I estimate 90% of the people who use my app have pirated it. That is based on server communication with the app that would not be easily duplicated by outside sources like Google crawlers. There is some margin of error: Each purchased copy is able to be installed on up to five devices, for example. But I find it to be still fairly telling.

What is more interesting is that I noticed a dramatic drop in sales when it started to be distributed on the pirate websites. I'm not quite sure what to make of that, but it does give some indication that piracy did affect me.

For what it is worth, my app appeals to the geek crowd. From the data I have been able to acquire, I would say the majority of my users, including legitimate ones, are running jailbroken devices. That may help skew the piracy rates towards the higher end.

Ultimately, I'm not worried about it. I wasn't banking my livelihood on the success of the app. It has made enough money to recoup my time investment, which is an added bonus. I do feel for the users who did pay for my app, however. I do feel that piracy has prevented me from spending more time making the product better for them. That is the real unfortunate side.