Ask HN: Indie Markets other than iPhone App store

[rick_2047]

I know this is a very old school question to ask but I am new so just humor me please. I started looking into actual development of as an indie developer sometime when the app store was launched and from then on it seems its the only platform for the indie developers.

But I know there must have been other markets before the app store, where people can put there apps up for a small fee. I searched a lot but there was no convincing result found. (I think this is the kind of search where you just get lucky if you think of the correct keywords). So I as you people : "What are small markets, for indie developers where one can actually make money?"

[SwellJoe]

It's called "the web". It's pretty awesome. There are no fees to be a developer on "the web". There is no application process. You don't have to get approval before selling your application on "the web", and no one can remove your application from "the web" if it competes with existing functionality. You can develop for any platform you like, and sell your app on "the web".

OK, so this is my somewhat smartass way of saying, "Why not stake out your own plot of land, instead of sharecropping?" The bad old days when small software developers had to go through distributors in order to reach the market are gone; don't wish for those bad old days to come back. When you build your own website, and your own community, those customers are yours. When you build on top of an "app store", those customers belong to Apple, or Google, or Facebook, whoever. If I'm putting in all the effort to build a loyal customer base, I want that customer base to be mine.

[az → SwellJoe]

The second half is well said.

I'm also thinking of producing something for mobile users. Does it make sense to just stick with a web app or a mobile app is the way to go? (In my case I need the gps of the phone)

[SwellJoe → az]

I didn't mean that "the web" is only for distributing web applications. You can sell anything from your own website. Mobile apps, web apps, installable desktop or server apps, etc. I'm saying you shouldn't go looking for ways to give your customers to someone else, if you can avoid it.

If you want to reach iPhone users, you pretty much have to go through the Apple store...I question the economic value of iPhone users as a market, but if that's the application you want to build, and you need access to the whole phone, I guess that's the way you have to get there. But, I don't see any reason to go looking for more "app markets" that impose those same limitations, and separate you from your users in those ways. App markets are not good for developers, and they aren't good for consumers, so why go looking for more of them?

[_delirium]

Well as far as phone apps go, there is also the Google Android app store. Smaller market, but fairly large and growing rapidly, and less crowded as far as app-selling competitors go (so far). Also, developing for it is free and doesn't require Apple approving your app.

For games in particular, there are a number of other indie-distribution channels, like XBox Live Arcade. For other kinds of software, there's the traditional "sell shareware over the internet" approach, which is declining for the most part but still relatively robust on OS X. There are also web apps, which can be supported either by ads or by selling premium add-ons, among other possibilities.