Amazing news! All free and Lite versions are going to be removed from iTunes...

[Syndicated Puzzles]

Top secret insider info...

Finally this feeding frenzy of supplying the world with free apps is over! Wow. Only paid apps on iTunes, twice the room to promote the reason why we are "selling our goods" TO MAKE MONEY!

We all got sucked into the vortex that free is good. "Say what"

First Apple removed all the scantly clad teenagers in school uniforms and now the free sections will be removed, this will open up the store like the sun after a thunderstorm.

I really am totally stoked by this news and finally we all can make some real dough. Bold move by Apple! But it makes perfect sense! Too many paid apps never mind the free ones. A great day to be a developer.

[Syndicated Puzzles]

Sorry i jumped the gun here, my top secret insider info was only a beautiful dream I had after checking my iTunes account in the morning and seeing pages of paid downloads.

[headcaseGames]

Say, where did you get that free booze? I'd like some too.

[Syndicated Puzzles]

The scary thing is I don't drink! Just a built in vivid 3D imagination! Just a Headcase!

[mrWalrus]

How did your date go on shark tank/lion's den, Syndicate?

[Syndicated Puzzles]

Not allowed to discuss the exact details but it was probably one of the best days of my life! Amazing 50 minutes inside the pressure cooker. Great experience!

[RttaM]

Seriously, I don't think Apple is that stupid.

[heman]

Seriously, I don't think Apple is that stupid.

i agree

[Syndicated Puzzles]

RttaM,

If I translate your post, what you were trying to say was free apps = more devices sold?

[Syndicated Puzzles]

The dramatic style of this post was engineered to start a fruitful discussion. What if all the free apps disappeared? What would the end result be? It definitely is worth discussing.

It isn't a ridiculous proposition! It is a viable option?

[heman]

The dramatic style of this post was engineered to start a fruitful discussion. What if all the free apps disappeared? What would the end result be? It definitely is worth discussing.

It isn't a ridiculous proposition! It is a viable option?

ipod/iphone sales will most likely drop

[The prez 12521]

The dramatic style of this post was engineered to start a fruitful discussion. What if all the free apps disappeared? What would the end result be? It definitely is worth discussing.

It isn't a ridiculous proposition! It is a viable option?

That's like saying demos are going to be rid of for console games. It would hurt smalls to a certain degree but overall it's the quality of your app.

Lite and free versions should provide enough gameplay but not to much. I can tell you how many times I download something and it's 3 levels and it doesn't want to make me buy the full game.

And the app store could become a little less cluttered, but there are many people who rely on stuff like FAAD for their games

[RttaM]

RttaM,

If I translate your post, what you were trying to say was free apps = more devices sold?

Your comment came out of no where, cause I don't remember saying that. Anyway I'm not saying Free Apps equals more devices. Free Applications give people a chance to test out the app and see if it's to their liking before purchasing.

[Harpgliss]

Hi,

If this was to happen, the piracy would be even more pervasive than it is now.

I would also think there would be less of a customer base for your apps, or anyone elses.

Would be a good way to stop, or seriously slow the growth within the appstore, if that was an objective.

David

[Syndicated Puzzles]

You didn't say it! But that was the only logical reason Apple would keep the free apps?

free apps = more devices sold

Previous discussions on the topic of free apps revealed another very interesting equation that would justify the removal of all free apps.

People trying a free version of an app and not buying the paid version because they didn't like the free version = people buying the paid version without having the luxury of trying out a free version
The Prez is 100 % correct it all boils down to how good your game or app is with or with out a free version.

[Syndicated Puzzles]

David,

Here is the flip side of the coin. If devs are making more money because the store is only populated with paid apps, the quality of apps would go through the roof, because the risk factor of making the investment back would be a lot smaller. So the appstore would probably grow at the same pace if the quality of the apps got better.

[Harpgliss]

Hi,

Speaking as a customer, I am careful on what I buy.

No free or lite versions mean me spending less money.

How does that make you more money?

