
Camera+ hits 2 million sales / Revealing details about in-app purchase sales - sahillavingia
http://taptaptap.com/blog/cameraplus-hits-2-million-sales/
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gks
Clealy not the norm. But it's nice to see some hard numbers. I think if you're
in the top 25 apps in any particular category you're probably doing pretty
well (exception being some of the lesser visited categories).

That said, I believe it's incredibly difficult to get yourself into a position
where you're really making a solid income from your app on the App Store. With
so many apps vying for attention you truly need to make your app unique and
extremely solid or you risk being forgotten or never seen.

I think the best way to gain momentum is to be the type of app that can be
advertised via word of mouth. I don't think I've ever seen Camera+ advertised
anywhere (my memory isn't that great so maybe I have seen it) but the word of
mouth in various forum posts is incredible. At least at the start this can
really help. Once you have some traction and in the top 25 you get the benefit
of some Apple advertising via the featured app section (hopefully) and sales
take off a bit more for you.

I really think Android will never have this type of sales volume for paid
apps. It is pretty incredible what Apple has done with the App Store, and what
developers have done with it.

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aerique
You're right: they don't do conventional advertising anymore. Here's a blog
about their strategy: [http://taptaptap.com/blog/kill-yr-ads-the-donts-of-
iphone-ap...](http://taptaptap.com/blog/kill-yr-ads-the-donts-of-iphone-app-
marketing/)

Also, look at those Daring Fireball prices in that blog post! I'm jealous.

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larrik
I put my first In-App purchases into my app, which went live last Friday. They
let you upgrade the app to be identical to the premium version. (Or you can
just update the pieces you want)

I have sold ZERO In-App purchases so far, despite my downloads of the free
version still going very strong.

Perhaps I've done something terribly wrong...

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roc
Due the generally-scummy nature of the majority of in-app purchasing apps I've
run across, I've personally disabled in-app purchasing. I also generally
recommend the same to others (particularly those with children), and I'm
pretty sure I'm not alone in this.

I would absolutely rather buy a separate paid version than pay in-app to
upgrade a 'lite' version.

~~~
evilduck
I'd liken the current state of Apps, both Android and iOS to 1998-era
PC/internet maturity, with annoying ads everywhere, popups flying at you every
click, games that interrupt you with non-closable advertising screens, low
quality shareware or shovelware feel, etc.

I think these practices are only hurting themselves, as I'm pretty adverse to
downloading an advertisement that _might_ deliver the app functionality
promised nowadays. My Android phone has maybe a half-dozen apps installed that
aren't published by Google. I've only had an iPad for a week, but it hasn't
faired much better.

~~~
roc
> _"I've only had an iPad for a week, but it hasn't faired much better."_

I can't say I've ever noticed the experience you're describing on iOS. Not
even with "Lite" apps.

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evilduck
Try downloading a calculator for the iPad.

Edit: Another annoying practice, I _purchased_ Angry Birds Seasons for the
iPad, yet it still has giant in-app advertising for Bing between levels, that
if you accidentally click it, it will try to change your Safari search
provider.

~~~
ugh
PCalc is absolutely wonderful, both the Lite version and the paid version, and
the Lite version has no banners, only an option in the settings to upgrade.

It's the second free calculator in my search results when I search for
"calculator".

Discoverability is not great but there are plenty of awesome apps on the App
Store, some free but you have to be willing to pay if you want quality.

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berberich
That huge jump in weekly sales starting in 2/14 seems to line-up with the
iPhone 4 release on Verizon. If that launch was a main driver for Camera+
sales, the magnitude is impressive.

