Wow, so there is a lot of misinformation flying around about what you need to do to survive on the AppStore. And it seems to be coming in all directions from very different developers.
I apologize now, Im very opinionated and will be editing this post later, but my first draft does usually come off as abrasive. Maybe because you aren’t listening to the blogs and people that you really should be, and its gotten frustrating.
Realize that the posts that are going to be the most visible are from basically one camp, but come in two flavors. These are people that have done an excellent job in one way or another to be connected with Apple and the journalism world. That’s why you follow them on Twitter or why Daring Fireball is reposting it. �They are likely either people that the press and Apple might know from the Mac World before iOS or legitimately may have made one very good or trendy app. Or they are guys that have made themselves self important, by getting out there schmoozing and/or doing podcasts, conferences or written books. Let’s say these guys have made it in “The Club”.
Lately there is a new flood of blogs and tweets discussing the appStore market:
First we got the “do it for love” post which was a good post by the maker of Vesper. He has kind of made it to the point where he sees what the current state of the AppStore is, and is mainly right. But then I agree with others that Brent wrote a very basic Notes application and expected to support a full business with it. And they did for a while with the extra Apple and journalism love. But really the app was overly designed and lacked key features, which I know if you listened to some camps has been pushed as what makes it on the AppStore. Ultimately it doesn’t, even if you are propped up for a while and have the added advantages of being in the club.
Then we got a rebuttal about figuring out the business. He’s kind of right in a broad sense, and if you aren’t doing any of that then there is your problem, but ultimately that puts down the people who have been chasing the ever changing rules of this market for longer than he’s been around. This is someone sort of in the club, but for a different reason. Notice he hasn’t really even had a successful iOS App and doesnt maintain them much, but has pivoted his business and is now selling you on the idea you want to keep trying in this market. Why? �So you listen to his podcast, or go to his conference, or have him consult on having him help you improve your business. Hmmmm…..
And now we have one of the most in the club dvelopers coming out and telling us there is a specific way of pricing your apps. His successful app was an anomaly. Everybody heard about it, it introduced some novel UI things, but ultimately under the hood it is a very basic list app that didn’t end up playing by the rules of the AppStore. �And it did well for him. Why, well a lot of his initial success was because he was known from the Mac world. So of course, the Press thought it was neat and Apple thought it was neat. Never mind there were 500 todo apps, some better, already on the store.
So yeah, I guess we should try to learn from the most successful. But wait, are you in the club?
If not then his advice on pricing might not apply to you? Has he tried freemium? �Or is he going off a couple of guys that he talked to in passing that said it didn’t work for them? Has he launched an app without the extra support of Apple and the blogosphere? When he does a sale, do his popular buddies usually throw up a mention? �A retweet? A Feature?
Will yours?
So yeah, just think about the advice you are getting and where it is coming from? Its great that some of these guys are legitimately trying to help out other developers. But then there are usually other motivations there as well..
I get more information from the true Indies that throw out blog posts around the same time, sharing what they have actually had to figure out without the help of the club. There are some gems.