Part-time apps developers getting rich

http://9to5mac.com/iphone-apps-developers-rich

by asp742 • 18 years ago

90 50 18 years ago

chris_l3• 18 years ago

Can anyone with more iPhone dev experience comment on how realistic that one opinion is? What apps are you still missing for the iPhone? :)

aditya• 18 years ago

I don't think it's a question of which apps are still missing. The iPhone platform (to abuse a much abused word) is pretty much in the same spot as the Facebook one was last year.

This means that even though the early apps will have a definite advantage, there will always be an opportunity to make a 'better' tip calculator (contrived example) and new opportunities will open up as the platform matures.

IMHO, iPhone apps are a much bigger deal than facebook apps since all the latter seem to do these days is clutter your profile and make you waste time.

So, honestly, go out there, 1. find a problem (like mass transit directions) 2. solve it with an iPhone app. 3. PROFIT !!!

chris_l3• 18 years ago

Thanks, that sounds interesting.

> like mass transit directions

The problem with that is the (potential) specificity for a town, which dilutes the user numbers. I'm not sure how many I could get here in Munich where I can test it on a daily basis. Any New Yorkers have ideas for how such a service should work for their city?

cubicle672• 18 years ago

The game I'm making has a target market of me. I'm building a game I'd like to play of the bus on the way to work.

I'm a big fan of the really slick side-scrolling shooters (think R-Type), but my biggest influence for this is my favourite Vic=20 game, Astroblitz. It's also a good excuse for me to get my pencils out and get some artwork happening - something else I used to love doing but haven't for years.

So, my motivation is pretty personal, and if it turns out anyone else likes my game too, that's a (quite nice) bonus.

wmeredith2• 18 years ago

This is truly the only path to happiness.

DenisM5• 18 years ago

You can always find someone who does well and make a news article out of it. I didn't do nearly as well. :) My take on it is that you can succeed in the following ways:

1. Have an already established brand in other platforms

2. Be first in some area (too late now)

3. Somehow establish critical mass of users to have a lot of reviews/downloads. Lot's of reviews - top ratings - lts of eyeballs.

4. Have an app that people show to each other and thus make it popular (like a fun game).

5. Have some really unique features (they will get duplicated though)

For example, there is about a dozen apps for managing passwords (with encryption to protect against loss of the iphone). The three that have most reviews, and thus are most popular, are the ones that have estalished brands on Palm, Windows Mobile or Desktop Mac (eWallet, SplashId and 1Password). Others are lingering around (like my Memengo Wallet) with hardly any attention at all. I expect a race to the bottom with brand-names standing on their customer loyalty and thus selling for small sum aroud $3 while no-names will go for free.

Which brings me to the point I wanted to make here: writing software is easier than making people use it, even if Apple handles the sales transactions.

chris_l3• 18 years ago

"Technology gives you a shot at Marketing" - Seth Godin

tstegart7• 18 years ago

how much marketing and work are you doing outside of the App Store?

DenisM5• 18 years ago

None. I have put all my efforts to ship the app and was very exhausted by it. Now that it's out there I can start marketing, probably this weekend.

ashu4• 18 years ago

2. Be first in some area (too late now)

I don't think that will be true. Ever. You can always innovate.There are always new things to do. Or old things to do in new ways. Or so says the idealist in me.

But your other points are really good, especially the marketing one. Just making a very solid app isn't good enough for the iPhone platform. You need a carefully thought out marketing strategy.

Edit: I guess the marketing part is true about everything you do.

pchristensen• 18 years ago

I agree with the disagreement. Google was late to search, the iPod was late to mp3 players, the iPhone was late to smart phones, YC was late to investing, etc, etc, etc.

DenisM5• 18 years ago

There is limited amount of things which people look at for 1 second and say "oh, I get it". Most of these things are likely already represented. Things that require 5 seconds until the "I get it" moment will require some incentive to spend those 5 seconds - either sky-high ratings, friends advising, known brand etc.

Tichy2• 18 years ago

Of course you can still create an iPhone app that becomes a success. But I imagine on the first they, people were kind of hungry to try the new app store and their new iPhones. They would have bought just about anything (wasn't "Flashlight" in the top 10?). Once they have bought two or three games, how many more will they buy? So coming out with a cool game a couple of months later is a huge disadvantage.

13ren2• 18 years ago

5. Have some really unique features (they will get duplicated though)

Someone told me "You have limited time to make money". Does that time give you enough money? Or can you add another unique feature in that time? I'd like a business that lasts for all time - like coke/wrigley - but technology revolutions make it impossible. However, it is possible win one revolution...

Unmet demand is the incentive for copying - without oxygen, no competitor can beat you. Do you neglect, alienate or reject any market segment who wants/needs your product (including being too expensive)? Do any aspects of your product (including links in the chain of purchase) turn off customers?

