My Experience in the Educational Apps Market – 2013 report | Hacker News Reader

My Experience in the Educational Apps Market – 2013 report

blog.lescapadou.com

329 pointsPierreA80 comments

Hey Pierre,

Thank you for this post. First, because I use your apps with my kids and they love them. Almost certainly one of the reasons your applications sell is because they are very good. It was recommended to me by a relative who is a teacher and I know she recommends it to others. These types of applications are the reason I purchased a tablet device: I am a very stingy person, but if a tool will engage my children in learning, I am happy to separate with my cash. (we use the app with our kids together)

Second of all, it is just good to have this perspective on the market potential for a well made app. I'm disappointed about the Android market, I hope it improves.

Thanks ! Yes it's not a secret that the best way to market app is word of mouth but the issue is really to get a large user base so that it works. Happy to read that you play with your kids with my apps - I'm always thinking about that when I do an app because it is very important for me.

Congratulations for you success!

Would you say that the most important reason of your success is you penetrated a relatively new market with a good product early, and it was easier to gain traction and build a large user base that you can now cross-promote your other apps?

Merci d'avoir partager l'histoire de ton succès. C'est toujours inspirant et surtout éducatif ;)

Bonne continuation!

Yes I would say that.

Merci!

I've been fairly high up in the iPad photo category since August 2010 and I'd agree. It's much harder to gain traction now.

> I'm disappointed about the Android market, I hope it improves.

Based on some research that I have done, iOS revenue is about 2:1 for phone apps, with the gap closing quickly. If the app has strong international appeal, it is probably closer to parity. For tablet apps, iOS has something like a 10:1 revenue advantage.

I wouldn't write off Android if the app is designed to be used on phones, but for tablet apps, it is currently a waste of time for most indie devs.

That being said, this type of software is completely evergreen. You can't reach saturation because there are always new kids and new parents searching for apps. It is conceivable you could launch an Android app, make $10k this year, but then the app earns $100k five years from now.

The bigger problem is other devs poisoning the well with high quality free apps. Which is why I believe this type of post is a mistake if maximizing income is your priority. This type of post is an invitation for talentless hacks to hire people from elance to clone your app. All it takes is someone to figure out how to game the app store rankings better than you. I could probably pay $40k to clone an app, with the twist that modules are unlocked if you rate the app, and then out rank Pierre's apps.

Nice feedback on Android market (yes the issue is that I sold mostly on tablet). I don't agree about cloning - what is difficult is to have a good/large user base and being featured. Cloning will not help you a lot for that. Gaming the app store (at least the ios app store) is not easy at all (or very expensive and not applicable for this kind of app). I don't think the trick you describe would work.

for what it's worth, i wanted to buy your crosswords on android, but your version there is incredibly dumbed down. I finally got an old ipad a few months ago so finally bought it there.

So is there some way to unlock an iOS app if you give it a rating?

No. But you can fake it with annoying popovers, e.g. always show the nag popup until they touch "rate it".

It's more like 1.5x difference now according to Distimo:

> Apple still has the most lucrative app store, with Distimo estimating that on a typical day in November 2013, global revenues for the 200 top grossing iOS apps were more than $18m. That compares to $12m for Android's Google Play store, although the report notes that a year ago, the respective figures were $15m and $3.5m. The gap is narrowing.

http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2013/dec/18/android-io...

These numbers are heavily skewed by the fact that the Top 200 on both iOS and Android are dominated by IAP based games. E.g. Candy Crush Saga and Clash of Clans are not significantly different on iOS vs Android, and that is where the narrowing gap is coming from.

But for independent app developers (particularly those making paid apps), the numbers that I've seen from many folks (and also from personal experience) are strongly weighted towards iOS. Every single developer I've talked to who has released an app on iOS and Android has come to the same conclusion: Android users simply don't pay for apps.

Almost certainly one of the reasons your applications sell is because they are very good.

This is HUGE for the educational market. With all the word of mouth that goes on, it's important to do something good. All the tweaking of pricing and viral strategies doesn't help if the core app isn't good.

Thank you for the GOOD software Pierre.

Hi Pierre, competitor here :) As to your query about

Perhaps a good alternative is to create two apps: one free with IAP and one paid (but I don't know if Apple is still OK with this).

We do this with our primary education maths apps[1], one version unlocked fully and paid (marketed as 'for schools') and one with a certain amount of content free and more unlock able with IAP. Apple have not had a problem with this.

[1] http://eurotalk.com/apps/en/age3-5/maths/

yes it is still an open question for me. There are many big brands that don't do this - why ? I think everybody is experimenting in kids'app world - it's not clear as in games where (consumable) IAP are very profitable.

