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I'm not sure I buy that a typical iPhone app costs $35,000 to develop. Considering the simplicity of most apps, combined with the fact that many apps are effec

I'm not sure I buy that a typical iPhone app costs $35,000 to develop. Considering the simplicity of most apps, combined with the fact that many apps are effectively the same program with some content alteration, it seems like a really inflated figure.

pvg 16y ago
It doesn't really make much difference, for the purposes of his analysis. Let's say a typical app costs $1500 to develop. If his other numbers are right, that typical app would take about 2.5 years to break even. His argument is that, on average, developing an iPhone app is, in itself, a fairly dismal economic proposition.
- mgkimsal 16y ago
  However, making, say, 80, spending time promoting them, and perhaps having a few of those be moderate successes may make this a much more viable option. I have a friend who's pursuing this option of making multiple apps (not sure he's to 80 yet, but will likely surpass that in the next year). I agree, the chance of one app being the runaway success that affords one an early retirement is pretty remote, but the tech press loves to promote the huge success stories, and many others love to follow them.
  - pvg 16y ago
    If you are making 80, or even 20, chances are you're not really making apps but repackaging offline or online content in the form of an app and that's a rather different niche. It's also one that Apple is making efforts to squish, although I'm sure it will continue to thrive on Android and other non-restrictive markets.
    - mgkimsal 16y ago
      I can say that in the case of my friend, it's not repackaged content, but actual real apps. They tend to be somewhat on the basic side, but are nonetheless 'real' apps in the sense of having real hand programming behind them and such. FWIR, he's using Titanium, which makes it pretty easy to do basic apps fast (but still native apps all the same). Whether Apple will continue to let Titanium exist on the iOS platform is a whole other question :)
  - jasongullickson 16y ago
    You got it. You can treat apps the way the music industry treats songs with the ambition that 1 in 100 is a "hit", and cover your losses with the success of the few... ...or you can provide a unique app that serves an existing need and charge a reasonable price (far above the typical app store prices). There are countless examples of the latter, and not only are they successful financially but they serve to raise the standards of quality and compensation for the other type of participants.
  - wallflower 16y ago
    > but the tech press loves to promote the huge success stories, and many others love to follow them. One of my friends met the developer of Air Horn. The #1 downloaded free app for endless weeks. He said the guy had over three hundred apps on the App Store until he hit it big. Really big. http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/air-horn-free/id348184873?mt=8 http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/air-horn-free/id348184873?mt=...
- xenophanes 16y ago
  Why would an app take $1500 to develop? I wrote 4. They took less than $1500 total.
  - elblanco 16y ago
    What is your time worth? I'd assume that each app took several hours to write?
    - xenophanes 16y ago
      Yup. Several hours each. $100 to apple. And $5 for Brushes to make icons. No other costs. Comes out under $1500 using the same rate I do Rails contracting at.
adamt 16y ago
I agree. It obviously possible to spend that much, but many apps could be a damn site cheaper (you can put together a lot in something like Lua/Corona in a few days). It reminds me about from in 2000, people were saying the average e-commerce website costs $250k-$1M to develop. I think it depends who you ask. If you ask the average BigCo, how much it costs, you might get that answer, but the average hacker will probably give you a very different one.
- Tichy 16y ago
  Lua is not allowed anymore.
  - maxharris 16y ago
    False. See http://www.appleinsider.com/articles/10/06/11/apple_relaxes_ios_sdk_to_allow_lua_but_block_flash.html http://www.appleinsider.com/articles/10/06/11/apple_relaxes_...
    - Tichy 16y ago
      "if such use is solely for providing minor features or functionality that are consistent with the intended and advertised purpose of the Application" That is hardly a blanco card for writing apps in Lua. Anyway - not my problem.

pvg 16y ago

It doesn't really make much difference, for the purposes of his analysis. Let's say a typical app costs $1500 to develop. If his other numbers are right, that typical app would take about 2.5 years to break even. His argument is that, on average, developing an iPhone app is, in itself, a fairly dismal economic proposition.

mgkimsal 16y ago
However, making, say, 80, spending time promoting them, and perhaps having a few of those be moderate successes may make this a much more viable option. I have a friend who's pursuing this option of making multiple apps (not sure he's to 80 yet, but will likely surpass that in the next year). I agree, the chance of one app being the runaway success that affords one an early retirement is pretty remote, but the tech press loves to promote the huge success stories, and many others love to follow them.
- pvg 16y ago
  If you are making 80, or even 20, chances are you're not really making apps but repackaging offline or online content in the form of an app and that's a rather different niche. It's also one that Apple is making efforts to squish, although I'm sure it will continue to thrive on Android and other non-restrictive markets.
  - mgkimsal 16y ago
    I can say that in the case of my friend, it's not repackaged content, but actual real apps. They tend to be somewhat on the basic side, but are nonetheless 'real' apps in the sense of having real hand programming behind them and such. FWIR, he's using Titanium, which makes it pretty easy to do basic apps fast (but still native apps all the same). Whether Apple will continue to let Titanium exist on the iOS platform is a whole other question :)
- jasongullickson 16y ago
  You got it. You can treat apps the way the music industry treats songs with the ambition that 1 in 100 is a "hit", and cover your losses with the success of the few... ...or you can provide a unique app that serves an existing need and charge a reasonable price (far above the typical app store prices). There are countless examples of the latter, and not only are they successful financially but they serve to raise the standards of quality and compensation for the other type of participants.
- wallflower 16y ago
  > but the tech press loves to promote the huge success stories, and many others love to follow them. One of my friends met the developer of Air Horn. The #1 downloaded free app for endless weeks. He said the guy had over three hundred apps on the App Store until he hit it big. Really big. http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/air-horn-free/id348184873?mt=8 http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/air-horn-free/id348184873?mt=...
xenophanes 16y ago
Why would an app take $1500 to develop? I wrote 4. They took less than $1500 total.
- elblanco 16y ago
  What is your time worth? I'd assume that each app took several hours to write?
  - xenophanes 16y ago
    Yup. Several hours each. $100 to apple. And $5 for Brushes to make icons. No other costs. Comes out under $1500 using the same rate I do Rails contracting at.

adamt 16y ago

I agree. It obviously possible to spend that much, but many apps could be a damn site cheaper (you can put together a lot in something like Lua/Corona in a few days). It reminds me about from in 2000, people were saying the average e-commerce website costs $250k-$1M to develop. I think it depends who you ask. If you ask the average BigCo, how much it costs, you might get that answer, but the average hacker will probably give you a very different one.

Tichy 16y ago
Lua is not allowed anymore.
- maxharris 16y ago
  False. See http://www.appleinsider.com/articles/10/06/11/apple_relaxes_ios_sdk_to_allow_lua_but_block_flash.html http://www.appleinsider.com/articles/10/06/11/apple_relaxes_...
  - Tichy 16y ago
    "if such use is solely for providing minor features or functionality that are consistent with the intended and advertised purpose of the Application" That is hardly a blanco card for writing apps in Lua. Anyway - not my problem.