AppAdvice, Apple and the changing developer landscape
AppAdvice got its start out of a passion for iPhone apps. Not surprisingly, we were once called Apple iPhone Apps. Since our founding, much has changed, both good and bad, about company and industry that we cover.
The Apple TV, which arrived in the same year as the iPhone, is no longer considered a “hobby device,” as we get closer to “TV Anywhere.” Cupertino introduced the iPad three years later, a product that helped expand a tablet market that was once seen as an afterthought. Last week, the Apple Watch debuted, signifying the start of a new era where wearable devices play a huge role in many of our lives.
As Apple has changed, so too has the press that has covered them. Despite an ever-growing mobile gaming market, sites such as AppAdvice have seen declining ad revenues. This has forced us to make painful sacrifices.
Our beta site
We recognize that our AppAdvice app needs an overhaul. We also admit that launching our beta site as our primary site has taken a lot longer than many would have liked, including ourselves. Unfortunately, resources are scarce, and we are not alone.
Recently, Jeff Scott, the founder of 148apps and currently the editor of Slide to Play, offered an insightful piece on The Appivore, entitled “Breaking Silence: The Editorial/Developer Relationship is Broken.”
The entire post is worth your time, but the following two paragraphs are perhaps the most important:
The mobile gaming press is getting the life squeezed out of it by the lack of advertising income. This is not good for the industry they cover, here’s why and what you should do about it.
I don’t like to, but I need to break the glass wall between business and editorial. Even though we keep the two very much separated in our day to day processes, the dirty secret is one can not exist without the other. Each side lets the other exist, but it’s taboo to ever acknowledge that relationship. A relationship which proved instrumental in serving as the launchpad for countless small indie studios who are now multi-million dollar corporations. Not more than a few years ago, when the “mainstream” gaming blogs wouldn’t give iOS games the time of day, the vibrant third party iOS editorial ecosystem provided the coverage needed to put game franchises which have become household names on the map. The many mobile gaming blogs effectively did it for free, for the love of the ecosystem, and have since been forgotten by the success stories they helped create.
We offer this for two reasons. First, to let you know what’s been happening in the industry. Second, to make you aware that we hear you, and recognize your concerns.
We know many of the sites still covering iOS apps. We’ll all continue doing our best to work with the changing times because for us it’s our passion and we very much value all the readers, supporters, and Twitter followers who enrich our lives each day. We promise great things ahead for both AppAdvice and WatchAware.
