I think the main takeaways here are that (1) developer tools don't sell well on mobile platforms (which makes sense) and (2) the Mac App Store isn't very popular.
The demand for good developer tooling has never been higher. Companies and individuals won't think twice before throwing money at an app or service which offers even the tiniest bit of improvement to their existing process. Sales and distribution, however, is still mostly an unsolved problem. Steam I think is the only company which has managed to crack that code at scale.
I'm not sure how it is now but a few years back I had an app in the Mac App Store that got in the 'Top Grossing' top 100 for two or three days in a few European countries. I got super excited but when I saw the proceeding, reality pulled me back quick...
It was probably 180€ per day after Apple Tax. I canceled the order for the Lambo and accepted that there is just not much going on in the Mac App Store.
I still miss the days of having conversations with users on MacUpdate. In my nostalgic dreams users back then where also more likely willing to pay proper prices for software.
The App store top charts are mostly broken. The iOS top free / paid games are a mix of old games (like Geometry Dash and BTD5) and absolute garbage (see https://apps.apple.com/us/app/rob-master-3d/id1561184462). The top free apps are all common social medias except for some random video editor (Cap&Cut). Other categories and the Mac App store are usually worse, because there are a lot less apps.
Part of it is just the lack of apps and games I really need in general. But the iOS app store has curated tabs which have much better content. Top charts just aren't that meaningful.
Sounds like it unlocks the ability to "Donate $2.99" to the software author.
Aside, I have started trying to donate to all the projects that I have for a while considered as part of my toolbox of apps/utilities.
I don't use them very often. But the fact I can pull them out to resolve a desire on demand means I appreciate the very existence of it. So 20 or 30 dollars to you good author, buy yourself a beer or whatever else!
Donated to HFS by Rejetto, the other week on this basis.
I think the large part for me, is that I don't see these tools as useful. regex101.com , the "history" command and Mackup provide these things for me and they are free. How do these paid apps provide more value?
The demand for good developer tooling has never been higher. Companies and individuals won't think twice before throwing money at an app or service which offers even the tiniest bit of improvement to their existing process. Sales and distribution, however, is still mostly an unsolved problem. Steam I think is the only company which has managed to crack that code at scale.