Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, Software, Freeware, Apple, iPhone, App Store
The strange economy of the App Store
A few App Store apps have already gotten the public browbeating for tweaking their prices, and here's another: as Johnathan notes, there's a new app on the top of the heap in the paid pile, and apparently the only reason "Units Convertor" (sic) is there is because it used to be free.We can't necessarily call them out for switching just to sit on top -- what would you do if you had a free app that was being downloaded like crazy and decided you wanted to make some money from it? But being that free apps far outweigh paid apps in terms of distribution, even the #21 free app can quickly jump to the top of the paid pile. We've already posted about how developers might be getting a raw deal out of the App Store (and some publishers have told us personally that they agree), but the economics are very interesting in there right now -- you've got a basically free economy, and considering that most of the apps out now are easy to make, it's just as likely that you'll see a free version of an app that does the same thing as a paid app.
Of course, what's happening in there actually mirrors what's happening out here with software: some of the best applications around are actually being given away for free. We're still in a strange place with the App Store and its pricing, and you have to think that eventually things will settle down and the developers who deserve to get paid will.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
Chris said 5:59PM on 7-31-2008
I will say that I am quite frustrated with a few apps that show as free but when you click to download they are now charging a fee. The app store hasn't been updated. And the app's descriptions say they had a "free trial period that has expired"....what?!?!
The pricing structure of the app store needs to be worked out. Apps are priced all over the place, and there is no way of knowing if you are getting junk or not.
And in the case of Units Converter, well, its junk. And now its at the top of the list. Fo those who are looking for a good one, get Units. Its .99 but worth every penny and more.
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Dan Woods said 6:39PM on 7-31-2008
I'm actually going to buy Units for myself as a Boycott against "Convertor". I don't have much use for a Unit Converter, but...
I'm also going to gift it to everyone I know with an iPhone.
Bioretention said 9:17PM on 7-31-2008
I agree. The sudden trial period expirations seemed to based on usage vs. time. It's baffling. The apps store has been a disappointment, so far.
http://www.filterra.com/bioretention
Piotr Malecki said 2:52PM on 8-05-2008
Actually if you want a amazing unit converter app for the iPhone/iPod Touch then wait for (or email Apple to finish approving) Vladimir Kofman's Unit and Currency Converter for iPhone (http://code.google.com/p/iphone-converter/). When I was running my iPod Touch on jail broken 1.1.4, it was the non-apple app that I used the most.
Now that have an iPhone 3G w/ 2.0 OS, I miss his app. I know I could jailbreak my iPhone, but I would prefer to get it through the app store (to pay the developer and to not need to worry about any jail breaking issues - this is a phone primarily)
moo083 said 6:06PM on 7-31-2008
Slightly off topic, but has anyone noticed that the updates section on the phone App Store almost never updates apps, even when there are updates available? I have noticed that quite a few of my apps have updates, but the only way I can get them to update is to do it on the computer.
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totoro said 6:14PM on 7-31-2008
Yes. But, I've also seen the opposite-updates showing up on the Phone, while my iTunes insists everything is up to date. Definitely still have some issues there :p
Jeff said 6:09PM on 7-31-2008
i think it'll be a while until things settle and there are GOOD apps with good reviews worth buying with a little confidence.
until then, i'm just taking it slow and not shelling out huge sums of cash for the unproven. (other than for Dynolicious. it's not real accurate or polished, but a very cool app.)
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delldude1989 said 6:12PM on 7-31-2008
well i have since it where the app was free then 99 cents back to free anyone see this before ?
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totoro said 6:17PM on 7-31-2008
The Units thing is pretty interesting-if you downloaded it when it was free, then it did updates, did it specifically warn you you had to pay to update it? I don't even check that stuff-just update, enter my iTunes password, and forget about it. Could a vendor take advantage of one-click payments and sneak in charges under updating?
Or is a formerly-free-converted-to-paid app considered a totally new downloaded app (which is how it should be) to avoid confusion?
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LuminousNerd said 6:25PM on 7-31-2008
Yes, I hope things change around.
Firstly, people who complain about 99¢ apps are ridiculous. It's 99¢..."It should be free"? It's freaking 99¢...IT IS FREE!!! I'm sorry but I can't take you seriously if you're going to spend 5 minutes of your life bitching about a dollar. It's a very small amount, and no matter how simple the app (unless it's intended to do harm) 99¢ is reasonable.
