3 ms·

I built this in 37 days with no prior iOS experience (though I did have experience with ruby/rails). I think it could be useful but I'd love some feedback.

by tsalfie 15y ago

itsnotvalid 15y ago
I think most of us would love to give feedback, but at first glance it seems requires all the "friends" to use the same paid app is not something easy to tag along. Besides, I am using Android now ;-) so... Just a side note, for solutions that needs social networking to work, it would be extremely hard to charge people up front. You gonna have to give it away for free (first) to earn some viral effects to kick in.
- tsalfie 15y ago
  This is a good point and I see the turn off of "pay for this and hope your friends will too." This is the sort of feedback I was looking for - would someone buy this then ask their friends to do the same or is that too much to ask?
  - ams6110 15y ago
    I don't think so. If I tell my friends "hey this app is cool, we should all buy it" I think that could work. It's only $2, you spend way more than that doing most anything with friends anyway.
    - itsnotvalid 15y ago
      Without first trying an app I wouldn't recommend to my friends. However I couldn't properly evaluate this app without my friends also trying. If all have to buy a copy, the decision to buy would become a collective one which the chance of buying this app would be even lower. Further, as this is the first app by the author, there is no track record as a reference. Hope you understand my reasoning for why social apps should be free at least at the beginning.
tansey 15y ago
I would consider some sort of free version of this app, so people can join without risk. Maybe make a version that limits you to 3 friends for free, or unlimited friends for $1.99?
- tsalfie 15y ago
  Yeah, combined with the above comment, I think this is a good idea. This was actually my initial thought (but with 2 friends) early on, but I wanted to experiment with the idea of only having a paid version because I believe paid apps get more usage (I might be crazy here).
  - zarprey 15y ago
    From my experience free trumps paid unless the paid app is promoted by apple/lots of blogs. You may get more return users with a paid app (since they shelled out the cash they will probably want to get their money's worth) but if you're trying to build a user base and especially if your app relies on one, which yours seems to, free is the way to go.
- benvolioT 15y ago
  I agree. Sounds like a great app, but to be useful, I have to pay for it and so do each of my friends (unless you add the email / SMS feature suggested above). I suggest a fremium pricing model. Perhaps all features are free exept one killer feature, which is an optional in-app purchase. For example - push notifications when one of your friends suggests an activity.
tcoville 15y ago
Instead requiring all of your friends install the app why not have people add friends by email/cell number. Then on the backend determine if they have an account if they have an account send it through the app otherwise they can just send an email/sms.
- ams6110 15y ago
  more to build, and for people who may never buy.
  - benvolioT 15y ago
    Yes, it is more to build. However, this idea eliminates the risk that your uers won't bug each of their friends to install your app. Also, the right design for the email notification can act as great marketing for your app. You can certainly make a better landing page on your website than your app's product page in the App Store.
jfarmer 15y ago
Don't charge. In products with network effects, you want as little friction as possible. This is why about.me demolished flavors.me, even though flavors.me came first. Since your product is built around doing things with other people, there's a natural advertising angle, viz., suggesting things for people to do.

I built this in 37 days with no prior iOS experience (though I did have experience with ruby/rails). I think it could be useful but I'd love some feedback.

by tsalfie 15y ago

I built this in 37 days with no prior iOS experience (though I did have experience with ruby/rails). I think it could be useful but I'd love some feedback.

itsnotvalid 15y ago

I think most of us would love to give feedback, but at first glance it seems requires all the "friends" to use the same paid app is not something easy to tag along. Besides, I am using Android now ;-) so... Just a side note, for solutions that needs social networking to work, it would be extremely hard to charge people up front. You gonna have to give it away for free (first) to earn some viral effects to kick in.

tsalfie 15y ago
This is a good point and I see the turn off of "pay for this and hope your friends will too." This is the sort of feedback I was looking for - would someone buy this then ask their friends to do the same or is that too much to ask?
- ams6110 15y ago
  I don't think so. If I tell my friends "hey this app is cool, we should all buy it" I think that could work. It's only $2, you spend way more than that doing most anything with friends anyway.
  - itsnotvalid 15y ago
    Without first trying an app I wouldn't recommend to my friends. However I couldn't properly evaluate this app without my friends also trying. If all have to buy a copy, the decision to buy would become a collective one which the chance of buying this app would be even lower. Further, as this is the first app by the author, there is no track record as a reference. Hope you understand my reasoning for why social apps should be free at least at the beginning.

tansey 15y ago

I would consider some sort of free version of this app, so people can join without risk. Maybe make a version that limits you to 3 friends for free, or unlimited friends for $1.99?

tsalfie 15y ago
Yeah, combined with the above comment, I think this is a good idea. This was actually my initial thought (but with 2 friends) early on, but I wanted to experiment with the idea of only having a paid version because I believe paid apps get more usage (I might be crazy here).
- zarprey 15y ago
  From my experience free trumps paid unless the paid app is promoted by apple/lots of blogs. You may get more return users with a paid app (since they shelled out the cash they will probably want to get their money's worth) but if you're trying to build a user base and especially if your app relies on one, which yours seems to, free is the way to go.
benvolioT 15y ago
I agree. Sounds like a great app, but to be useful, I have to pay for it and so do each of my friends (unless you add the email / SMS feature suggested above). I suggest a fremium pricing model. Perhaps all features are free exept one killer feature, which is an optional in-app purchase. For example - push notifications when one of your friends suggests an activity.

tcoville 15y ago

Instead requiring all of your friends install the app why not have people add friends by email/cell number. Then on the backend determine if they have an account if they have an account send it through the app otherwise they can just send an email/sms.

ams6110 15y ago
more to build, and for people who may never buy.
- benvolioT 15y ago
  Yes, it is more to build. However, this idea eliminates the risk that your uers won't bug each of their friends to install your app. Also, the right design for the email notification can act as great marketing for your app. You can certainly make a better landing page on your website than your app's product page in the App Store.

jfarmer 15y ago

Don't charge. In products with network effects, you want as little friction as possible. This is why about.me demolished flavors.me, even though flavors.me came first. Since your product is built around doing things with other people, there's a natural advertising angle, viz., suggesting things for people to do.