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Comment by hpen | Hacker News Reader

This is cool I was ready to try it! Then I saw it wasn't free :( I pay for lots of apps but this doesn't seem worth it to me.

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I'm just thrilled there is a time-limited trial and that the purchase is one-time.

Based on how iOS usually goes, I anticipated being disappointed by a "just a cup of coffee every quad-fortnight" subscription of $3.99/56 days or the like.

I'm an indie developer, and the $7.99 lifetime license purchase sustains Batteries' development.

> sustains Batteries' development

What future development needs to be sustained? I developed a similarly-sized app back in the days of Snow Leopard and I’ve not really needed to do much maintenance to keep it going. An hour at most every major OS X version and that was mostly just updating dependencies and recompiling. That’s less time than I spend scrolling HN so I couldn’t justify charging for it.

New features (tracking other Mac batteries as well, better Apple Watch support), bug fixes, supporting new devices (Logitech, and new Apple devices), localization into new languages.

You’d be surprised!

nah they're definitely done introducing new products and/or changing the way their devices communicate.

I see this as a case not to charge a subscription, but I don't see why that should stop him from charging out right. My comment before was more about marketing, and reaching maximum people than doing what was justifiable.

I do respect that. And if you find people paying for it then I say keep at it! I definitely think it is a neat app, but I just didn't see the value proposition personally. Others probably do. I know the macOS software market is usually higher priced than iOS and others.

Thats just my reaction and I wanted to give my feedback.

As a side note: I'm trying to break into the iOS/macOS dev market, do you mind sharing if you make all of your income from indie development? And how long have you been at it?

The balls you have to say your app is too expensive... THEN ask for help as you try and become and indie developer on same platform!

Nah I wouldn't go indie. Just curious if he really is able to make a living off one-off $8 apps. I doubt it really. BTW it's called feedback.

This is so offensive. Why reply? $7.99 is too much for you? Then don't buy it. God forbid someone try and recoup their Apple Developer Program annual fee.

This isn't offensive. That's ridiculous to say. My entire reply was to give feedback, I didn't ask him to lower his price, or give it to me for free. There is lots of software I will use if it is free, and lots I will pay for. I was just speaking my thoughts the value added by such an app.

You don't get to choose whether or not it sounded offensive to someone. It's just trashy. Then you ask the guy for advice.

Sure you have your opinion but without bringing some level of objectivity to the conversation, it really doesn't mean much. Have you developed a product on your own before? When I have I am usually DYING for feedback of all kinds. Typically that's why people put things on hacker news.

For others who might be curious, here's how you break into the app dev market: 1. Dev an app.* 2. Market it.

* abbreviated for clarity

You forgot the part where you fail to make any money and then get a job with new skills a big tech haha

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