David

[Syndicated Puzzles]

David,

no free apps = less revenue for Apple and developers?

Are you sure? Imagine all the free apps are gone. People would have to buy tonnes more because the free content is not using up their spare time. The device would be idle without purchases. The paid apps would get snapped up a lot easier.

[Harpgliss]

Hi,

I am not sure you have, by your last post, a very high opinion of customers on the appstore.

Yes, there are the impulse shoppers but also a lot who try before buying, as in the free or lite versions.

Cut them and cut revenue for developers and Apple, the impulse buyers do not mess with the free or lite versions, as a general rule.

Of course, this is just one of those customers giving an honest opinion on how they would spend less if free and lite versions of apps were eliminated.

David

[headcaseGames]

here's how I feel.. as an independent developer (no-name), no one will look at my app if there's not some awesome tech or something absurdly jump-up-and-down craziness screenshots or other gimmicks to woo a potential customer. Actually it's already that bad anyway, but at least free demos gives you a tiny amount of wiggle room.

I am with you, the market is confounding and I dislike a lot of what it has come to. I feel that the .99 price point thing is so beyond ridiculous, it got there to fast, and between that and the abundance of free EVERYTHING apps are very devalued in the average customer's mind. I have learned that if you want to charge close to $4 for something, it's really got to look like a high level DS or PSP game, otherwise not worth the bother to most folks.

This is the mindset that you must maintain as a developer, it doesn't matter how we feel or how much work we put in or respect for all of that which we might feel we deserve.. it's absolutely a buyer's market, and so we must pander to the customer if we want them to give us a fraction of the time of day.

How to fight this? A few things, but really... kill yourself right now making the best looking, best playing software you possibly can.. follow i up with more of the same.. charge next to nothing for it, use a free demo to help get the word out, whatever (don't charge actual nothing because then you can devalue yourself in the long run, and any hope you have of getting lucky in the meantime is shot too). If you build up your rep and therefore your brand over time, then you will have leverage and when things finally reach some sense of normalcy around here (that is, we can charge more than mere peanuts for software) you will have your built-in fanbase right there with you who will be willing to shell out for what you have to offer.

That's all a long shot, and it's very general, but it seems to be the only attitude I can think of to make it through the period that we are in now.

[Syndicated Puzzles]

headcase,

Thumbs up great summary of the state of an indie dev.

Would like to add one last prediction. Consumers will and already are jumping from free app to free app without ever buying a single app. Why would they? The free content is so overwhelming that it would take them a lifetime just to try out a quarter of it!

[OctopodSquad]

Exactly. It's like a special type of defense to stop pirating so don't complain :P
Without free/lite apps, people like me will be twitchy on the BUY button, thinking (what the hell is this game) and move on.
You are almost certain to lose profit if this happens, because most of the people who bought idevices are looking for free apps!

[headcaseGames]

I'll maintain that a lot of free apps are just not properly enough designed (and that's owing to a lot of circumstances). when you make a lite version - especially in the case of a mobile app, as opposed to a console one - it's imperative that you are giving your audience a proper taste of what you are offering, but not so much that they "have enough," and not too little so that they aren't able to get what's going on.

that's very difficult, particularly if you are building something that's riffing off of a well-known app already.

it can be done, it just needs to be prioritized. you need to think long and hard about it, and test it, and test it some more. and even then, second-guess yourself.

I am one of those who seldom buys a full after playing a lite. Why? Exact same reasons mentioned above - mind you I am a developer, and all I mostly will ever be interested in is "seeing how they did it" more so than getting a full experience, but once in awhile I'll come across something that will bowl me over and I'll say "oh this lite version is amazing but will not cut it, when I can pony up a couple of dollars for the full experience." When I played Drop7 Lite a few times, I totally got sucked in and had to buy the full almost immediately. Impressed me how well that worked!

