Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, App Store
TUAW Poll: Do you use in-app purchasing?
One of my favorite apps is Night Stand [iTunes Link]. This app contains a variety of different themes (clock displays) and has an alarm, pretty basic but I use it every day. Last night when I ran it, I found that there was a new clock theme named Glow for in-app purchase. It looked interesting but there was no way to find out the cost without hitting the 'buy' button which I did. Luckily, before it was purchased, a confirmation screen came up with the price of US0.99. This was a bit surprising since US0.99 was the full price of the app which already came with six themes. This got me thinking about whether in-app purchasing will work or not, or if there is any rhyme or reason to pricing? I wouldn't buy one-sixth of the value of an app for full price and I wonder who would? Last week we ran a story on how in-app buying is not working out so well for Pangea. I wonder if it's working out for anyone?
My feeling is that iPhone apps are looked upon differently than full Macintosh applications. They are cheaper and tend to do one thing only. Night Stand is a clock, it doesn't purport to be more than be a clock. So what should a new clock theme be worth?
I've started viewing apps as casual purchases and at the price I don't expect more than one thing, which if done well, is worth the buck. So I'm not seeing the value of highly priced in-app sales. I can see the reason for some expensive apps charging for major functionality increases, such as Navigon when they added a $US20 live traffic option to their $US90 Mobile Navigation app, but that seems to be the exception and not the rule.
I would guess that extra gaming levels would be an expected revenue source, but I just don't see the majority of people spending enough time with a game app to run out of levels and buy more.
Take the poll below and then comment on your feelings on in-app purchasing. Will this turn out to be something big, or is it just another solution looking for a problem?
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
Jonathan Chan said 7:09AM on 9-29-2009
I already have purchased in app content for Lumines & Ramp Champ. Both times were well worth it. I think every instance of it is a unique situation. The Navigon live traffic add on for instance is a great thing and a good value IMO.
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Craig Aspinall said 7:12AM on 9-29-2009
I think you're right about in app purchases for games because the inherent value is in the game itself rather than the data. However they should work for applications where there is more value in the data than the application, for example, book readers and mapping software. In those kinds of applications the app themselves is just a means to an end and the data (the books and the maps) are king.
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Galley said 7:15AM on 9-29-2009
The Ramp Champ content is well worth it. The BMW F1 game adds a manager mode that's almost as fun as the game itself.
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Seth said 7:53AM on 9-29-2009
I tried to purchase a game from MLB AtBat over my WiFi.
It just stuck when I pressed 'submit' or 'purchase' or whatever, and just hung there.
I quit the app and restarted, when I tried to view the game, it asked me to purchase it again. I got pissed and gave up.
However, I got the receipt for the game a day later.
So, needs work.
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tuscanidream said 7:55AM on 9-29-2009
In app purchases will not sync back with iTunes. If I get a new phone, or whatever happens, I spent that money for nothing. What a waste.
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dagamer43 said 10:04AM on 9-29-2009
Oh really? Then I will never be buying an in-app purchase then.
Jonathan Chan said 11:52AM on 9-29-2009
I'm pretty sure it remembers if you bought it in the first place and you may just have to redownload the content. It behaves just like any other app does. I don't feel like googling it right now but you don't honestly think you lose the add on content you buy forever do you?
thezonie said 12:11PM on 9-29-2009
It depends on what "type" of in-app purchase it is. There are three types: Non-Consumables, Consumables, and Subscriptions.
Non-Consumables are like app upgrades that you can download over and over again once you've purchased them, just like the apps themselves. The other two have to be re-paid for each time you purchase them.
Developers are supposed to keep track of purchases in the application preferences so that they are synched and saved in iTunes, even if you do a full restore. (That's what we do with the Push on Motion upgrade in iCam.)
milkmage said 7:06PM on 9-29-2009
wrong. Ramp Champ even warns you to backup you data so you don't lose your prizes (the stuff you get with virtual tickets)... you buy DLC and it's recorded just like an app.
re: 99 cents... isn't that the lowest transaction amount allowed in the store?
gear said 7:56AM on 9-29-2009
I do not do in-app purchasing. But I would very much like to have an app that makes it possible for me to make payments on purchases.
In Europe its fairly common to make purchases using ones cell phone for payment. I'd like an app for this purpose.
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Mike Wills said 6:23PM on 9-29-2009
I just bought 3 in-app things for Boxcar. (two more Twitter accounts and facebook)
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RestaurantShareApp said 9:29AM on 9-29-2009
I didn't use in-app purchases but if something meaningful comes around - I will. What disturbs me is thousands of apps very similar in nature like maps of subways in different cities. Better approach is to have 1 app with many maps available as 0.99 purchase. That would be nice...
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Sabon said 10:37AM on 9-29-2009
Ok, I'm blind. Where is the live traffic in Navigon. I've looked in the App store and inside of Navigon and can't find where you buy live traffic inside or outside the app. Do you have to do some secret handshake or is it because I bought it when it was $69 USD?
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Jonathan Chan said 11:53AM on 9-29-2009
it's not out yet but it's coming soon, here is the article for it http://www.tuaw.com/2009/09/16/live-traffic-comes-to-mobile-navigator/
jpliii said 11:02AM on 9-29-2009
I used it for the push notifications for iCam. Worth it in my opinion. I also plan to use in app purchases for the upcoming navigon update.
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thezonie said 12:18PM on 9-29-2009
Thanks, jpliii! :)
I also think Jonathan nailed it in the first comment: With each app it's different.
With iCam we charge a one-time $0.99 upgrade for Push Notifications because we had to purchase and maintain additional resources to handle them.
Monica said 11:07AM on 9-29-2009
I've never liked the idea of micro transactions and this applies to iPhone apps. I can't stand the idea of paying for game DLC, let alone minor app improvements here. Further each micro transaction at the very least has to cost $0.99, which in turn can add up to quite a bit of money. Obviously good for the developer and Apple. However seeing how there are so many full apps out there already at $0.99, I am not too interested in paying that much for a partial or incremental improvement to an app.
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Phaedrus said 11:34AM on 9-29-2009
What I hate is that apple doesn't allow in-app purchases in free titles. If they did, we would finally have a demo system. People could just make their games free, and only include the first few levels. And then allow people to purchase the rest of the game for what would be the price of the whole game. Then, you wouldn't have to restart either.
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bjhanifin said 12:01PM on 9-29-2009
You should provide a link to view the results of the poll. While, I do not own an iPhone, I was curious enough about the poll results that I was forced to place a fraudulent vote to see those results.
P.S. I placed 1 vote for "Probably not, the app is enough.", which is just a speculative opinion, since I do not own an iPhone or iPod Touch.
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Ultima thule said 1:43PM on 9-29-2009
Any news about in-app purchases for The Sims? The game is nice but I got bored with it after two weeks or so. I would love additional characters, activities, etc.
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