Apple pushing iPhone developers to charge for would-be free apps
Developers wishing to release software applications for the iPhone and iPod touch for free are being encouraged by Apple to charge a fee instead, AppleInsider has learned.
People familiar with the iPhone Developer Program initiated in March note that companies and individuals approved for the program are being assigned a liaison, or "development partner," who serves as a resource, offering advice and gathering feedback on plans for applications that will eventually be submitted to upcoming App Store for approval.
Those liaisons, who appear to be evangelists rather than technical contacts, aren't mandating that developers stick a price tag on their creations immediately. They are, however, suggesting that serious consideration be put into doing so "at some point."
Along the same lines, Apple will reportedly allow developers to submit more than one version of their application to the App Store, which will ship as part of iPhone Software v2.0. For instance, a full-featured version would be available at cost while a "lite" version would be provided as a free trial download to entice users to purchase the full version.
Apple's motives for the moves are clear. It will bear the cost of hosting, marketing and running the App Store in exchange for 30 percent of the revenues from each application sold through the service; developers get to keep the remaining 70 percent. That said, it had promised to allow developers to give away their applications if they so chose.
While not necessarily a big deal for iPhone owners who will receive the App Store for free and who can pick and choose applications at their will, Apple's aggressive push towards app pricing may serve as an added nuisance for iPod touch owners.
Since Apple does not account for sales of the touch-screen media player through subscription accounting like it does the iPhone, touch users will have to pay an initial fee just to update their devices to iPhone Software v2.0 in order to access the App Store.
People familiar with the iPhone Developer Program initiated in March note that companies and individuals approved for the program are being assigned a liaison, or "development partner," who serves as a resource, offering advice and gathering feedback on plans for applications that will eventually be submitted to upcoming App Store for approval.
Those liaisons, who appear to be evangelists rather than technical contacts, aren't mandating that developers stick a price tag on their creations immediately. They are, however, suggesting that serious consideration be put into doing so "at some point."
Along the same lines, Apple will reportedly allow developers to submit more than one version of their application to the App Store, which will ship as part of iPhone Software v2.0. For instance, a full-featured version would be available at cost while a "lite" version would be provided as a free trial download to entice users to purchase the full version.
Apple's motives for the moves are clear. It will bear the cost of hosting, marketing and running the App Store in exchange for 30 percent of the revenues from each application sold through the service; developers get to keep the remaining 70 percent. That said, it had promised to allow developers to give away their applications if they so chose.
While not necessarily a big deal for iPhone owners who will receive the App Store for free and who can pick and choose applications at their will, Apple's aggressive push towards app pricing may serve as an added nuisance for iPod touch owners.
Since Apple does not account for sales of the touch-screen media player through subscription accounting like it does the iPhone, touch users will have to pay an initial fee just to update their devices to iPhone Software v2.0 in order to access the App Store.
Comments
Out of spite I would charge 1¢. Try slicing that up into a 30/70 share on a small run basis!
What's a good free app? the AIM client?
Games and everything will of course cost money.
I would be shocked if a high quantity of solid apps come out as free.
Apple's motives for the moves are clear. It will bear the cost of hosting, marketing and running the App Store in exchange for 30 percent of the profits from each application sold through the service; developers get to keep the remaining 70 percent.
Makes one wonder why Steve Jobs even gave that as an option when "introducing" the app store at the SDK event. Now it looks as if less is offered.
If charging becomes a precedent for all apps, I hope there will be at least a Free 7 day trial or something. While these apps may not be the most expensive items in the world, I bet it would add up to a hefty sum if one went crazy getting all the apps they think they need to make their iPhone Premium.
Financially- Apple are hosting these apps and they only require a 30% cut of sales. It does them no good to have to manage legions of Free apps that generate no revenue/profit yet consome resource thus becoming only a cost center.
Customer Satisfaction- Free apps imply "no" support. One of the things about paying for a product or service is the accountability aspect. If you've accepted my hard earned money I expect some sort of support.
Perhaps Apple should limit how many free apps a developer can offer and then levy a nominal charge for those that want to offer more.
its part of my contract with them.
Therefore, everything I make will be free. I refuse to make costing apps at this point.
What's a good free app? the AIM client?
Um... Adium is a fantastic FREE Instant Messaging client. adiumx.com
Games and everything will of course cost money.
There are TONS of FREE online games. We're not talking about games with much complexity, but they're still games.
Besides, it makes a lot of sense to offer both a free and a for-pay version of all apps. The paid version could include customer support and additional features.
It helps separate the wheat from the chaff quicker, and it also would be a positive for app developers hoping to sell their company if they can clearly point to earnings as a metric, not just free downloads.
Um... Adium is a fantastic FREE Instant Messaging client. adiumx.com
There are TONS of FREE online games. We're not talking about games with much complexity, but they're still games.
Ahhhhh, the voice of reason. So refreshing to see some logic here. Thanks.
