
Show HN: Million Dollar App – Buy pixels on your iPhone, with a dark, sad twist - mchannon
http://www.milliondollarapp.com
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matt_the_bass
What do think is the motivation for someone to load this app on their phone?

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mchannon
It's like its own little ecosystem. There are two built-in games and more will
be added.

Whether it's novelty, morbid curiosity, or some mixture of the two, it's been
well demonstrated that people will look at things if there's something
newsworthy and scarce about them. The million dollar homepage certainly got
people to visit the site.

No one's (successfully) tried to get it in an app format, and it wasn't easy
getting it to pass Apple's requirements.

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matt_the_bass
Can you talk more about “getting it to pass Apples requirements”?

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mchannon
Sure.

Apple is very up-front about not wanting just a webpage in the form of an app.
Since the original homepage was just that, the app required use of features
that could only come from the mobile device, which include in this app, camera
and tilt/motion sensors, as a core part of the experience.

The app, like many, has to use Apple's in-app purchases (IAP) to allow pixels
to be sold. You can buy pixels on the website or the app, but the app can't
link to any path that allows a website-based purchase that skips Apple's 30%
commission.

And of course, even though the content is moderated before it makes it on, I
had to provide methods to flag and block individual pixels, in the event
someone sneaks in an offensive image. So that's in there too.

Even all the above was still coming up short of their "this doesn't do enough"
feeling, so an entire suite of built-in games is included, and it will expand
as the pixel lineup expands. There are two so far. They're simple, but they
use the graphics as a tileset.

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matt_the_bass
Thanks for the insight! Info about these features might be a nice addition to
your sales page.

