Camera+ hits 2 million sales / Revealing details about in-app purchase sales | Hacker News Reader

Camera+ hits 2 million sales / Revealing details about in-app purchase sales

taptaptap.com

40 pointssahillavingia12 comments

Clealy not the norm. But it's nice to see some hard numbers. I think if you're in the top 25 apps in any particular category you're probably doing pretty well (exception being some of the lesser visited categories).

That said, I believe it's incredibly difficult to get yourself into a position where you're really making a solid income from your app on the App Store. With so many apps vying for attention you truly need to make your app unique and extremely solid or you risk being forgotten or never seen.

I think the best way to gain momentum is to be the type of app that can be advertised via word of mouth. I don't think I've ever seen Camera+ advertised anywhere (my memory isn't that great so maybe I have seen it) but the word of mouth in various forum posts is incredible. At least at the start this can really help. Once you have some traction and in the top 25 you get the benefit of some Apple advertising via the featured app section (hopefully) and sales take off a bit more for you.

I really think Android will never have this type of sales volume for paid apps. It is pretty incredible what Apple has done with the App Store, and what developers have done with it.

You're right: they don't do conventional advertising anymore. Here's a blog about their strategy: http://taptaptap.com/blog/kill-yr-ads-the-donts-of-iphone-ap...

Also, look at those Daring Fireball prices in that blog post! I'm jealous.

I put my first In-App purchases into my app, which went live last Friday. They let you upgrade the app to be identical to the premium version. (Or you can just update the pieces you want)

I have sold ZERO In-App purchases so far, despite my downloads of the free version still going very strong.

Perhaps I've done something terribly wrong...

Due the generally-scummy nature of the majority of in-app purchasing apps I've run across, I've personally disabled in-app purchasing. I also generally recommend the same to others (particularly those with children), and I'm pretty sure I'm not alone in this.

I would absolutely rather buy a separate paid version than pay in-app to upgrade a 'lite' version.

Agreed.

Apple lets you choose between Non-Consumable (feature unlocks, pay once, can redownload, etc. The one you are probably expecting), or Consumable (pay each time, like virtual currency / smurf berries).

Yet, there is NO WAY for the end user to know what it is until he tries to buy it a second time. (I actually could be wrong on this, since I haven't tried buying a Consumable IAP)

Apple should really not be approving apps that have Consumable IAP that looks like Non-Consumable.

My apps only use the Non-Consumable.

I'd liken the current state of Apps, both Android and iOS to 1998-era PC/internet maturity, with annoying ads everywhere, popups flying at you every click, games that interrupt you with non-closable advertising screens, low quality shareware or shovelware feel, etc.

I think these practices are only hurting themselves, as I'm pretty adverse to downloading an advertisement that might deliver the app functionality promised nowadays. My Android phone has maybe a half-dozen apps installed that aren't published by Google. I've only had an iPad for a week, but it hasn't faired much better.

> "I've only had an iPad for a week, but it hasn't faired much better."

I can't say I've ever noticed the experience you're describing on iOS. Not even with "Lite" apps.

Try downloading a calculator for the iPad.

Edit: Another annoying practice, I purchased Angry Birds Seasons for the iPad, yet it still has giant in-app advertising for Bing between levels, that if you accidentally click it, it will try to change your Safari search provider.

PCalc is absolutely wonderful, both the Lite version and the paid version, and the Lite version has no banners, only an option in the settings to upgrade.

It's the second free calculator in my search results when I search for "calculator".

Discoverability is not great but there are plenty of awesome apps on the App Store, some free but you have to be willing to pay if you want quality.

I'm curious: How are you presenting the upgrade option to users?

(The most recent version of my app which includes in-app purchases has been submitted for review, but hasn't gone live yet. Otherwise I would report on my experience.)

It depends what your app is doing. Camera+ is a very solid product with real useful functionality. It's not like those games for 3 years old like when you are making cakes, and can buy colored candies to decorate it in-app. ;-)

That huge jump in weekly sales starting in 2/14 seems to line-up with the iPhone 4 release on Verizon. If that launch was a main driver for Camera+ sales, the magnitude is impressive.

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