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How much money can you make in the iOS App Store?

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Re: How much money can you make in the iOS App Store?

#21

Post by hallmark »

yoda_sl wrote: post #12
clare wrote: post #3

Great article. One maybe naive question since I have no mobile app development experience: it seems that many apps experienced a spike in downloads when they were first launched; but the downloads tapered off in the long run. It is quite the opposite of websites where the traffic start to build up only after a period of time. Could this have something to do with the lack of app search engines/recommendation engines t…

You are getting initially some good exposure when the app is first released and the app appear on the first page of the AppStore. If you are super lucky your app can feature in the noteworthy section or fully featured. But getting fully featured is not easy and it is up to Apple only to decide on that. One thing that I will definitely recommend is to add some localization for a few other languages. Yes the US AppStor…

In your own experience, did the app need to be localized at the initial launch or did you see boosts in sales after localizing your app later on?

Re: How much money can you make in the iOS App Store?

#22

Post by bignoggins »

minalecs wrote: post #16
bignoggins wrote: post #15

I've made 100K in the app store during my first 8 months. I agree that diversification is key. Don't go for a homerun, go for multiple singles. This is my strategy and has worked well so far: 1. Always release a free ad-supported version of the app. Advertising revenue has a much better "long tail" than paid apps. There is ~ 5% conversion rate, so your paid apps do better also. 2. Target a specific niche. There is fa…

What have you done to get your apps noticed on the app store ?

Nothing. All marketing is organic and word of mouth. Good apps sell themselves. I was featured by apple a couple times.

Re: How much money can you make in the iOS App Store?

#23

Post by 10char »

alooPotato wrote: post #20
10char wrote: post #2

It's certainly possible to make a living on the App Store, but you can't depend on a megahit like Angry Birds or Tiny Wings. My theory is that you'll need probably a dozen or so apps in the $1.99 - $4.99 range. The $0.99 point has too many psychological problems in terms of perceived value and competition to be worth it IMO. Ads also aren't a viable source of steady revenue for any non-Top 100 apps. Each of my (paid)…

> - Build apps fast and be agile; don't focus on one app for months on end without launching. MVP and get real-world feedback. In general I believe the whole lean/MVP thing, but I wonder about its applicability in the app store. Launching without a fully baked product may hamstring you for a while if you get bad reviews/ratings upfront. Also, by having a great product from the start, you may be able to get ranked hig…

Very true point, as it's a crucial difference between your typical web app launch and an App Store launch.

Example: When I launched Brocabulary two years ago, I thought it would be a good idea to have a "free week" promotion. Results: 150+ reviews permanently attached to the rating that are far from representative of the current product. And a good chunk of those reviews are (justly) not so hot.

Ratings and reviews are killer on the App Store. Bad, edge-case experiences only really hurt you on the web if they're by a famous blogger or the like. On the App Store, you get a bad review because someone didn't read the description that says the app doesn't work on older generation iPod Touches without microphones and it's stuck there forever. It's just what comes with the territory.

Never launch a bad product, but there are many articles and examples that point out why it isn't a fantastic idea to build on an unproven idea for months. Just like on the web, you should go for a well-executed MVP with steady improvement. Maybe a little more than you might on the web, but the idea still applies.

Plus, with each update, you get a chance to reset your public reviews and ratings (after you hit a certain limit, Apple will display the average score only for that version). I wish the author had overlayed his update releases on the graph, as I bet that many of those spikes come from them.

Ejemplo: Path. Their launch product was pretty minimal, but just useable enough. They've released solid update after update adding new features. Now, it helps that they've got some players backing them and probably got Apple's attention ahead of time, but I think it's still a strategy worth looking at.

Ejemplo: Rdio. I've been an Rdio subscriber since when they launched last summer, and their iPhone app wasn't so great when it first came out. It worked, but all it could really do was play songs. Month after month a new update came out that added new, much-needed features. Hell, they only hit 1.0 a few weeks ago and it's obvious that all the iterations have amounted to a solid app.

Re: How much money can you make in the iOS App Store?

