Show HN: Monster Coloring Book, my first App just launched. What do you think?
monstercoloringbook.com
monstercoloringbook.com
Instead of asking for money upfront, you should give the app for free with a few sample monsters. Then you can provide the full package with in-app purchase. The logic behind it is that it will be easier to convince the parents to pay for it, after their kids love it. Another reason - with a $2.99 price point, it will be hard for you to hit the top list, which has the most influence on your sales. But you could charge that in an in-app purchase without affecting your listing in the free apps.
If you decide to do it, make sure to ask the user to upgrade in strategic locations (For example, after they launch it several times, after they finish all the paintings, etc.)
Good luck!
As I said in another comment, while I do not like to say "no" to my kid, I really hate him being used as a pressure point for milking parents for IAP money. If your app is respectful towards the parents, I will gladly pay you and probably more than you think.
Here is a video of my daughter playing the Racing Penguin - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qaF6dPiJ-NM
She went through the free version in a zippy and kept playing it over and over again. I took her iPad, disable Restriction and bought the paid version.
Also, when we've tried a premium-only approach our apps have been made available for jailbroken devices within a couple of weeks, with little chance to directly monetize these pirated free copies of our apps. See, for example: http://theikidsblog.com/blog/2010/11/30/arr-there-be-pirates...
This time around our approach was to build a premium product, price it accordingly and let people try it out via the free version. It's hard to know what the best way to handle it is - but that's definitely part of the fun of the wild west of mobile apps these days..and as I mentioned in an earlier comment, the freemium model seems to have a lot of traction..
With regards to the app (the paid version of it) - it looks promising, but the test subject is napping. Three things though -
(a) the app is lagging heavily on iPad 1. For example, clicking on the ? icon scrolls the page up in jerky increments, it looks like the app is really struggling.
(b) the music selection is a no-go. For one, I doubt the classics will fly with my kid, and for two - it will most certainly annoy the hell out of my wife and myself.
(c) the "purchase more" hooks - I appreciate why you have them, but as a rule of thumb I will do my best to avoid any apps that have in-app purchases. Having for-a-fee options always leads to "what is that?", "why can't I press this button?" and so on and on. This is a not so subtle form of parent arms' twisting by an app developer and I as a parent passionately hate it.
On a more constructive note regarding (c) - add a single option in a config menu "hide all related to real money" or let me buy ALL you optionals at once (full unlock) or explain exactly how the accumulation of monsterbucks works. Nothing else would do. Let me reiterate how I really really don't like my child being used as a leverage for milking me for follow-up purchases.
Regarding:
a) Performance. Very disappointing to hear that you are experiencing lag. We did extensive device testing on iPad 1, and while we can't get the app to perform like it does on iPad 2 (SJ wasn't kidding about 7x graphical performance on the iPad 2), we did think we had gotten it to a stable, smooth operating state for the original iPad. Sounds like that's not the case for you. Would you be willing to let us know whether you downloaded the free or the paid version? And what version of iOS are you running? We'd love to address any issues you're seeing, but any further info you can provide is very helpful for any fine tuning.
b) Music. It's a funny thing, very much a matter of taste. My kids (age 2,4) love the music. In fact, the three of us had a huge dance party to the Brahms piece from the app to celebrate launch. Sorry it's not your thing. We would have loved to include some music from Philip Glass, but we couldn't work out the licensing. Any suggestions on what you would like to hear?
c) In-App Purchase. Very familiary with your sentiment regarding IAP. That said, the freemium model seems here to stay - see for example: http://blog.flurry.com/bid/67748/Consumers-Spend-Average-of-... And while there is a (vocal) group of folks that don't like this model, there are lots of people out there that are OK with it - and this is the market we've chosen to serve, in part because they pay. That said, for those parents out there that really dislike IAP, Apple does offer the ability to disable it from the device settings. This was enough for us, but if we continue to get this kind of feedback, we can relook at it.