For online software, lots of clever people can reverse engineer it; and customers can learn about it, trial it, adopt it and integrate with their lives/businesses. These are buffers, not "barriers to entry". It takes some time, but doesn't stop competitors - if there is unmet demand.

The best way to stop your competitors from serving your customers... is to serve your customers.

DenisM5• 18 years ago

In most of the iphone apps the set of needed features is small. Once users are satisfied with functionality they look for convenience and then price.

Features are not a sustainable advantage, only temporary.

pageman• 18 years ago

2. Be first in some area

- there's always a "blue ocean" where you can innovate - read up on The Intersection (The Medici Effect)

tstegart7• 18 years ago

I think you'll see a lot of people have success. Some of it will be because the App Store gets so many eyeballs, and some of it will be because people have established customer bases to sell to. But I think its still very possible to be very successful even if you're still building your application. You have to realize, that while some people are having a lot of success just by word of mouth and eyeballs, you can't depend on Apple to do it all. Get out there, promote your application, get word of mouth and your user base going, and make a solid app, and you can be up there with any of these applications. When two apps have comparable features and prices, it all comes down to who is doing the work outside the App Store.

icey2• 18 years ago

I'm still waiting to see the first iPhone mmog.

felideon2• 18 years ago

You mean Aurora Feint?

http://www.aurorafeint.com/

http://www.gizmodo.com.au/2008/07/iphone_apps_we_like_aurora...

ibsulon• 18 years ago

I like aurora, but unless there's something since I last updated it's just a mediocre bejeweled clone right now.

icey2• 18 years ago

Maybe it's just me, but that seems about as much an MMO as online checkers.

maxklein• 18 years ago

Now we all feel bad that's we're not making $2000 a day too. Thanks a lot!

13ren2• 18 years ago

The developer gets 5.99/4.2 = 70% of revenue. A sensational deal, if you can concentrate on the non-admin (i.e. interesting/real) stuff.

If software writers are "authors", then it makes sense to have a "publisher". Surely there's a reason this hasn't taken off before...

alaskamiller• 18 years ago

There wasn't a company as controlling as Apple with an active/growing marketplace before.

tocomment12• 18 years ago

Ugg, I just want to get into the program. I applied two weeks ago. Has anyone heard anything on how long it takes, or if they're even accepting new developers for the app store?

tstegart7• 18 years ago

yes, they are accepting new developers. Still no certain time frame for how long it takes.

jmatt• 18 years ago

I applied the day that the iPhone SDK came out and was invited last week. (Woot!)

I have no connections to Apple or any Apple development companies. So it looks like they are finally allowing normal devs in.

tocomment12• 18 years ago

Business idea, could someone in the program who's not doing so hot (flashlight developers ;-) possibly auction off their memberships?

I wonder if someone could make an auction site for that? Or is that explicitly forbidden?

cubicle672• 18 years ago

I applied day 1, was accepted the day the 3G was released. I'm working on a game in the evenings; here's my blog for anyone interested in its progress http://daves-game.blogspot.com/

We're (I have 4 kids) moving to the other side of the continent in a few weeks, so things are likely to be on hold until we're done.

vlad• 18 years ago

I applied about 2 weeks after the SDK was released and got in about a week later.

charlesju• 18 years ago

I think this is a pretty clear picture of the power of the iPhone platform. There are a couple of things going for the iPhone platform that make it inherently better to develop for than any previously designed platform:

1. Streamlined distribution. The app store makes it super easy for anyone to download applications from anywhere in the world. With 8 million sold worldwide X the amount of bored people trying to kill time by finding a new toy = a lot of users and downloads. In fact, the iPhone store had over 25 million downloads in the first month.

2. MONEY! Since iTunes has already a well established user base that has grown accustom to micro transactions for things like songs and videos, they're more conducive to impulse buying.

3. A REAL operating system. While the mobile platform has inherent disadvantages like screen real estate and control, it makes up for it by providing a sandboxed platform that has real power over the whole system.

watmough• 18 years ago

I think we're just seeing the start.

There are still lines for the iPhone at my local Apple Store in the Woodlands mall, and I am one of the few people at my company that has an iPhone, and we are an IT consultancy.

The iPhone has not yet taken off.

Things are going to get a lot hotter.

rtfa• 18 years ago

It makes sense, actually. If you do programming full-time, your brain is too tired to think about how to best market your product, etc. When I program too much for too long, I feel like I turn into a machine myself, finding it hard to interact with humans.

zandercruise• 18 years ago

so I thought, "wow, $2000 a day!, I want to try writing an app for the iphone" then i realized i don't have a mac let alone an iphone =|

wmeredith2• 18 years ago

The devil is in the details...

Part-time apps developers getting rich

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