My feeling is even the most trivial they will charge something...even if it's a trivial price like 99 cents.
Personally from the perspective of an application developer, you don't need to charge a lot of money for the apps, but you should charge something.
Even if you create a little game that just 100,000 people pay just 1$ to download it....that's a LOT of money.
What's a good free app? the AIM client?
Google Earth
SketchUp
Think!
There are quite a few.
Apple promised the option of Free Apps.
its part of my contract with them.
Therefore, everything I make will be free. I refuse to make costing apps at this point.
I WISH I COULD FIND DEVELOPERS LIKE YOU TO WORK FOR FREE, ARE YOU LIVING @ HOME @ 30 SOMETHING ON YOUR PARENTS DIME?
SOFTWARE/APPS COME WITH A PRICE, EITHER ON YOUR END OR ON THE CONSUMER.
DON'T SELL YOURSELF SHORT JUST TO PROVE A POINT.
YOUR HURTING THE DEVELOPMENT COMMUNITY AS A WHOLE.
UNLESS THE APPS YOU DEVELOP ARE GARBAGE TO BEGIN WITH!
Local Business and Product listing types of services are one example that come to mind but easy to imagine a domain of entertainment or gaming apps that are ad supported the same way you see on the Web.
For example, here is an application idea around twitter that would kill (in my opinion) on the iPhone/iPod touch. The software would be free, but businesses would pay for premium service access.
Twitter-nomics: Envisioning Structured Tweets
http://thenetworkgarden.com/weblog/2...er-nomics.html
How would that type of native app work from Apple's perspective?
Mark
I think Apple's doing the right thing on multiple levels.
Financially- Apple are hosting these apps and they only require a 30% cut of sales. It does them no good to have to manage legions of Free apps that generate no revenue/profit yet consome resource thus becoming only a cost center.
Customer Satisfaction- Free apps imply "no" support. One of the things about paying for a product or service is the accountability aspect. If you've accepted my hard earned money I expect some sort of support.
Perhaps Apple should limit how many free apps a developer can offer and then levy a nominal charge for those that want to offer more.
Google Earth
SketchUp
Think!
There are quite a few.
iTunes, Adium, Perian, Colloquy, TextWrangler, Transmission, Firefox, Camino, Opera, Flock, The Unarchiver, Skype, HandBrake, along with hundreds of others.
-Owl
I WISH I COULD FIND DEVELOPERS LIKE YOU TO WORK FOR FREE, ARE YOU LIVING @ HOME @ 30 SOMETHING ON YOUR PARENTS DIME?
SOFTWARE/APPS COME WITH A PRICE, EITHER ON YOUR END OR ON THE CONSUMER.
DON'T SELL YOURSELF SHORT JUST TO PROVE A POINT.
YOUR HURTING THE DEVELOPMENT COMMUNITY AS A WHOLE.
UNLESS THE APPS YOU DEVELOP ARE GARBAGE TO BEGIN WITH!
Spaz out much?
Apple's motives for the moves are clear. It will bear the cost of hosting, marketing and running the App Store in exchange for 30 percent of the profits. . .
It's actually 30% of the REVENUE, not the profits! Apple has no idea of whether you spent an hour or a thousand developing your app. They don't know how much you spent on hardware, training, ADC membership, the physical plant where you work, etc. or how many people are involved and how you are paying them, and so on. These are the costs that come out of the revenue figure and the difference is the profit.
I understand Apple's motivation to make developers charge for their apps, but in the long run, an App Store with lots of freeware will get more traffic and also makes the paid content much better because it ensures that something you would pay for is more valuable than a free alternative.
Along the same lines, Apple will reportedly allow developers to submit more than one version of their application to the App Store, which will ship as part of iPhone Software v2.0. For instance, a full-featured version would be available at cost while a "lite" version would be provided as a free trial download to entice users to purchase the full version.
[ View this article at AppleInsider.com ]
"lite" - that's so WINDOWS-crappy. Ever bought a Dell or HP - stuffed to the brim with such junk.
Let's not go down that road!
Apple promised the option of Free Apps.
its part of my contract with them.
Therefore, everything I make will be free. I refuse to make costing apps at this point.
Then don't.... but don't be so petulant about it. It makes you seem childish.
iTunes, Adium, Perian, Colloquy, TextWrangler, Transmission, Firefox, Camino, Opera, Flock, The Unarchiver, Skype, HandBrake, along with hundreds of others.
-Owl
iTunes gets you to the iTunes Store.
TextWrangler is really BBEdit Lite. It can be considered to be a gateway drug for BBEdit.
Skype is a front-end to get you to buy some paid services.
Sketch-up has an expensive paid version.
Paid apps for the iPhone ought to be like OmniWeb. Even thought there are a lot of free web browsers, Omni has a core consumer base that insists on paying for their browser because they think it is that good.