Not sure where things stand with my app. Do me a favor, and don't take this as me plugging my own project, but more trying to see if I was successful in my attempt - put out this lite (http://bit.ly/180free) version of 180 the other day. Give it a shot, and let me know if "it's enough" or, after a few plays, you start feeling the itch to own the full release.. (BTW, this was designed to be fairly playable for probably a good several says' worth of time, but hopefully addictive enough that sooner or later you'll crack and pony up $2!)

Tell me what you think :)

[sam the lion]

There are certain apps that only make sense if they are free.
It's useful to have dropbox, facebook and ebay apps, but I wouldn't pay for services that are free if I just open safari.

Also many devs are finding free + DLC to be a profitable strategy.

[Random_Guy]

I'm pretty sure this won't happen.

[Isilel]

Imagine all the free apps are gone. People would have to buy tonnes more because the free content is not using up their spare time.

No, a lot of people would stop buying at all and people like me wouldn't buy anything over a buck and then only when games really, really appeal to their tastes.

I mean, playing the Lites exclusively is not very satisfying, is it? Just when the things get good, they are over. And for the cheap, cheap, price of the upgrade/full version, you can continue!

Now, full games going free could be more of a problem. From personal experience, I tend to download a lot of them, but few manage to keep my attention beyond a couple of minutes. Still, there were some that I have played extensively and even finished.

OTOH, free apps were what prompted me to make an Appstore account in the first place and from what I see around me, it is fairly typical. People sample the freebies and then start to buy, to greater or lesser extent. Or not. But without the lure of the free stuff they wouldn't have even registered, so...

[BlueSolarSoftware]

headcase,

That is a really good summary of the situation. Unfortunately, free and lite games are here to stay. On top of that, you now have users demanding games for free. Even if all free and lite versions were removed, consumers would jump to a different platform. All the other platforms will allow Flash, so you would have to compete against the glut of flash games and native games.

I don't know how the market will get through this "phase", but in the meantime developers will gravitate toward simpler, casual games like doodle jump clones or bowling games.

[Syndicated Puzzles]

BlueSolarSoftware

I am with you, simple casual games will rule the store. If it cost more than 5000 $ to develop it is too risky ( for a small dev ). I am still eating dust on Caveman Test. Fits this category perfectly( great game and concept) but just doesn't sell. So my analysis is even
the quick a gimmicky games will still have a rough time in the overcrowded market.

[mobile1up]

BlueSolarSoftware
I am with you, simple casual games will rule the store. If it cost more than 5000 $ to develop it is too risky ( for a small dev ). I am still eating dust on Caveman Test. Fits this category perfectly( great game and concept) but just doesn't sell. So my analysis is even the quick a gimmicky games will still have a rough time in the overcrowded market.

jeff, lets have you, me and andrew talk - iphone market is saturated; we released our games on the palm pre and we are seeing many more sales than on the iphone, namely because of this lack of saturation :) we should discuss moving forward, and how to deal properly with platform fragmentation :)

[Dusse]

Well, IMO all lite (or whatever you call them) versions of apps should be removed and Apple should instead allow the developers to offer a demo/trial from the main apps page. Combine this with an easy way to upgrade your app to full version and I'm sure it would be a good thing for everyone..

[Hodapp]

And I remember when developers were concerned when pricing crashed to 99¢ thinking that was as low as it would go... ;)

[GregH]

Well, IMO all lite (or whatever you call them) versions of apps should be removed and Apple should instead allow the developers to offer a demo/trial from the main apps page. Combine this with an easy way to upgrade your app to full version and I'm sure it would be a good thing for everyone..

Agreed! I really like how xbox live handles this.

[Syndicated Puzzles]

Dusse and Greg,

How about this.

If you charge for an app it needs to have the free version built in.

If your app is free it can't have a paid version.

Could it be this simple?

[Rocotilos]

Well, there are some free apps that is good too. So i dont agree if apple wants to remove all lite/free apps.

[OctopodSquad]

Well, there are some free apps that is good too. So i dont agree if apple wants to remove all lite/free apps.

Well I would assume he meant the LITE apps only but not the FREE ones