I think it's mostly because it's harder to market two apps than one. From my experience (I'm also developing educational apps for kids), what makes an indie iOS app a success is more and more determined by Apple's decision to feature it, and going up in rankings. With two apps, it'll be twice harder to get in the top 10, and you'll have to choose between one of them to be featured.

Our Maths stuff has not been featured (not counting What's Hot, which is algorithmic as far as I can tell), yet it has hit top grossing in the category in a few major stores.

I'm wondering whether Apple will ever offer either: 1] a dedicated education app store, invisible to non-volume purchasers. 2] a mechanism for allowing volume purchases of in-app content.

And from what I've seen, the paid-IAP users' reviews get lost in the free reviews. You split your high-quality reviews (from people who like it well enough to pay) into two pools, and then poison one of them. Worse yet, since people tend to try free versions first, you're funneling a lot of people into the poisoned review pool.

Wow, thank you SO much for sharing these numbers. It seems to me a huge part of your success was due to you picking a niche (Montessori) with weak(ish) competition and making a high-quality product in that niche, would you agree with that assessment?

I think my luck is that I was here at the beginning of the /marketiPad. I was not thinking the market would grow so much. Using the Montessori name was not a big marketing plan actually (I was really dumb about marketing 3 years ago - just check the name of my company, it is really not good - especially for the US Market!). It was just because the concept was coming from a Montessori activites my homeschooled daughter was doing... Some people told me that it was a very good marketing to have used the Montessori name, and now I agree but at this time I didn't know that. My second app and 3rd app has no "Montessori" in the title because I don't want to use this name too much (perhaps I should because my work is always inspired by Montessori methods we use at home...) Anyway, picking a niche and sticking to it is definitively something important and that worked well for me. All my apps are in this niche. As a final note: when I release my first, there was almost no competition. The market was empty.

I'm not familiar with Montessori and the search results regarding what it is are confusing. Is it a company that produces educational products that haven't been "digitized" or a theory/method?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Montessori_education Now there is a lot of discussions on how this approach can be translated to touch devices because moving things in the real world is something important in the approach. But most of Montessori people thinks that it is just another tool that can be useful (I think that too - it is just another tool) and there are certified Montessori teachers (I'm not) that are doing apps, and a lot of teachers told me that they love my apps

It's not a company, it's a teaching method/movement. The word Montessori is the name of it's originator (died 1952,) and it is used freely by anyone who uses the method:

In 1967, the US Patent Trademark Trial and Appeal Board ruled that "the term 'Montessori' has a generic and/or descriptive significance."[24] Therefore, in the United States and elsewhere, the term can be used freely without giving any guarantee of how closely, if at all, a program applies Montessori's work. The ruling has led to "tremendous variation in schools claiming to use Maria Montessori’s methods."[25]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Montessori_method#Use_of_Monte...

Some states have additional regulations on who can call themselves "Montessori". For example, Maryland requires schools using the name "Montessori" to be approved by a "Montessori Validating Organization" that the state recognizes.

http://www.marylandpublicschools.org/msde/nonpublicschools/m...

I went to a Montessori school from about age 3-5. The classroom was organized into stations. It was a bit like doing a workout circuit going from machine to machine, but the stations were educational.

Some of the activities I remember are:

- Pouring water from a pitcher into cups.

- Learning to tie shoes. There was a frame with laces, where you would tie the knots 5 times.

- Learning modular division - The teacher would ask what is 25/7, and you would have a bead board and a sack of beads and discover the answer is 3 R4

- Ordering tuning forks by pitch

- Reading station

Let me know if you have questions (I'm the lucky indie dev who wrote the post)

Aren't you afraid that by posting this you are going to attract a lot of unwelcome competition?

I bet they already have plenty of it.

actually I've done this report in 2011 and 2012, and at this time this was really a good question because there was not so much competion. Nowadays as maxerison unerlined, there is a lot of competition (and I'm happy to still have a good visibility). I was even wondering if it was interesting to publish my report this year (I mean not only for my ego) but several devs told me that it was inspirational and give them energy to read such posts...

PierreA, it was indeed inspirational. Partly because you're immensely talented. It's easy to make utilities with programming chops. But you made something so much more, you made an artistic, learning, _EXPERIENCE_. Kudos Pierre, your apps are super high quality and the colors are just blooming, very fun stuff, even for an adult like me to just mess around and watch the pretty colors fly around, or the ball physics. Cheers mate.

Thanks - it's just because I'm still a kid somehow, so I like it to be fun for kids like me ;-) For the UX, I worked in this field so I've got some experience/feeling/theoric knowledge in this field. Pedagogy knowledge comes from having homeschooled kids - you need to learn (and also you experience) how kids learn the best way.