#26

Post by r00k »

bignoggins wrote: post #15

I've made 100K in the app store during my first 8 months. I agree that diversification is key. Don't go for a homerun, go for multiple singles. This is my strategy and has worked well so far: 1. Always release a free ad-supported version of the app. Advertising revenue has a much better "long tail" than paid apps. There is ~ 5% conversion rate, so your paid apps do better also. 2. Target a specific niche. There is fa…

Awesome to hear about your numbers.

Would you mind linking to your most popular application?

Re: How much money can you make in the iOS App Store?

#27

Post by bignoggins »

r00k wrote: post #26
bignoggins wrote: post #15

I've made 100K in the app store during my first 8 months. I agree that diversification is key. Don't go for a homerun, go for multiple singles. This is my strategy and has worked well so far: 1. Always release a free ad-supported version of the app. Advertising revenue has a much better "long tail" than paid apps. There is ~ 5% conversion rate, so your paid apps do better also. 2. Target a specific niche. There is fa…

Awesome to hear about your numbers. Would you mind linking to your most popular application?

Sure. it's called fantasy monster, you can find it on the app store.

Re: How much money can you make in the iOS App Store?

#28

Post by eibrahim »

draycox wrote: post #4
10char wrote: post #2

It's certainly possible to make a living on the App Store, but you can't depend on a megahit like Angry Birds or Tiny Wings. My theory is that you'll need probably a dozen or so apps in the $1.99 - $4.99 range. The $0.99 point has too many psychological problems in terms of perceived value and competition to be worth it IMO. Ads also aren't a viable source of steady revenue for any non-Top 100 apps. Each of my (paid)…

You're app looks pretty funny. It seems like the development cost/time is pretty low on that app as well. Good idea. I was previously working on an early childhood education app. I didn't get very far until the numbers just didn't make sense. Perhaps I was being too ambitious but the velopment costs were extremely high, and I didn't think I could see it for more than $1.99. So I had to sell quite a few to even turn a…

you're = you are

I think you meant your.

Re: How much money can you make in the iOS App Store?

#29

Post by yardie »

alooPotato wrote: post #20
10char wrote: post #2

It's certainly possible to make a living on the App Store, but you can't depend on a megahit like Angry Birds or Tiny Wings. My theory is that you'll need probably a dozen or so apps in the $1.99 - $4.99 range. The $0.99 point has too many psychological problems in terms of perceived value and competition to be worth it IMO. Ads also aren't a viable source of steady revenue for any non-Top 100 apps. Each of my (paid)…

> - Build apps fast and be agile; don't focus on one app for months on end without launching. MVP and get real-world feedback. In general I believe the whole lean/MVP thing, but I wonder about its applicability in the app store. Launching without a fully baked product may hamstring you for a while if you get bad reviews/ratings upfront. Also, by having a great product from the start, you may be able to get ranked hig…

There is a slight difference between shipping something broken and shipping something that gets updated, frequently. One thing I learned from Apple is that it's more important that you ship something that works comepletely rather than feature complete (see copy and paste).

I like buying apps that I know are constantly in development because I know the developer is still interested and still adding features. Also, the apps that get updated tend to have more exposure and show up in lists more readily.

Re: How much money can you make in the iOS App Store?

#30

Post by tomjen3 »

draycox wrote: post #4
10char wrote: post #2

It's certainly possible to make a living on the App Store, but you can't depend on a megahit like Angry Birds or Tiny Wings. My theory is that you'll need probably a dozen or so apps in the $1.99 - $4.99 range. The $0.99 point has too many psychological problems in terms of perceived value and competition to be worth it IMO. Ads also aren't a viable source of steady revenue for any non-Top 100 apps. Each of my (paid)…

You're app looks pretty funny. It seems like the development cost/time is pretty low on that app as well. Good idea. I was previously working on an early childhood education app. I didn't get very far until the numbers just didn't make sense. Perhaps I was being too ambitious but the velopment costs were extremely high, and I didn't think I could see it for more than $1.99. So I had to sell quite a few to even turn a…

>early childhood education app

>I didn't think I could see it for more than $1.99

Patio11 sells a bingo card creator app for teachers for $30. You can charge $20 easily if you can demonstrate value to parents (parents spend a lot more than that on their children, heck an "educational" DVD costs more than that easily).

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