Should good apps only ONLY be paid?

[X0LARIUM]

Was reminiscing my HD7 days again...

When I had my HD7, most of the apps were, I will be honest, paid. Now before you pull the trigger on me, let me explain something.

A. I am not against paying for an app.

B. But is it necessary that a good app SHOULD b paid? (WhatsApp, Flipboard)

C. Many people do consider this as a deal-breaker before buying a phone. (My boss is one of them, to an extent I'm too.)

D. By good app, I don't mean mind-blowing 3D games. But basic apps like the ones mentioned above.

Shouldn't MS, being MS make deals with other brands and give the buyer some relief?

Just a question. Opinions, view points, perspectives now welcome. :Z



Sent from my RaZr Nexus.

 

[X0LARIUM]

Not one reply?

Sent from my RaZr Nexus.

 

[palandri]

I understand what you are saying, but I have also seen the other side. I should really let an application developer respond to this.

I've seen threads by application developers saying they spent 200 hours developing an application, listed it as free, hoping to make money off the advertising and after 3 months they made $8.00.

I've also seen threads by application developers saying they spent 200 hours developing an application, listed it for $0.99 hoping to make money off of it and after 3 months, and all the others taking their cuts of the sale they made $24.00.

I quickly came to the conclusion that you won't become rich being an Application Developer.

 

[anodynamic]

Well, the market has to decide if an app is good or not. I will happily pay for an app if it's better than a free/ad-supported alternative.

I think there will be more free options in the future as the number of users grows. On Android and iOS there's so much more competition, so unless they have something really special developers don't have much choice other than making it free if they want to have the slightest chance of competing with existing apps.

 

[jimski]

In the Windows Mobile days it was not unusual to pay $19.95 to $29.95 for an app. Average price for paid apps (most were) was in the $6 range. I took the trouble to add it up once and realized I had spent about $700 on PPC/WM apps over the years. And yes, I did feel like I got my money's worth. Some of those apps were fantastic.

So it frustrates me to see people complain about spending $0.99 or $1.29 for a good, well supported app. Less than the cost of a candy bar that will be gone forever in about 3 minutes. I like free as much as anybody. But the reality is that in order for a developer to put his heart and soul into developing a great app, and then continuing to support it, he/she needs more than a thank you. USA Today doesn't need to charge for their app. But if you want to see indie developers excel be prepared to put up a couple bucks.

I have always made sure to buy a couple cups of coffee for every XDA developer who created a tweak or bug that helped me. Everyone should do the same. These guys don't drink out of golden chalices. They just need to be appreciated.

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[jmshub]

Not to mention, the cost of the handset and the plan for the term of a contract, what is a few bucks for a good, practical app?

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[X0LARIUM]

In the Windows Mobile days it was not unusual to pay $19.95 to $29.95 for an app. Average price for paid apps (most were) was in the $6 range. I took the trouble to add it up once and realized I had spent about $700 on PPC/WM apps over the years. And yes, I did feel like I got my money's worth. Some of those apps were fantastic.

So it frustrates me to see people complain about spending $0.99 or $1.29 for a good, well supported app. Less than the cost of a candy bar that will be gone forever in about 3 minutes. I like free as much as anybody. But the reality is that in order for a developer to put his heart and soul into developing a great app, and then continuing to support it, he/she needs more than a thank you. USA Today doesn't need to charge for their app. But if you want to see indie developers excel be prepared to put up a couple bucks.

I have always made sure to buy a couple cups of coffee for every XDA developer who created a tweak or bug that helped me. Everyone should do the same. These guys don't drink out of golden chalices. They just need to be appreciated.

Sent from my Lumia 900 using Board Express Pro

Just what I was looking for. I agree 100%. In fact, if I put myself in the devs shoes and think, it makes complete sense.

Thanx for your reply jimski. Much appreciated. And of course, the rest of the people too. Again, don't get me wrong. I just wanted to know your perspective on this.

Thanx!

 

[anodynamic]

As so often, The Oatmeal puts things in perspective (click image for the rest):

 

[X0LARIUM]

As so often, The Oatmeal puts things in perspective (click image for the rest):

[URL=http://s3.amazonaws.com/theoatmeal-img/comics/apps/1.png]Click to view quoted image
[/URL]

LOL!!!
Nice one...

 

[crystal_planet]

I have no problem with app prices for WPhones. When I first got mine I'd buy everything that tickled my fancy, only to delete them if I didn't like them. Now I usually try it for free and if I like it, I'll purchase it within an hour. Amazing Weather is 1.49 - a fantastic weather app that I'd easily pay twice that for.

The most expensive app I have is Mirror's Edge for 3.99 - a small price for a polished aesthetically pleasing game.

It's not like developers have an app making machine they just hit a button and fruit ninja comes out/

 

[1jaxstate1]

After putting in time to try and develop a app, I decided to close my dev account. I see too may people complaining about paying a buck for a app. To spend that small amount of money for something you would enjoy seems like a win win.

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[Reflexx]

As so often, The Oatmeal puts things in perspective (click image for the rest):

[URL="http://s3.amazonaws.com/theoatmeal-img/comics/apps/1.png"]Click to view quoted image
[/URL]

Thanks for that!

