Should Nestio have a free or paid iphone app?
blog.nestio.com
blog.nestio.com
>Free/Paid/Upgrade Combo
>This has been broken down really well by others, but just to reiterate, there is little overlap in user bases, as they rarely ever upgrade. We’d also be forced to maintain two versions of the app. Meh.
Your "being forced to maintain two versions" is a build flag with a #ifdef. It's an easy peasy two versions.
In-app purchase is the way to go.
I would argue that it really depends on how many places you need to put the #ifdefs to see if it is worth the added complexity.
>It's a bit more complex than a simple #ifdef.
Yes, I know in app purchase is more complex than a simple ifdef. However the secondary version (the fully paid version with no in-app purchase) is just an ifdef from the in-app upgradeable one. You take out the ads and in-app registration code and voila, fully paid app.
(I know, I wrote said ifdef in an optionally upgradable app this week for a client).
Regardless, that additional work definitely could have the potential to be worth it if users typically tried out the free-app and then followed and upgrade path to the paid app. But after gathering some data from devs who have gone the two-app route, it looks like generally they don't. People who download the free app stick with the free app forever, whereas when you only have paid, a portion of the folks who would have downloaded the free app, are willing to pay when that's the only option.
It's two completely different audiences.
I've seen lots of people report "ignore paid, go free with in-app adds, especially ads you sell yourself or get through a non-commodity partner".
With what you're helping them find, I am surprised you can't get commissions from sales or the like instead to pay for your operation.
Additionally, it doesn't come anywhere near doubling the QA time to just add a second version, especially if you make the fully paid version use the code branches that a person who buys the free version and completely upgrades gets. The rest of the stuff definitely does double.
Also: 99/1.99 are horrible price points to fight at, especially 99 cents. For games, perhaps, but not for real apps. While your demand curve is as different as anyone else's, you may want to try a higher price point then occasionally drop it for promotions.
What other app offers this service? Apartments.com app is pretty weak. Any others I'm unaware of?
Nestio may be a nascent company with plenty of room for more features (I hate the copy+paste URL workflow, I wanna search right in Nestio!), but the features this app will offer are worth money, and should be treated as such by the company. At least try to cover the cost of developing the app itself, if nothing else.