I'm glad you chose to publish the report, as even skimming it (will read thoroughly later) I found it really useful. It is great to see some real-world figures about what app makers are able to earn.

Oh wow, now that I actually hit the article, I remember at least one of the previous articles! Congrats, glad to see this is still going strong!

If you'll only spend your time working on a product for some niche that no one has found, you'll end up with nothing. Competition is inevitable, so it's best to face it and never fear it.

Yes its a fundamental precept of any new business idea that existing competition validates the idea, it doesn't shoot it down.

Well I work in a niche with lots of competition, some of it strong, some not so strong. I'm not convinced that I'd want more of it though.

It wouldn't matter. He's got the ball rolling & momentum + brand recognition. It would take as long if not longer for a newbie to try & copy his methods. Even if they do, it doesn't mean you'll succeed or even persist through adversity.

No questions - but a thank you, as I'm one of the people who has given you money.

Your apps, if nothing else, are an excellent way to distract our kid if we go out for dinner :)

I just want to give you a nod of appreciation. It takes a lot to put yourself out there like this consistently. Thanks.

Two of your apps mention Montessori by name, which makes me wonder how often you are criticized for using her name in vain?

My wife is a Montessori teacher and would flip her shit if a parent ever substituted the real montessori numbers/letters (usually sand paper letters) for an app. Montessori would've surely been incredibly against an app for children young enough to learn anything from sand paper letters.

It is a big discussion in the Montessori community. Some montessorian love my apps, some wants kids to play only with wood objects... Nobody knows what would think Maria Montessori but since she was an innovator, I think she would be open-minded and uses all the tools that can help kids to learn. If you check my last app about tracing letters, the sense of touch coming from the sand paper has been replaced with sound (another sense). Anyway, I say it again: the iPad is just another tool, it does not replace all the existing materials.

Would you recommend a technical person to create the apps (design & coding) themselves or outsource it? You're giving up a little bit of control but you may be able to get more done faster Thoughts??

it really depends on your skills. Coding is one thing. Designing is another and graphics and third one. If you are weak in one, you should get help... I'm good in coding and designing but I'm not so good in graphics and for some graphical tasks I outsource, and always ask for feedback about the graphics I do. Of course I forget a very important one skill : marketing !

Very true. I'm decent at coding but not so good with designing & graphics (so I have no problem outsourcing that). I've also spent a LOT of time over the past few years building up my marketing skills. So I hope to divide & conquer. Thanks for the feedback!

What's the breakdown in iOS versions you have to support? I imagine educational buyers probably aren't picking up the latest and greatest hardware.

I support all ios device (but you need at least ios5.1).

Nice this is awesome I dabbled in iOS dev one summer but my simple apps looked horrible. If you can find something that targets children the parents will buy. When I worked in a restaurant you wont believe how many parents would just give the kid an iPad/iPhone so they would calm down, worked immediately.

Kudos for making an app that actually has the kids learning instead of some trippy cartoon to watch.

2.99 is a good price to pay for a decent app any more and I probably would look for something else, the days of .99 across the board are long gone.

Seems like bad/lazy parenting, but hey.. good for our industry.

Let's say that you can't always play with your kids, so sometimes it's nice that they have some toys to play with...By the way, my kids are just around with friends and they are playing with.. Playmobil (whereas there 5 ipads available)

Yes some cases it was bad/lazy parenting. A few times I saw whole families that would each have their own tablet with minimal interaction with each other.

But those were extremes most families would take away the tablet during the meal or after. Kids tend to get crazy in anticipation of the food, the tablet calmed them.

Are those revenue numbers before or after Apple takes their cut? Either way, it's very impressive, but at one point the $1M is listed as "sales" and another it is labelled "profit".

yes it is after Apple cut. Sorry for my bad english - I should use profit I believe. I've got a little bit of expense but not much since I work alone and from home. I just have some royalties to give back to a text to speech engine for one of my app (I think it is around 30/40K for all my expense for 2013)

Very impressive. Thank you for your response and overall transparency!

Do you see yourself expanding to other app niches outside of education?

No.It would be very hard to succeed, I believe. My brand is only known in the educational space. But sometimes I really like to create a game :-)

PierreA, jcampbell1 said you are immensely talented and he meant the app you created. I agree with that but there is one more thing to that, and that is the way you use English. I suppose English is your second language (so is mine) but how clearly you express yourself and what a pleasure it is to read your blog confirms that you're a super talented guy.

