Tweets from the collection Low-cost Apps on tweetlibrary.com. http://tweetlibrary.com/manton/low-costapps http://twitter.com/drbarnard/statuses/159489882656481280 @Lessien “milking single apps,” or lovingly crafting and expanding on apps that bring value and/or entertainment to a loyal userbase Wed, 18 Jan 2012 04:18:45 +0000 http://twitter.com/drbarnard/statuses/159489882656481280 http://twitter.com/drbarnard/statuses/159489242341449729 @Lessien and I'm acutely aware that the gold rush wont last. I've wanted to generate a bigger short-term success to help long term stability Wed, 18 Jan 2012 04:16:13 +0000 http://twitter.com/drbarnard/statuses/159489242341449729 http://twitter.com/Lessien/statuses/159488394089603072 @drbarnard Barring changes, IAP is a reasonable course. But, fundamentally, App Store dynamics discourage devs from milking single apps. Wed, 18 Jan 2012 04:12:50 +0000 http://twitter.com/Lessien/statuses/159488394089603072 http://twitter.com/drbarnard/statuses/159487498697969664 @Lessien but the volatility of the App Store scared me away from investing in niche apps with obvious revenue ceilings & no paid updates Wed, 18 Jan 2012 04:09:17 +0000 http://twitter.com/drbarnard/statuses/159487498697969664 http://twitter.com/drbarnard/statuses/159486875080474624 @Lessien True, I've been spinning my wheels trying all sorts of stuff when I could have been more focused on polishing/extending my apps. Wed, 18 Jan 2012 04:06:48 +0000 http://twitter.com/drbarnard/statuses/159486875080474624 http://twitter.com/Lessien/statuses/159485022183755776 @drbarnard The open question is whether visibility must come at the expense of financial viability. Price is just one factor. Wed, 18 Jan 2012 03:59:27 +0000 http://twitter.com/Lessien/statuses/159485022183755776 http://twitter.com/drbarnard/statuses/159484485786812416 @Lessien Ah, that was a great post! Re-reading it now to refresh my memory. Wed, 18 Jan 2012 03:57:19 +0000 http://twitter.com/drbarnard/statuses/159484485786812416 http://twitter.com/Lessien/statuses/159483907786547200 @drbarnard I don't underestimate it. I'm arguing that success isn't always about hitting grand slams (e.g. the "Two App Stores" post). Wed, 18 Jan 2012 03:55:01 +0000 http://twitter.com/Lessien/statuses/159483907786547200 http://twitter.com/drbarnard/statuses/159483572590346242 @Lessien the damn Mirror app I built now gets almost 3k downloads a day because I changed the name to Mirror ◎ (search ignores glyphs) Wed, 18 Jan 2012 03:53:41 +0000 http://twitter.com/drbarnard/statuses/159483572590346242 http://twitter.com/drbarnard/statuses/159482922045419520 @Lessien an app like Angry Birds may spread through word of mouth and goodwill, but growing sales for niche apps is all about visibility. Wed, 18 Jan 2012 03:51:06 +0000 http://twitter.com/drbarnard/statuses/159482922045419520 http://twitter.com/drbarnard/statuses/159482497774780417 @Lessien and the way rankings and search work, lowering an app's price is a great way to get better visibility. Wed, 18 Jan 2012 03:49:25 +0000 http://twitter.com/drbarnard/statuses/159482497774780417 http://twitter.com/drbarnard/statuses/159482190202286080 @Lessien I think you underestimate how skewed the market is, especially for niche apps. Visibility in the App Store is what drives sales. Wed, 18 Jan 2012 03:48:11 +0000 http://twitter.com/drbarnard/statuses/159482190202286080 http://twitter.com/Lessien/statuses/159481245913460737 @drbarnard It's futile to worry about the competition. Have you built a good business and relationships with customers? That's what matters. Wed, 18 Jan 2012 03:44:26 +0000 http://twitter.com/Lessien/statuses/159481245913460737 http://twitter.com/drbarnard/statuses/159480755163115521 @Lessien @counternotions That would help support higher prices for niche apps as users could try several and pay more for the best app. Wed, 18 Jan 2012 03:42:29 +0000 http://twitter.com/drbarnard/statuses/159480755163115521 http://twitter.com/drbarnard/statuses/159480460358070272 @Lessien @counternotions If there's one thing I'm still hopeful for, it's that Apple will somehow better facilitate app trials. Wed, 18 Jan 2012 03:41:19 +0000 http://twitter.com/drbarnard/statuses/159480460358070272 http://twitter.com/drbarnard/statuses/159479699351932932 @Lessien @counternotions I do price up, $5 is "extremely expensive". I've lost tons of ground to competitors at lower prices. Wed, 18 Jan 2012 03:38:17 +0000 http://twitter.com/drbarnard/statuses/159479699351932932 http://twitter.com/Lessien/statuses/159474378596286465 @drbarnard @counternotions But developers know that going in. Why not price up to capture what you might otherwise gain from paid upgrades ? Wed, 18 Jan 2012 03:17:09 +0000 http://twitter.com/Lessien/statuses/159474378596286465 http://twitter.com/drbarnard/statuses/159473552746233857 @counternotions but most of us aren't selling consumables &  won't let us charge for updates. *Temporary* high volume, permanent low price Wed, 18 Jan 2012 03:13:52 +0000 http://twitter.com/drbarnard/statuses/159473552746233857 http://twitter.com/counternotions/statuses/159472152347803648 @drbarnard Good points, but won't change the inevitable value prop: mobile = high volume @ low price. Wed, 18 Jan 2012 03:08:18 +0000 http://twitter.com/counternotions/statuses/159472152347803648 http://twitter.com/drbarnard/statuses/159470637772058626 @counternotions I've given up on Apple doing anything about it, but for reference, check the bottom of this 2009 post: http://t.co/eoobl7hZ Wed, 18 Jan 2012 03:02:17 +0000 http://twitter.com/drbarnard/statuses/159470637772058626 http://twitter.com/counternotions/statuses/159463797017419777 @drbarnard I'm still not clear what you want Apple to do. Raise app prices? Reduce competition? Raise iOS device prices? @mpanzarino Wed, 18 Jan 2012 02:35:06 +0000 http://twitter.com/counternotions/statuses/159463797017419777 http://twitter.com/drbarnard/statuses/159410331247063041 @manton and "you make apps? I've got this idea, we'll make millions". Most people have a *complete* disconnect from reality in the App Store Tue, 17 Jan 2012 23:02:39 +0000 http://twitter.com/drbarnard/statuses/159410331247063041 http://twitter.com/manton/statuses/159409564368908289 @drbarnard Good post. The biggest problem is users don't understand that 99 cents is only possible for mainstream, bestsellers. Tue, 17 Jan 2012 22:59:36 +0000 http://twitter.com/manton/statuses/159409564368908289 http://twitter.com/drbarnard/statuses/159407813171494912 “It’d be a shame if the mobile software industry devolved into some horrific hybrid of Zynga and Facebook.” http://t.co/rgbcFQps Tue, 17 Jan 2012 22:52:38 +0000 http://twitter.com/drbarnard/statuses/159407813171494912 http://twitter.com/drbarnard/statuses/159399227942899712 Free and Low-Cost Apps http://t.co/rgbcFQps Tue, 17 Jan 2012 22:18:32 +0000 http://twitter.com/drbarnard/statuses/159399227942899712