

First Month on the Android Market - obviator
http://makingmoneywithandroid.com/2011/05/first-month-on-the-android-market/

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kylec
I don't consider $3.88/month to be "making money with Android". Granted, it's
only the first month, but if this was on the iOS App Store at $0.99 he'd only
have to sell _6_ copies to make that same amount of money (18 if he wanted to
offset the monthly cost of being in the iOS developer program) rather than 965
total Android installs.

~~~
obviator
That's true, I chose the advertising method for this app, although its
probably slower than selling a paid app on the App Store or Android Market.
The biggest factor that led me to decide on a free app was the ability to
gather some useful analytics. Publishing a paid app might make more money in
the short term, but only get a total of a few dozen installs. Since this was
my first app, I thought it would help to do some market research first. Now
there are about 1000 active users which gives me a good indication of where to
focus future development effort. :)

~~~
shareme
You need a bigger organic marketing push:

1\. How many android app preview websites did you contact and send a demo to?

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obviator
Haven't contacted any at this stage - thanks for the tip though, I'll
definitely look at doing that in future. I guess with this app I was just so
focussed on the development side of things, and getting the whole process
working that I didn't spend much time marketing the app itself.

Does anyone have a recommendation for some good app review websites? I've seen
a few spammy ones around, just wondering if there's one or two sites people
actually find useful?

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jackpine
I'm really surprised you get such a surge of downloads from being in the just-
in queue. Looks like I'll be pushing minor updates once a week now!

~~~
obviator
Be aware though - Google has a system in place to prevent gaming the just-in
queue. So if you push updates too frequently they won't appear in the list.
I've had this happen with my app a few times.

It seems that 8 days is the minimum time between updates, to qualify for this
"just-in" status. A few developers have reported this figure, and it's worked
for me recently.

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Hostile
I really appreciate when devs are willing to put out information like this.
Not just the money, but also what the process and experience is like. I was
inspired by a previous HN post about starting Android development to try it
myself. I actually started (am?) writing about it in story form. Considered
posting on HN, but I fear HN's wrath, as I am a mere mortal.

~~~
obviator
I'd love to hear your story, it's always great to read about another
developers experience even if it's not always a runaway success. Would you
mind sharing the link? Or else you could email me thebigbyte [at] gmail [dot-
com]

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adaml_623
Am I the only person who thinks we have a funny game theory situation where
developers should stop giving their apps away for free on Android so that
users get used to paying the same way they do on iOS?

I don't really understand why Angry Birds is free on Android? Anybody know?

Edit: Spelling

~~~
matt_s
Angry Birds is also free on iOS, that is the lite version with ads. Then users
like me get addicted to the gameplay and a few times of getting nag-screened
is enough for me to purchase.

As a consumer, I like this approach with games because many times there are
games that are fun, but just not fun enough for a purchase or the replay-
ability factor is just low. So if I find myself going back to a game more than
a few times, the purchase is such low cost (less than coffee) that it is worth
it to get rid of nag-screens.

Also, regarding Android and free... most people that buy Android phones are
expecting free stuff. The cost of those phones is roughly the same as an
iPhone, it's just the mindset is different.

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EtienneJohnred
I truly love how the most constructive comment here (by zrgiu) got downvoted
into oblivion just because it was critical.

While Hacker News was once a relevant, useful place to find good tech news,
it's quickly degenerating into a steaming pile of shit driven by a bunch of
thin-skinned Android sycophants. It's unfortunate (not to mention how
unfortunate it is that such a useless post as this is even on the front page
here to begin with).

~~~
Zaim2
Ugh, assuming it's the same zrgiu who made Antivirus free, I really want to
read what he has to say. That's what I get for being late. :(

Anybody mind reposting it in quotation marks if they happen to have it saved?
Or if zrgiu himself could post of a summary of what he originally said, that
would be grand.

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EtienneJohnred
I really hope he does a follow-up post that breaks down how he spent his
$3.88. After about 3 months of revenue, he'll even be able to afford to buy
spendingmoneywithandroid.com.

Downvote away!!

~~~
billforsternz
I couldn't disagree more and I salute the OP for his efforts. The point is
that he is documenting his journey from day 1. You obviously don't make money
on day 1. I hope he rides the wave and reaches and then exceeds his goal of
$1000 per month. I'd be inspired by that.

~~~
flyosity
"You obviously don't make money on Day 1."

I don't know about Android, but I made hundreds of dollars on Day 1 of my app
being available on the iPad App Store and know a LOT of friends who have made
thousands of dollars on Day 1 from their iPhone apps. Please don't generalize
about app sales revenues across Android and iOS because it's like comparing
raindrops to a downpour.

~~~
akat
billforsternz's generalizations are probably based on available data.

Where is your story?

~~~
flyosity
My story isn't unique (for decent iOS apps) so I didn't bother writing about
it. If you want information from iOS developers making buckets of cash read
tap tap tap's blog or Tapbots' blog or Loren Brichter's Tweetie stats chart or
Trism's story or Pocket God's blog or...

