends here. Because here's the thing: $5/month her…

I want to address two things, here: 1) You're absolutely right: Pricing matters. If I charge you $10/mo for my app that sends you a text message every time there's a full moon, that would be way too expensive and you'd be well within your rights as a consumer to spend your money on something else. As far as I'm aware, Apple will not force you to subscribe to any apps. 2) "... subscriptions are immoral..." Bullshit. A…

I run a niche B2C SaaS with a monthly fee. This lets me maintain the product for a long time. If it was a one-off payment, I probably could've closed shop by now. Thing is, all niche products with tiny markets (say, a few hundred or a few thousand users) won't be able to survive in the long run without subscriptions.

Re: Coming changes to Apple's App Store

#166

Post by kybernetyk »

djrogers wrote: post #125
localhost3000 wrote: post #86

As an indie developer my single biggest gripe with the app store (after the obviously asinine review process) is the resetting of visible app reviews any time an app is updated. This is an incredibly expensive tax on shipping app updates which creates a strong disincentive to not incrementally improve your product and a strong incentive for sleazy developers to buy fake reviews when they do ship an update. I detest t…

The other option is for a single bug in a single release to stay in your app reviews in perpetuity. Why would you want that, rather than give prospective customers the option to look at current vs old reviews? Also, I would quibble with your description of it as 'resetting of visible app reviews' as the old reviews are still visible, they're just one tap away...

In a high volume market like the iOS app store this behavior might be OK. It shouldn't take too long to get back a few reviews to display a N stars rating. (Just guessing, have no iOS apps in the store).

But in a low volume market like the Mac App Store it takes anywhere from a few weeks to months to get 5 reviews after an update. (Or even years in non US stores).

I made the experience that updating a well reviewed Mac app leads to a drop in sales until you get back to at least 5 ratings. (You need at least 5 ratings to display the average rating in search results and category lists in the Mac App Store).

This is a big incentive to keep updates back until it is really necessary to release them.

Re: Coming changes to Apple's App Store

#167

Post by abalone »

adamselby wrote: post #156
abalone wrote: post #150

I wonder if Apple is taking more than a 50% haircut on this post year one. Credit card fees come out of their share and those could very well account for the bulk of the 15%. Even if Apple pays nothing in payment processor markup, there is a fixed minimum "interchange" cost that everyone has to pay (even Walmart). For "ecommerce" it's:[1] Credit: $0.10 + 1.8-2.4% Debit: $0.21 + 0.05% Those 10-21 cent minimums make a…

Doesn't Apple bundle multiple purchases? Assuming someone has more than $0.99 in purchases via any of Apple's stores they can save on card fees.

For individual purchases it's only over a period of a couple days or so. Not sure about subscriptions.

Re: Coming changes to Apple's App Store

#168

Post by nojvek »

chasing wrote: post #103
bad_user wrote: post #92

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There aren't many apps that can save you 1000/year. I keep hearing this, but that's nonsense. If a "service" is not producing money and isn't saving you time allowing you to produce money, then it's not worth paying for. Yes, I have subscriptions for IntelliJ IDEA, for Dropbox, for FastMail and for a DigitalOcean VPS. All these are producing money for me. But the list ends here. Because here's the thing: $5/month her…

I want to address two things, here: 1) You're absolutely right: Pricing matters. If I charge you $10/mo for my app that sends you a text message every time there's a full moon, that would be way too expensive and you'd be well within your rights as a consumer to spend your money on something else. As far as I'm aware, Apple will not force you to subscribe to any apps. 2) "... subscriptions are immoral..." Bullshit. A…

The way I look at it is you own the app like you own an apartment but you're paying homeowners association fee to keep the grass trimmed, pathways painted and the pool maintained.

Re: Coming changes to Apple's App Store

#169

Post by pbarnes_1 »

djrogers wrote: post #125
localhost3000 wrote: post #86

As an indie developer my single biggest gripe with the app store (after the obviously asinine review process) is the resetting of visible app reviews any time an app is updated. This is an incredibly expensive tax on shipping app updates which creates a strong disincentive to not incrementally improve your product and a strong incentive for sleazy developers to buy fake reviews when they do ship an update. I detest t…

The other option is for a single bug in a single release to stay in your app reviews in perpetuity. Why would you want that, rather than give prospective customers the option to look at current vs old reviews? Also, I would quibble with your description of it as 'resetting of visible app reviews' as the old reviews are still visible, they're just one tap away...

You don't understand. Every bug fix release resets your stars + ratings. No stars = no downloads. Simple as that.

They need an option when releasing a build: reset reviews (major release) or leave reviews intact (minor release).

Re: Coming changes to Apple's App Store

#170

Post by kybernetyk »

surds wrote: post #12

Subscription model for all apps... I don't see a reason to subscribe for apps that are one-time pay and periodic long term use. There is a fine line here that developers will have to be cautious not to cross. A lot of apps have no reason to be subscription model, but the prospect of recurring revenue is too tempting. Edit: On the other hand, this is totally awesome for services and products that already offer subscri…

>I don't see a reason to subscribe for apps that are one-time pay and periodic long term use.

This. I'm a developer of such a "sporadic use" app and I don't see how a subscription model would benefit my users. And I honestly wouldn't feel too good about introducing subscription pricing to a tool someone might need once in a few weeks.

On the other hand this might be a solution to the upgrade pricing problem if one could set the subscription interval to 1 year.

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