IOS vs OSX (Business Model) A years worth of experience.

Discussion in 'Public Game Developers Forum' started by Syndicated Puzzles, May 12, 2012.

  1. Syndicated Puzzles

    Syndicated Puzzles Well-Known Member

    #1 Syndicated Puzzles, May 12, 2012
    Last edited: May 12, 2012
    www.iLifeTouch.com has really focused on digging deeper into the Mac App store. We have 60 apps on the Mac App Store after a year of actively working the store here are all the answers you have been waiting for.

    1. Sales are a lot lower than IOS. HD Videowall was 50th on the top List ( Number 1 Entertainment) in the US = 34 sales US + 8 worldwide yesterday

    2. The same apps sell over and over again in small numbers. Bread and butter is earned from the same apps.

    3. Experimentation with app ideas is tough. We published an app called "Now" which is a to do list. Sold next to zero apps. If we would have called it with To Do xyz it would have sold a lot better. Familiarity sells.

    4. Strength in numbers. Having 5 apps on the Mac App store is a tough ride. The only way we can support our effort is by having a minimum of 2 new apps a week to stay in plain view on the store. The 60 apps we have on the store help us keep ourselves making a small profit. Most apps sell a few copies a day and that adds up supporting our efforts.

    5. Updates are crucial. OSX users are very tough to please. Anything wrong with your app you will hear about it. We try our best to update but most of our apps are based on live feeds that always change or screw up.

    6. Hitting a homerun is going to be 100 + apps a day. We have had a few apps in the top twenty of the US store and that equates to 100 + sales. The IOS dream is not the same on the Mac App Store.

    7. Being featured by Apple on the Mac App Store is twice as odd as on the IOS platform. Big companies get featured immediately and the few leftover spots are handed out to the weirdest apps possible. Trying to build something to have it featured is an absolute waste of time. Even if your app is a hot seller Apple will feature something strange with very little justification. The odds of getting featured should be in your favour considering the low number of submits every week. Not the case.

    Some apps have been featured up to five times, as if the store has no new apps going live? Every week a few apps get re-featured.

    8. Reviews are a lot more important on the Mac App Store. If you start off with a bad review it is really next to impossible to recover. The only thing you can do is submit a new version (that really helps) Most one star reviews are from other developers and it is hurting everyone.

    Strange store with lots of quirky scenarios. The Mac App Store is definitely a learning experience.
     
  2. Platyrrhine

    Platyrrhine Well-Known Member

    Jan 6, 2012
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    Often when I look at the Mac App Store, I wonder whether it is worth it for developers who put their apps up there. So few of the apps there get any attention, and those that do get attention are the ones that don't need it (GTA III, Vice City, San Andreas, Call of Duty, etc).

    I also wonder about the app rankings. OS Lion has been #1 in the paid app rankings since its release last July; currently, Apple software occupies the 2-7 spots as well. Maybe it's legitimate, but if it is then that, in my opinion, just means that people only use the store to buy Apple's products.
     
  3. madmud101

    madmud101 Well-Known Member

    Dec 30, 2009
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    Very interesting.

    I think that since the Mac is such a bigger system, small apps that do quick little minor jobs (although very well) don't quite fit in. Unlike the iOS store where the iPhone is a much more portable and smaller device, the Mac App Store looks more suited to larger, more expensive and longterm software.

    Indeed the Mac App Store dream is much, much different to the iOS dream, and I think there is much less room for an indie developer to release something small and cool and get anywhere. It seems like it is suited for more established software that are releasing for the first time on Mac.

    That's just for apps. Games are a little bit different.
     
  4. Kafu

    Kafu Well-Known Member

    Thank you to have shared this useful informations.

    Developers giving bad reviews is very sad, unfortunately sometime happens.

    About the Mac App Store, I think it's still immature: having Xcode - a programmer-only tool - in the top lists, sounds like the store is mainly used by developers building apps for the store itself.
     
  5. Syndicated Puzzles

    Syndicated Puzzles Well-Known Member

    #5 Syndicated Puzzles, May 13, 2012
    Last edited: May 13, 2012
    More time consuming!

    For us the real difference between IOS and OSX is the time factor. Everything takes a lot more time and energy on the OSX platform. We are still trying figure out why? Usually we are able to build an app quickly (framework) but to get that app to do exactly what we want is really tough on the Mac platform. (especially on multiple devices with different screen sizes) That lid closing on the mac laptops is tough to deal with when you are building an alarm clock.

    Also a lot of the resources needed to build cool mac Apps just doesn't exist yet and developers are having to do the grunt work themselves. All this will get better with time.
     

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