I saw that somewhere a while back, but couldn't remember where. And I couldn't find it anymore!

I actually think that apps and games are too cheap. Especially on the iPhone and Android. Devs have to eat too. It's also disheartening that someone could put their heart and soul into creating a reap quality product that people want and use, but still fail I'm turning a profit.

On the other hand, for many of these apps we're competing in a world market. There are devs that are just as passionate in 3rd world countries that can sustain themselves on a 99 cent app.

Heck, in some countries, the equivalent of 99 US cents really is an amount that people need to put a lot of thought into before purchasing.

 

[Scout_313]

If I come across a good app, I'll gladly pay $3 for it just to remove the ads (I actually wish all apps had a free and paid app because of this). I have absolutely no problem supporting the people who produce these apps and definitely don't condone piracy. If I like something enough to download it and leave it on my computer/phone, I'll fork out the money whether it's an MP3, ebook, app, etc.

 

[SnailUK]

While WP has comparitively low user numbers, in happy to pay to guarantee good apps.

If wp8 gets close to ios/android user numbers, then I expect prices to drop dramatically, and ad-support to become more of a viable option.

If prices don't change with user numbers, WP will just lose users.

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[anodynamic]

I actually think that apps and games are too cheap. Especially on the iPhone and Android. Devs have to eat too. It's also disheartening that someone could put their heart and soul into creating a reap quality product that people want and use, but still fail I'm turning a profit.

On the other hand, for many of these apps we're competing in a world market. There are devs that are just as passionate in 3rd world countries that can sustain themselves on a 99 cent app.

Heck, in some countries, the equivalent of 99 US cents really is an amount that people need to put a lot of thought into before purchasing.

In the WPCentral interview with the developer who made the Phonos app for Sonos audio systems there's some discussion of why he priced it at ?7.99, and I think all points are good.

One of my most recent non-game purchases was the premium version of an app called Relax Melodies (useful for someone with both tinnitus and noisy building ventilation). It has about 90 well made audio loops with various soothing music, noise and ambient sounds that you can mix as you want, and I paid the equivalent of $2.99 for it. It felt like very little money, both considering how well made the app is, and the fact that a plain old CD with ambient sounds (that can't be mixed by the user) probably costs at least five times as much at your typical local new age store.

But then again, if it hadn't been for the free version, which is this case was very generous and nag-free, I would probably never have seen the usefulness of the app.

 

[snowmutt]

I am with the majority. For instance, I happily paid for the WP Central app. I enjoy it. But I spend more time on the forums than on the actual site, and the forums are not included on the app. If they can't get the forums to ever work with the app, but put it as it's own I will happily pay for that as well.

I paid for a bill minder app, several games, and a few other goodies. And if the free apps all came with an option to opt out of the ads for a small fee like a few suggested, the would make a couple more bucks off of me as well. (By the way, I click on an add every once in a while on my favorite free apps just to support the devs.)

 

[GoodThings2Life]

When I get an app... I don't care about the price. I care about the quality of the app. I actually DO the trial periods before deciding whether to buy, and if I really like it, I'd rather opt for the ad-free paid version than the free version.

Don't get me wrong, I love free apps too... if they're high quality. Given a choice, though, I'd rather pay for AmazingWeather than use the Weather Channel app. I think the app is faster and better designed. On the other hand, IMDb is free, and it's one of the best apps I've ever seen... it's better than the web site and every other mobile app that IMDb makes.

I think developers deserve to be compensated for their efforts, and I refuse to be a cheapskate.

 

[freestaterocker]

Every add-supported app should have a paid ads free, cuz those ads are battery hogs! Especially games. I can play fruit ninja longer on a charge than Wordament, and I would gladly pay a nominal fee to lose the ads.

 

[Jay Bennett]

Snowmutt, our app will have forum integration included in the price you already paid (although I do admit all the time it's taking to develop it seem a little less worth it - I'll just focus on doing it for our community!) in fact this response comes from an alpha build of the app

I'm really glad to see the way this discussion is going, developers won't write things for free forever, support by purchasing apps keeps developers coming back!

 

[palandri]

When I get an app... I don't care about the price. I care about the quality of the app. I actually DO the trial periods before deciding whether to buy, and if I really like it, I'd rather opt for the ad-free paid version than the free version.

Don't get me wrong, I love free apps too... if they're high quality. Given a choice, though, I'd rather pay for AmazingWeather than use the Weather Channel app. I think the app is faster and better designed. On the other hand, IMDb is free, and it's one of the best apps I've ever seen... it's better than the web site and every other mobile app that IMDb makes.

I think developers deserve to be compensated for their efforts, and I refuse to be a cheapskate.

Good points!

Since I still have a Nokia N8 with Symbian^3 I am always checking out the reviews of the Symbian applications. One of the most expensive Symbian applications is called Gravity, it's $9.99 and it's just basically a Twitter/Facebook application, but people love it and buy it. mobileways.de ? Gravity - The S60 Twitter Client

It must be a good application, but I am not into the whole social networking scene.