Finally, I'm assuming that you don't go to carnivals, stores, malls, or anywhere else with your kids where they might be tempted to ask you for more of something that they like? Sorry for the snark with this last comment, but it's hard to hear complaints about asking for money for our hard work as anything other than a devaluation of the work itself. Parents don't blink at 19.99 for a new Lightning McQueen toy, but asking for half that amount for something of significantly greater entertainment value via IAP is somehow wrong? I struggle to get my head around that. But perhaps more of the community here can help me make sense of that POV?
Again, thanks for all the feedback, both positive and negative. Take my response with a grain of salt - there's a good chunk of my blood, sweat and tears in this baby..hard to detach from the criticism..
For one, I am not one of these parents. For two, Lightning McQueen toy is not sitting in a middle of my living room. Feel the difference, as they say.
On a tangential note - I am willing to pay $15-20 for your app if it comes with no strings attached. Would this be worth a try for you? Package it as "Deluxe" edition and see how it goes. You might be surprised how many people hate in-app purchase model (which is not a freemium by the way, it's more of a much despised trialware).
Once the dust of launch settles, we'll very likely revisit this suggestion. Our aim is to get our content in the hands of kids (of all ages!) that will enjoy it...and to make enough money to keep doing what we're doing. Your suggestion is perfectly compatible with that.
As for LMQ not being in your living room...well he is in mine. He's on my TV, in the drive-thru, everywhere...I understand your point, but my point is that I think that IAP is uniquely villainized for doing something very similar to what a lot of other industries have been doing for awhile - building on a branded experience and trying to make money by delivering additional value. But again, you are right - many people share your take, and a deluxe version could help to serve that crowd.
Thanks again for taking the time to share your thoughts on the app and related issues. Very helpful.
With that in mind, I would also suggest that you provide a way to earn monster bucks for free, through offerwalls. Disclaimer and shameless self-promotion: I work for Tapjoy, that does this: https://www.tapjoy.com
I don't mind purchasing additional content in a premium app. If the app is good value by itself then additional sets for $3 a pop is fine. But I don't want my kids to see this option - as far as they are concerned, the app has what it has, and extra books appear magically from time to time.
The flavour the site's design adds is excellent. Major props for that.
I think it'd be cool if the background was `position: fixed;`.
I also really like the social aspect on the site ("Super awesome monsters created by our community."). I think a "monster of the day" would be an excellent way to get people motivated and involved (as sort of a competition).
Judging from the video, there doesn't seem to be an undo button in the app. Seems like one should be there.
Sadly, the site loaded slowly for me (~15 seconds; I'm on a low-bandwidth connection), and in that time, things were shifting position and some text was unreadable.
Undo isn't in the app right now but it's on the list for a future update.
It would be great to have a baby mode, where tapping the screen did a random coloring, and maybe played a sound.
My daughter isn't two yet, but she really likes to swipe at photos and make them go from side to side.
To pay HN back for all the feedback and buzz, consider writing up a blog post about the process, and how sales and marketing go. I, at least, would love to read about it and learn from your experience.
- let the kids record a "sound" to go with the monster
- a "hairy" brush set.
Mess is good! :D But it looks fun and the monsters are nice.
Tip: increase the contrast of your navigation items. My parents/grandparents can't read that too well.
Also: maybe aim your pitch at the user instead of the parent a bit more.
Maybe your intended audience isn't little kids, but if it is you should make the UI simpler and not require reading skills.
Are you planning other colouring books? Some parents may not want their kids colouring in monsters and may prefer other types of colouring in.
Little girls might want to colour in princesses with lots and lots of pink...
Are you going to focus on monsters forever or are you going to expand it?
The only suggestion I could offer is to make the text in the help sections a little larger. On this non-retina display, it is hard to read.
eta: it was patterns, not stickers.
I would be worried to use that name though.
I wouldn't change the name of your product based on these lawsuits, though.
Is this an iOS app, i.e. written in Objective-C? Or is this a web app, written in HTML5, JS & CSS?