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This is complete bullshit. My app (Dash) has been in the Top Grossing on the USA Mac App Store at pretty much any rank. There's a huge difference between climb

by kapeli 11y ago

This is complete bullshit. My app (Dash) has been in the Top Grossing on the USA Mac App Store at pretty much any rank. There's a huge difference between climbing to the top and then instantly failing and actually staying at the top. A full day in Top Grossing on the Mac App Store gives you something like this: Ranks #10 to #20: at least $2-4k per day. Ranks #30 to #80: around $800-1k per day. Ranks #80 to #150: around $500-$800 per day. All sums are after Apple's cut. They fluctuate a bit depending on the day of the week. I make more than the mentioned $454 per day at ranks of around #200. My revenue report from last year can be found here: https://blog.kapeli.com/my-year-in-review-2014 https://blog.kapeli.com/my-year-in-review-2014.

s73v3r 11y ago
Don't you think that you're probably a special case, rather than a typical example?
- outworlder 11y ago
  Oh yes, he is a special case alright. See, some time ago (feels like ages now), I contacted him to see what would it take to add Chicken Scheme to the list of docsets. His response was quick and helpful. My company got "bought" and I suddenly had zero free time to follow up. But that boosted my respect for Dash considerably. A assume other people will have similar experiences. I've recommended it to every single developer with Macs that I've met. Now that I got reminded of it, let's see what I can do about that docset...
- synthmeat 11y ago
  He didn't imply he isn't - quite contrary - but simply indicating non-factual premises and conclusions of the article. It's shit article.
- kapeli 11y ago
  Every app is a special case, yes. I was just saying that the numbers in the article are not real. Redacted (the app) didn't stay in the top grossing rank enough. It just climbed and fell.
synthmeat 11y ago
I appreciate your transparency about your business model/data, amazing functionality and regular updates of Dash.app, no-bullshit attitude over maintenance of official docsets, and your involvement in the community. Kudos all around and, while it ain't $2-4k, I hope you appreciate my sincere 'thanks' today.
- kapeli 11y ago
  Thank you! <3
- notduncansmith 11y ago
  I'd just like to echo this. I'm a (very) happy Dash buyer, and encourage any developers reading this on OS X to give Dash a look. It's one of those tools that you don't always need, but when you need it, you really need it. Oh, and it integrates quite nicely with Alfred and Sublime Text :) Kudos to 'kapeli for building some very useful, usable software.
ttcbj 11y ago
Off topic, but I never knew that Dash existed. I frequently look up APIs through google, which always involves a few clicks, and Dash is going to make my life so much better! As I went down through the API list, I was amazed how many times I thought, 'adding that will save me some google searches'. I just bought a copy, thanks!
- kapeli 11y ago
  Thank you! <3
- dhagz 11y ago
  Plus with all the different integrations it has, it's really indispensable. I use the Alfred integration most of the time, since it's global. And I even got it on my phone, just to see what that's like. It's pretty nifty all-around.
ThomPete 11y ago
Thats not really the point as I see it. The point is that being in the top doesn't mean what it means on iOS. On iOS you will be able to stay in the top purely by being in the top because people use the app store much more frequently. On the Mac app store you being in the top is more a product of a lot of other things you do. If you hit a nerve just like you did and I to some degree did you will do well even if you aren't in the top of the app store. At least that's how I understood it, but perhaps I am putting too much of my own bias into it.
- kapeli 11y ago
  Not sure how it is on iOS, but I'd assume your app has to deserve to some extent to be in the top. If you're in the top because of a fluke (e.g. you got featured in some blog post), you'll fall as soon as the hype fades. No idea really, the most "high-ranked" I've been on iOS was around rank 80 Top Grossing in the Productivity category, which I lost as soon as the launch hype faded.
  - ThomPete 11y ago
    On iOS you are much more likely to stay in the top if you first get there. I.e. it has it's own mechanics internally and externally because more people visit the iOS app store. Also much more sites are looking at the top in the app store and so your exposure for getting there is many many times more. Further more much more iOS apps are inherently social so that helps too.
Poiesis 11y ago
Hey, just bought Dash (iOS) a couple of weeks ago. Haven't used it too much yet but looks great. Since you're here: have you considered adding Kickstart file syntax? RHEL's pages tend to be pretty bad (the CentOS ones are better I know).
- kapeli 11y ago
  Please contact me about this: https://kapeli.com/contact https://kapeli.com/contact
Bamafan 11y ago
I'm curious about marketing costs for your app. Did you simply release that app and customers come after? Or did you have to pay a certain amount to acquire customers (i.e. paid advertising)? Or did you acquire customers some other way?
- kapeli 11y ago
  No marketing really. At the beginning, almost all users came from the Mac App Store. I've tried different marketing things along the way, like sponsored posts or Google Adwords. Probably spent around $500 in total on marketing during the lifetime of the app. None had a meaningful effect so I kind of stopped trying. I mostly focus on engaging my users as much as I can and trying to make them happy, so that they will recommend Dash to others.
  - Bamafan 11y ago
    Thank you for answering. And wow, amazing results from using the default "marketing" you get with the Mac App Store (especially given the difficulties that so many others have reported).
danso 11y ago
I second the thanks for divulging your numbers...always great to see what's behind the veil here. Perhaps you should contact the OP's author and see if they'll write a followup about you. And you shouldn't be shy about direct-linking your app (as well as the blog post)...I didn't know about it until now but it looks right up my alley. Thanks!
- kapeli 11y ago
  > Perhaps you should contact the OP's author and see if they'll write a followup about you. I don't think they care about someone making a living on the App Store. They either care about failures or about getting insanely rich.
hderms 11y ago
Yeah, but you're forgetting that's because Dash is awesome. I mean, it's really quite a useful app and I feel like it belongs in the top 10 for a very good reason, rather than the vast majority of apps.

