The creator of App store sensations Frenzic and Twitterrific reached out to Steve Jobs in an attempt to save his business.
Craig Hockenberry penned a lengthy missive to the Macintosh Messiah and posted it on his website, Furbo.org, griping about “Ringtone apps” and how they are not only cutting into his bread and butter, but threatening to wreck the App Store.
Hockenberry says that the onslaught of cheap applications – or “crapware” – is muddying up the market and making it hard for quality applications to get their proper attention.
For the most part, people purchase an app based on a couple of screenshots and customer reviews. This isn’t enough and he contends that his creations are a treat to use because of significant development costs, costs that cannot be recouped under current conditions. With 10,000 apps in the iTunes store, Hockenberry describes it as a “fricken’ cat fight to get into one of the top 100 [app] spots” and foresees an even grimmer future as those numbers multiply. He seems to think that low cost apps will curb creativity in developers and force innovation out of the App Store.
It’s hard to imagine Apple revamping their cash cow at the behest of a third party developer, considering the app store wrangles in a cool million each day. Fixing prices is hardly a plausible solution, so what does Hockenberry really expect?
Should “innovative” applications be given special treatment? Who gets to decide what’s “crapware” and what isn’t? It’s almost ironic – first the mortgage industry, then the insurance companies, followed by the auto makers and now it seems that even iPhone developers are asking for a bailout.
Hockenberry need to stop whining like a little bitch. Create an innovative app and it WILL stand out in the App store. Yes, 95% of the apps in the store are crap, but when something worthwhile is released and it gets picked up by the blogs and iPhone press, it will make its way into the top apps lists if it really is quality.
Tim, while that is true, what Hockenberry is saying is that the risk of attempting to develop something worthwhile is currently not worth it. That the current panorama of applications and the current price distribution tilts the balance towards cheap, inconsequential apps with a small production cost.
A previously mentionned (not by me) solution which I believe to be both fair and very likely effective, is to rank application not by number of downloads but by the amount of money spent.
An application which has sold 100 copies at $13.99 should be ranked at least as well as an application which has sold 1000 copies at $0.99 …
I’m suddenly struck with the image of a Ritz Carlton asking the government to shut down the Motel 6 across the street because they have a bigger sign. Yes, you SHOULD blame the competition. It’s their fault as much as it yours. They’re doing something you’re not, or vice versa, and its costing you. But I can tell you firsthand, its much easier to change what you’re doing than to get somebody else to alter their ways…or to get somebody to them and so on.
Having not released any iPhone applications personally, I can’t speak for iPhone developers. I can, however, speak for many software developers in general when I say that this problem is not exclusive to App Store. In fact, this problem isn’t even exclusive to software development. I’m a little shocked to hear that this individual refers to his enterprise as a business and simultaneously complains about the presence of competition. If someone can’t handle competition, then I suggest that individual learn how to scrub some toilets or make some sandwiches, because those are about the only things I can imagine not being very competitive.
One of the most difficult aspects of selling software is promotion. For the early adopters of iPhone development, the App Store handled that part of the equation for them. A small fish can thrive in a small pond, especially when there are tons of people coming to feed it. Now the pond is quite larger; even the big fish have to compete with the little ones for food. This is mostly due to the success stories that were built on those conditions that don’t exist anymore. Developers need to wake up, and realize that ship sailed as soon as those stories surfaced in the media.
Life is all about balancing risk and reward. Sure, it could pay to develop a shoddy application and sell it cheaply hoping to capitalize on the exposure from having it near the top. Or, one could develop a quality application, and sell it for a fair price, hoping that people won’t be able to pass it up for the cheaper, low quality competition. Either way, do yourself a favor and do rely on App Store alone to promote your product.
It just seems like whining about a free market to me too. I don’t know how to make money with an iPhone app – if Hockenberry is having trouble, maybe it’s not worth my time to try it – but I accept the reality of competition. The fact that he thinks that getting “on the charts” is the only way to make money tells me he’s coming from a Ritz Carlton perspective here. There are a hundred great “Motel 6″ apps that have trouble getting on the charts despite costing 99 cents.
If there’s a problem with the app store, I’d say it’s (a) all of the free apps – do we need another “lighter” app? and (b) the lack of “try before you buy” functionality.
99 cent apps aren’t the problem, and what he’s arguing for is basically a rise in the minimum app price, which wouldn’t be good for anyone.
Bravo Anthony, you hit the nail on the head! Why should Apple help you, they already take care of distribution, billing, and collection, the least you could do is promote your product to highlight the advantages you supposedly offer.
A perfect solution to this developer’s problem came to me while I was fishing. Well, not really, but i was playing the app store game iFishing. How did I come to buy a $2.99 fishing game? I am not an a fishing or fishing game enthusiast. I played the free version – iFishing Lite – first and fell in love. I wanted more, so I bought it. Developers of pricey apps should follow suit and offer a free test-drive version of their app. If they think it is good enough, at least.
I don’t think people have a problem with paying over a dollar for an app they know is good. If they want to sell more expensive apps there needs to be trial versions out there. I am reluctant to spend too much more than that for something I may delete after an hour…