5 ms·

Case history of the freemium model on the iPhone

32 points by roder 17y ago

jordankasteler 17y ago
a good read
- weaksauce 17y ago
  I understand you a new here so this is not a rebuke but more a gentle prodding to keep the quality of the site up. Please keep comments to the form of a discussion instead of a vacuous statement. People here will downvote something if it does not further the discussion. What made this a good read? Also here is a link to the site guidelines: http://ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html http://ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html
- xinsight 17y ago
  yes, nice write-up. Bonus: I wondered how he embedded the font Museo with javascript and I ended up learning about Cufón: http://cufon.shoqolate.com/generate/ http://cufon.shoqolate.com/generate/
Splines 17y ago
With the increasing proliferation of freemium apps, digging for bargains is now a little harder, as you now need to dig into the app descriptin/reviews a little to see if it's a freemium app or not (I admit, I'm a cheapskate). It'd be nice if Apple labelled applications that used in-app purchases accordingly, so you could filter on those. As it stands, the app developer usually does a decent job of putting warnings in the description, but not always. Also, I'd be mad if I had paid for an app that moved to a freemium model (e.g. F.A.S.T.). There should be a way to support these users instead of asking for their money twice. That said, the in-app purchase model solves the trial problem rather neatly (at least for a subset of applications). I've never written an iPhone application, but it seems like having 1 less application to manage (even if it's a trial version built from the same codebase) is a great benefit.
mtrichardson 17y ago
They use us ( http://urbanairship.com/ http://urbanairship.com/ ) to deliver their in app content. Huzzah! We've seen some good use of in app purchase (ChristmasfyMe included, of course) and I'm definitely excited about the platform; however, it would be nice to see microtransaction support. In app content is limited to app store pricing - in other words, the smallest amount you can charge is $0.99. This is great for content packs, but doesn't allow smaller transactions. For example, a small item in a game might only be a nickel instead of a dollar. As it is now, you have to offer 20 items instead of just the one a user might want.
quizbiz 17y ago
A bit unrelated, but based on my own purchasing habits, I have been wanting to express how effective a free Mac OSX app is with a priced iPhone app.

32 points by roder 17y ago

jordankasteler 17y ago

a good read

weaksauce 17y ago
I understand you a new here so this is not a rebuke but more a gentle prodding to keep the quality of the site up. Please keep comments to the form of a discussion instead of a vacuous statement. People here will downvote something if it does not further the discussion. What made this a good read? Also here is a link to the site guidelines: http://ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html http://ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html
xinsight 17y ago
yes, nice write-up. Bonus: I wondered how he embedded the font Museo with javascript and I ended up learning about Cufón: http://cufon.shoqolate.com/generate/ http://cufon.shoqolate.com/generate/

Splines 17y ago

With the increasing proliferation of freemium apps, digging for bargains is now a little harder, as you now need to dig into the app descriptin/reviews a little to see if it's a freemium app or not (I admit, I'm a cheapskate). It'd be nice if Apple labelled applications that used in-app purchases accordingly, so you could filter on those. As it stands, the app developer usually does a decent job of putting warnings in the description, but not always. Also, I'd be mad if I had paid for an app that moved to a freemium model (e.g. F.A.S.T.). There should be a way to support these users instead of asking for their money twice. That said, the in-app purchase model solves the trial problem rather neatly (at least for a subset of applications). I've never written an iPhone application, but it seems like having 1 less application to manage (even if it's a trial version built from the same codebase) is a great benefit.

mtrichardson 17y ago

They use us ( http://urbanairship.com/ http://urbanairship.com/ ) to deliver their in app content. Huzzah! We've seen some good use of in app purchase (ChristmasfyMe included, of course) and I'm definitely excited about the platform; however, it would be nice to see microtransaction support. In app content is limited to app store pricing - in other words, the smallest amount you can charge is $0.99. This is great for content packs, but doesn't allow smaller transactions. For example, a small item in a game might only be a nickel instead of a dollar. As it is now, you have to offer 20 items instead of just the one a user might want.

quizbiz 17y ago

A bit unrelated, but based on my own purchasing habits, I have been wanting to express how effective a free Mac OSX app is with a priced iPhone app.