FlightPredictor for Android sales: not good. Maybe Amazon App Store?
Mood: disappointed
Posted on 2011-11-23 14:54:00
Tags: projects android
Words: 228

I released FlightPredictor for Android on Saturday. Since then, I have sold a grand total of...6 copies. (although it did get a 5-star review!) This is *ahem* a bit disappointing, and I've been considering some options.

- Marketing: the Android market is such a big place I'm sure it's easy for apps to get lost. Android users: where do you go to hear about cool new apps?

- Free version: I've heard that Android users are much less likely to pay for apps than those on other platforms. Maybe I should make a free version that has ads. I'm not a huge fan of in-app ads, though, and I can't imagine they'd make that much money. Plus, that's potentially a bunch more users to support. And other flight-tracking apps aren't free...

- Amazon Market: I'm also deciding whether or not to submit to the Amazon App Store. The terms are not favorable to developers, as Amazon can set your app to be any price they want. (hopefully not less than 99 cents?) But it's the only way to get on the Kindle Fire, and while I didn't optimize FlightPredictor for that big a screen, a beta tester used it on a 7" tablet and said it worked fine.

Maybe part of the problem is neither Google nor Amazon care that much about app sales?

Anyway, I'm more than open to suggestions.

4 comments

Comment from ext_809990:
2011-11-23T16:08:04+00:00
I think Amazon can set your price to free as their featured app of the day. I'm not sure how it works out for the developer, it does get your app in the top 10 for a week or so. I have to imagine that exposure sells some copies.

I think getting on the amazon market will be a win as the Fire comes out.

I don't browse the app market at all. If there is something I need I'll do a general google search, but most of my apps come from lifehacker recommendations.

Comment from gregstoll:
2011-11-23T16:13:55+00:00
The article said that Amazon asked them to set it to free (the implication being that they could say no). I'm not sure if they're obligated to ask you, though. Exposure is good, but I'm not excited about possibly supporting 100K users who didn't pay anything :-)

Cool, thanks. One idea that David had - add a free "lite" version with ads that only lets you add 8 flights or so. Most of the app's customers are presumably frequent travelers, and I can understand wanting to try an app out before spending real money on it. Even if that real money is only $1.99!

Comment from radven:
2011-11-23T16:13:49+00:00
"Maybe part of the problem is neither Google nor Amazon care that much about app sales?"

Sadly true.

At least Amazon knows a thing or two about getting people to actually click "Buy" - but Google is all about free with ads.

Amazon is going to be really hot this Christmas though - so getting on the Fire is probably worth some effort - at the very least it is a good experiment.

Good luck, and best wishes...

Comment from gregstoll:
2011-11-23T16:16:18+00:00
Thanks! (I'm on my way out of town, will reply to your email later :-) )

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