Lesson 1: top quality required even at these prices
01/04/09 09:27 Filed in: iPhone apps | PocketPhonics
One big thing that strikes you about iPhone apps is their low price. If you then take into account that Apple keep 30% of the revenues, it's clear that the volumes would have to be very high to cover all your costs.
And, yes, there are stories about developers who have struck it rich, but I think it’s becoming clear that they are the exception. And, I’m not about to join them.
The costs for software development, recording sounds, graphics and marketing are still the same as for other development. Yes, it is great to have the trusted iTunes platform to sell through. A huge advantage compared to trying to do this on your own website. According to Apple, iTunes has credit card details registered for over 65 million customers. (Going off-track for a second, it does make you wonder how else Apple could use that. iPhone as a mobile payments device for buying physical goods or train tickets must have crossed their collective mind).
Anyhow, we have a platform where low prices are the order of the day, and pretty much still most of the normal costs to pay. There's also a lot of competition. If, like me, you are targeting a particular sector with an app (children's education), you'd suspect the volumes might not be that high. It's probably in my nature to be a bit cautious especially as this is my livelihood. I did therefore try to limit some of the costs.
This is the first lesson, you mustn't sacrifice quality. Even though people are only paying $3 or £1.79, they do expect the quality to be there. With the sound recording, we did the recording at home using a microphone on a headset, because I thought it'd be good enough. It turned out, it wasn't. In trying to get the volume high enough, other issues crept in. If you are trying to say one of the sounds like "p" too loud, an "uh" sound comes out at the end. And that's just not right. Other times, with words, they just became a bit distorted.
PocketPhonics just focuses on phonics and uses those phonics to build up the sound of a word. I think this exposes the quality of the sound in PocketPhonics more than in other apps. No other application tries to do anything like this.
As a result of these sound quality issues, we got some negative reviews. These undoubtedly hurt sales as before then there'd be some momentum.
Anyway, as you'll read elsewhere, we've re-done all the sounds and words in a professional sound studio. An expensive first lesson. Get the quality right even at these prices.
p.s. I’ve only just started using the comments service below, if there are any problems, please let me know via contact us.
And, yes, there are stories about developers who have struck it rich, but I think it’s becoming clear that they are the exception. And, I’m not about to join them.
The costs for software development, recording sounds, graphics and marketing are still the same as for other development. Yes, it is great to have the trusted iTunes platform to sell through. A huge advantage compared to trying to do this on your own website. According to Apple, iTunes has credit card details registered for over 65 million customers. (Going off-track for a second, it does make you wonder how else Apple could use that. iPhone as a mobile payments device for buying physical goods or train tickets must have crossed their collective mind).
Anyhow, we have a platform where low prices are the order of the day, and pretty much still most of the normal costs to pay. There's also a lot of competition. If, like me, you are targeting a particular sector with an app (children's education), you'd suspect the volumes might not be that high. It's probably in my nature to be a bit cautious especially as this is my livelihood. I did therefore try to limit some of the costs.
This is the first lesson, you mustn't sacrifice quality. Even though people are only paying $3 or £1.79, they do expect the quality to be there. With the sound recording, we did the recording at home using a microphone on a headset, because I thought it'd be good enough. It turned out, it wasn't. In trying to get the volume high enough, other issues crept in. If you are trying to say one of the sounds like "p" too loud, an "uh" sound comes out at the end. And that's just not right. Other times, with words, they just became a bit distorted.
PocketPhonics just focuses on phonics and uses those phonics to build up the sound of a word. I think this exposes the quality of the sound in PocketPhonics more than in other apps. No other application tries to do anything like this.
As a result of these sound quality issues, we got some negative reviews. These undoubtedly hurt sales as before then there'd be some momentum.
Anyway, as you'll read elsewhere, we've re-done all the sounds and words in a professional sound studio. An expensive first lesson. Get the quality right even at these prices.
p.s. I’ve only just started using the comments service below, if there are any problems, please let me know via contact us.