Thanks ! According to my wife who is english to french translator - which helps me a lot to check my writing - my english is not so good ;-) But I believe it is enough to explain clearly what I want to say

Great find, I will try out your apps with my daughter. Congratulations on your success. Escpacially since I never saw theses apps promoted on the app store. Bonne continuation.

all my apps were promoted on the app store (thanks Apple to help some indie!) but apps doesn't stay for long featured (competition!)

Also liked on facebook. Finding quality (educational)(french) apps is a pain in the derche on the app store. I have already installed/uninstalled dozen of crappy apps. I think there is also room in the web or traditional french medias for success stories like yours. Did you get some exposition?

France is strange. I've got articles in NYT but never in french major medias. Recently, I've got more exposure in the US App Store than in the french app store... Perhaps I don't know the right person (or big medias are not interested in apps for kids ?) - or I just need a french PR

Hi Pierre, thanks for your new inspirational article and your previous one. I have 3 kids and attempted the educational apps market 2 years ago, I didn't have nearly as much success as you. My games are not pure education either, so maybe that's my issue, but they are more educational than my competitors. Do you have any specific advice for my situation? Congrats to you!

http://www.littlefivegames.com

kid's game market (not "purely" educational) is more competitive, and you have to fight with big players like toca boca/disney/nickelodeon. So you have to innovate even more. I've seen great apps disapearing from the charts in 2 weeks. Did you try free with not consumable IAP ? Did you try to work on your keywords ?

I have my top two games Wood Puzzler and Exotic Pet Puzzler in the education category, they are geared towards learning the alphabet and have lots of extras. I recently tried keyword stuffing the title as I've seen others doing, but it hasn't had any affect. Both those games have paid and free-with-IAP, which works well. My most recent game below, we've done tons of free/paid marketing and cannot penetrate at all, maybe 1-3 sales per day. Thanks again.

https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/exotic-pet-puzzler/id7178059...

This further proves the lack of decent apps in the educational market. I am glad this worked out well for your PierreA, congratulations.

thanks - but I don't think it is the case anymore. There are indie,big publishers, funded startups that are doing great stuff (some have based their business model on my previous reports!!). As I've said, when the iPad was released nobody thought that the iPad could be useful for education and that there will be iPads in a lot of schools...

Pierre, thanks for the great post. I have one question for you:

I've heard that the download:rating ratio for iOS apps is around 30:1 and you can, therefore, estimate an app's downloads by multiplying ratings by 30. Do you have any thoughts on this?

You seem to have a higher ratio based on your numbers and the ratings in the app store.

Thanks again.

I've never heard about this. Some apps have a lot of "fake" 5-stars rating and are not performing very well...

I think the ratio for at least free apps that don't pop up a request to review the app is MUCH higher. It is at least for my small scale app.

I don't have any fake reviews (although there might be two or three from friends and family) and while I don't have metrics for the number in active use the number of updates downloaded on a recent update was 130 times the number of reviews I have and the total number of downloads is well over 400 times the review count.

Review counts and download numbers global. A user generally only sees the reviews in their own country's app store I think.

I really don't want to do it to the user experience but I might have add a pop up requesting rating when a user has used the app enough, I've only had a couple of reviews in the past few months.

A local school recently voted to introduce iPads into schools. Immediately following the vote, there was a huge backlash from the parents about why the school thought it was a great idea to give a platform for messaging and gaming to their kids.

I wish more parents and educators actually understood the benefit and potential of computers in classrooms. Thank you for helping the cause in a huge way!

The issue in schools is that older kids are smarter that the teachers and can fool them to do what they want on the iPad Or simply they can the hack the device to do what they want - there was a big story in LA schools about this - but I believe it is learning as well no ? I remember I learnt a lot about security and Unix when I was hacking the network of my university 20 years ago :-)

Maybe they should give iPads to the teachers, too ;)

A school system in my area did it and got a lot more support, but had to stop for now because the kids broke so many of the iPads.

Thank you for the post, Pierre. It is very rare such figures appear for to be viewed by average Joe. As one can see the consumer market is very much biased towards the US. Is it because of marketing or because EU markets are so small? Is Russia relevant as an app market?

If you put all EU markets together I think you've got something as big as the US (although one would need some figures to prove that). Now the issue is that you need to market in each country and in a different language. In addition, it is very complex to localize an if you do a literacy app - language, culture, way of learning, testing with teacher, etc... I don't know the size of the Russia market but I think it is the 10th if I remember well just after France (also to check on reports like Distimo's)

Thank you very much. If you are interested to localise for Russia, let me know.

which text to speech engine did you used? or is it your own?

it's Acapela. it's impossible to build your own text to speech engine if you want quality - it's years of R&D to have a very good one.

Félicitations! Funny we almost have the same username here :)

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