by kapeli 11y ago

s73v3r 11y ago

Don't you think that you're probably a special case, rather than a typical example?

outworlder 11y ago
Oh yes, he is a special case alright. See, some time ago (feels like ages now), I contacted him to see what would it take to add Chicken Scheme to the list of docsets. His response was quick and helpful. My company got "bought" and I suddenly had zero free time to follow up. But that boosted my respect for Dash considerably. A assume other people will have similar experiences. I've recommended it to every single developer with Macs that I've met. Now that I got reminded of it, let's see what I can do about that docset...
synthmeat 11y ago
He didn't imply he isn't - quite contrary - but simply indicating non-factual premises and conclusions of the article. It's shit article.
kapeli 11y ago
Every app is a special case, yes. I was just saying that the numbers in the article are not real. Redacted (the app) didn't stay in the top grossing rank enough. It just climbed and fell.

synthmeat 11y ago

I appreciate your transparency about your business model/data, amazing functionality and regular updates of Dash.app, no-bullshit attitude over maintenance of official docsets, and your involvement in the community. Kudos all around and, while it ain't $2-4k, I hope you appreciate my sincere 'thanks' today.

kapeli 11y ago
Thank you! <3
notduncansmith 11y ago
I'd just like to echo this. I'm a (very) happy Dash buyer, and encourage any developers reading this on OS X to give Dash a look. It's one of those tools that you don't always need, but when you need it, you really need it. Oh, and it integrates quite nicely with Alfred and Sublime Text :) Kudos to 'kapeli for building some very useful, usable software.

ttcbj 11y ago

Off topic, but I never knew that Dash existed. I frequently look up APIs through google, which always involves a few clicks, and Dash is going to make my life so much better! As I went down through the API list, I was amazed how many times I thought, 'adding that will save me some google searches'. I just bought a copy, thanks!

kapeli 11y ago
Thank you! <3
dhagz 11y ago
Plus with all the different integrations it has, it's really indispensable. I use the Alfred integration most of the time, since it's global. And I even got it on my phone, just to see what that's like. It's pretty nifty all-around.

ThomPete 11y ago

Thats not really the point as I see it. The point is that being in the top doesn't mean what it means on iOS. On iOS you will be able to stay in the top purely by being in the top because people use the app store much more frequently. On the Mac app store you being in the top is more a product of a lot of other things you do. If you hit a nerve just like you did and I to some degree did you will do well even if you aren't in the top of the app store. At least that's how I understood it, but perhaps I am putting too much of my own bias into it.

kapeli 11y ago
Not sure how it is on iOS, but I'd assume your app has to deserve to some extent to be in the top. If you're in the top because of a fluke (e.g. you got featured in some blog post), you'll fall as soon as the hype fades. No idea really, the most "high-ranked" I've been on iOS was around rank 80 Top Grossing in the Productivity category, which I lost as soon as the launch hype faded.
- ThomPete 11y ago
  On iOS you are much more likely to stay in the top if you first get there. I.e. it has it's own mechanics internally and externally because more people visit the iOS app store. Also much more sites are looking at the top in the app store and so your exposure for getting there is many many times more. Further more much more iOS apps are inherently social so that helps too.

Poiesis 11y ago

Hey, just bought Dash (iOS) a couple of weeks ago. Haven't used it too much yet but looks great. Since you're here: have you considered adding Kickstart file syntax? RHEL's pages tend to be pretty bad (the CentOS ones are better I know).

kapeli 11y ago
Please contact me about this: https://kapeli.com/contact https://kapeli.com/contact

Bamafan 11y ago

I'm curious about marketing costs for your app. Did you simply release that app and customers come after? Or did you have to pay a certain amount to acquire customers (i.e. paid advertising)? Or did you acquire customers some other way?

kapeli 11y ago
No marketing really. At the beginning, almost all users came from the Mac App Store. I've tried different marketing things along the way, like sponsored posts or Google Adwords. Probably spent around $500 in total on marketing during the lifetime of the app. None had a meaningful effect so I kind of stopped trying. I mostly focus on engaging my users as much as I can and trying to make them happy, so that they will recommend Dash to others.
- Bamafan 11y ago
  Thank you for answering. And wow, amazing results from using the default "marketing" you get with the Mac App Store (especially given the difficulties that so many others have reported).

danso 11y ago

I second the thanks for divulging your numbers...always great to see what's behind the veil here. Perhaps you should contact the OP's author and see if they'll write a followup about you. And you shouldn't be shy about direct-linking your app (as well as the blog post)...I didn't know about it until now but it looks right up my alley. Thanks!

kapeli 11y ago
> Perhaps you should contact the OP's author and see if they'll write a followup about you. I don't think they care about someone making a living on the App Store. They either care about failures or about getting insanely rich.

hderms 11y ago

Yeah, but you're forgetting that's because Dash is awesome. I mean, it's really quite a useful app and I feel like it belongs in the top 10 for a very good reason, rather than the vast majority of apps.