Filed under: Podcasts, TUAW Interview, Developer, App Store
Hockenberry, Maheux respond in exclusive TUAW talkcast interview
On last night's talkcast, the Iconfactory's Gedeon Maheux and Craig Hockenberry joined us to discuss their concerns with the App Store, and they noted that Friday's layout changes are a step in the right direction.
"It's another of many steps that Apple's making to make the iTunes infrastructure work better with applications for the iPhone," Hockenberry said. Even so, they explained there's still room for improvement.
Hockenberry would like to see a popularity algorithm that takes into account the price of an app along with the number of times its been downloaded. "If you sell ... ten apps at $100 or a hundred apps at $10 or a thousand apps at $1, you're all equal." He also wanted to see a kind of demo system implemented, but knew that would involve more work for Apple.
Maheux said he would prefer to see more data about where apps are being sold: on a category page versus a tile on the App Store home page, for example. He also pointed out that having an app displayed on the home page results in an astronomical increase in sales. "All those people who say that ... you can market your way to the top: I completely disagree with them. They don't know what they're talking about. ... Being on the [App Store] front page is all that matters."
He said the Iconfactory applauds Apple for responding to developer feedback and improving the App Store. "Anything that starts a dialogue about this stuff is a good thing."
The Iconfactory has released two iPhone apps: the popular twitter client Twitterrific, and strategy game Frenzic.
You can listen to the interview at our Talkshoe page, or via iTunes. The interview starts at about the 25 minute mark. Don't skip the the first part of the talkcast, though, where Dave, Mel and I discuss Apple's netbook possibilities and the ideal kitchen computer.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Zyber said 12:42PM on 12-15-2008
For the demo. How about taping on a designated screenshot that provides a fully functional demo in the AppStore its self. Then the devolper can specify how many times he user can try the demo from 0(apple would call that "Not Recommended") to Unlimited (again "Not Recommended"). iThink 5 should be "Recommended".
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Mike said 2:12PM on 12-15-2008
Really, Craig? Really?!
What other software rating system takes into account a price vs. popularity algorithm? How would you account for price changes? Would you give app X 10 points for sales at $10 and later $5 points when it's on sale? Do sale prices mean the value of the app has changed like a one day only 50% off clearance?
But that aside, you wouldn't be measuring popularity, but some artificial value determined by purchases. 10x$100 and 100x$10 have a value of 1000? No, they have differing values to different people.
Why *I* think the race to $.99 is on isn't because of commercial competition to lower prices, but the iPhone represents one of the few new hw/sw platforms to emerge recently that has gained huge popularity. This new platform has it's own rules, and users have become believers in free software and services. Commercial dev shops aren't keeping up with free apps in value (I.e price x features desired). Commercial dev shops should look into the ad revenue model. Then, your profits are tied to how much you can keep users using your product, not direct sales. Sales are related to marketing and have nothing to do with value.
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Johnny said 2:19PM on 12-15-2008
"If you sell ... ten apps at $100 or a hundred apps at $10 or a thousand apps at $1, you're all equal."
I disagree. While this would be true if all developers priced their app based on the same criteria, they do not. Just because you want to charge $10 for your app and say it is better, does not mean you should get more popularity than an app that may be $1 and just as good. It is a matter of opinion which app is better and which is worth more.
I guess for me to agree with this guy, I need to see his idea for this app that is worth so much because if it really is that groundbreaking, I'd pay for it. I'll bet TUAW would run an article about it and if I thought it sounded good, I'd go check it out on the App store and buy it if I thought it was worth it. Popularity wouldn't matter one bit. I'm sure that I'm a rare case, but I usually buy apps because I had an idea for something I need and searched for it. Then, I looked at all of them, tried the free ones first, and bought the one that suited me best. In many cases, that was the $10-$20 app over the $1. The only exception for this is games, but I'm not probably going to buy an epic game for my iPhone, ever. I buy cheap or free games because I'm easily entertained and don't find the iPhone (or any other handheld gaming device) enticing for running really great games. So, show me this app that is worth so much and tell me what you want to charge for it. Otherwise, it sounds like he/they just want special treatment because they aren't making as much money as they're used to from developing for PCs.
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AppBeacon said 5:59PM on 12-15-2008
Overall, I've been inclined to agree with Craig's musing on this topic. Unlike others, I've defended him and refused to buy into the "whining" non-sense others have thrown at him.
However, I do disagree with one point he makes :
" Being on the [App Store] front page is all that matters."
This is not entirely true. There are many sites (AppBeacon, AppShopper, Apptism, etc) that are trying to make a living off the iPhone ecosystem. We're more than happy to spotlight apps that aren't on the front page of the App Store.
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