BUT the $10 apps out there, while some are well worth it (Galcon, Enigmo) others are cheap crap (SuperMonkeyButt) that really shouldn't be $10. But most of those have big name brands on them, and that's probably to be expected.
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LuminousNerd said 6:28PM on 7-31-2008
The thing that pisses me off about what happened though is the way they snuck 99¢ out of people who unwittingly upgraded. I know it's not their fault, but Apple really needs to address this issue of free - paid.
What happens if they raise the price on a paid app? Do I have to pay the difference (or worse, the full new price) to upgrade?
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SquiggiE said 6:34PM on 7-31-2008
If the developer decides to switch from a free app to a paid app. Their stats should reset back to 0. You think Appl would have picked up on this already.
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AA said 6:48PM on 7-31-2008
$99 A year just to host free apps-goes against the definition of freeware-a unusual business method by Apple.
But paid apps are worth the $99 hosting fee.
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uhuznaa said 8:17PM on 7-31-2008
One thing that's really missing is a trial period for paid apps. Give me an hour (or a bit more for complex apps) so that I can actually *use* them before buying. Just give me a period of time I can try the app and if I delete it in this period, don't bill me.
$0.99 or such seems to be almost nothing but if I feel ripped off (since the app is crap) I will very much hesitate with the next app I'm about to buy. When I buy a coffee and get a pot of cold water instead I will not say "hey, it did cost nearly nothing after all!"
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Max said 9:25PM on 7-31-2008
I agree. most palm apps had trial versions. How are you to know if an app or game is any good, or even if it works?
Also, another thing that was better on the Palm is that you can buy apps anywhere, right from the publishers' web sites, where you can usually do more research. You could also beam or copy demo versions of your games to friends.
Not to mention you could easily just copy your own apps right to the device.
The store is handy, to be sure, but it can't be the ONLY way to get apps. Imagine if the only place to get music was the iTunes store -- no CD stores.
David Chartier said 9:26PM on 7-31-2008
I think this is an extremely difficult concept to pigeonhole into the difference between "free" and "paid" apps though.
The example you use Michael—Firefox—can be given away for free because Mozilla rakes in *tons* of cash via affiliate ads that users click on when doing searches from the built-in toolbar. That works out great for both Mozilla and Firefox users because an alternative form of revenue is highly successful. That alternative form of revenue is also at least one reason why Mozilla can afford to pay so many employees who work on Firefox to make it so successful. You don't get something that great for nothing.
But not all applications have an alternative revenue method like that available. Some developers want to develop software for a living, others don't. In most cases, the paid software is *generally* better because it usually offers a broader set of features that are more polished with a more successful UI. In rare cases, free/open source apps reverse this equation and trump their paid brethren.
I hope you're right though. I hope that the relatively lower commercial bar of the App Store helps consumers to see past the "ZOMG it's free!" shine and realize that good software takes hard work, and developers deserve to get paid for that work—if they want to be, of course.
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autoy said 9:33PM on 7-31-2008
Some apps like the excellent labyrinth have a trial, separate app you can play with some limited amount of levels for free. Then you can actually pay for the full version if you like it. This is the way all free->pay apps should be, changing the price of an app annoys everyone.
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umijin said 10:12PM on 7-31-2008
The problem I have with the app store is how Apple presents them. The "New" apps section actually doesn't have the newest apps, for example. When click on See All link in the section Casino/Card Games, I get a very small subset of actual card games. (see my blog for an article).
So, Apple is misrepresenting the available apps, making all of their splash page lists essentially paid 'featured lists', unless something has changed in the last week.
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Al said 10:55PM on 7-31-2008
I have yet to find a way to view new apps on the phone. Does anyone know how to do this? Right now I see Nearby listed number 1 in featured -new, but I see "Judo" on iTunes if sorted by release date. So whenever I need to see what came out today I have to go to itunes to do it?
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kofster said 1:22AM on 8-01-2008
Well said Dan. However, while LuminousNerd may be correct on a lot of things, I disagree with the SuperMonkeyButt comment. But you all have valid comments concerning that 'free - pay' thing in the AppStore. And I totally agree with autoy for that observation on Labyrinth.
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