Database Develop

[Q] Prices for apps

I couldn't help but notice that, on average, the Android market apps are much more expensive than apps at the iTunes store. Is this because there is much less of a clientele? If I look into the apps for jailbroken iPhone etc. the prices are more similar.
Do you guys think that the prices will come down once the Android community grows? For now I love to support programs I use (e.g. SetCPU) but over time I'd like to get the "99 cent" apps as well

The problem is kind of the opposite from developer's pov, the lions share of apps on our devices are free. Partly this is offset by ad revenue. Some of the higher prices also have to do with exchange rates, and the relative weakness of the dollar these days,
Sent from my Xoom using Tapatalk

I am not sure I agree
funnycreature said:
I couldn't help but notice that, on average, the Android market apps are much more expensive than apps at the iTunes store. Is this because there is much less of a clientele? If I look into the apps for jailbroken iPhone etc. the prices are more similar.
Do you guys think that the prices will come down once the Android community grows? For now I love to support programs I use (e.g. SetCPU) but over time I'd like to get the "99 cent" apps as well
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have not paid for an app yet on my Android phone. You have to look around. I don't think I can agree with your comment though about ITunes being cheaper. But, to my defense it has been awhile since I logged in on there. It seems like I was always paying for something on my iPhone

Kent_Davis said:
I have not paid for an app yet on my Android phone. You have to look around. I don't think I can agree with your comment though about ITunes being cheaper. But, to my defense it has been awhile since I logged in on there. It seems like I was always paying for something on my iPhone
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Click to collapse
that is the exact reason for some of the problems lol. android users, perhaps because they are smarter, rarely pay for apps. apple users seem to be the same people that a couple years ago were paying 5 dollars for a 15 second ringtone lol. the whole "willing to pay" aspect of the apple fanbase is the main reason why media companies, corporations, etc love to push and develop for iOS; sometimes makes me wonder if i would be happier being a chump.
real lesson though: donate/pay for android apps people! (i personally prefer donate model, but people love to be free riders, so that might not work)

Thanks for all the input! I agree with all of you. When I pay the devs here at the Android community I feel like I pay someone in person. At iTunes it will most likely be gobbled up by Apple (30%) and the big software corporations.
The main reason why I posted this was that I saw the same game at the Android market for 250% of the iTunes price... If I think something is worth buying (or donating to the creator) then I'll do it. Heck, I'd even be willing to pay if someone would develop a stable Honeycomb ROM for the NOOK!

funnycreature said:
Thanks for all the input! I agree with all of you. When I pay the devs here at the Android community I feel like I pay someone in person. At iTunes it will most likely be gobbled up by Apple (30%) and the big software corporations.
The main reason why I posted this was that I saw the same game at the Android market for 250% of the iTunes price... If I think something is worth buying (or donating to the creator) then I'll do it. Heck, I'd even be willing to pay if someone would develop a stable Honeycomb ROM for the NOOK!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Don't forget that Goolgle gobbles up that same 30% from developers.

What happened to Applanet?

I noticed that applanet wasn't working anymore. I went to their website and it was shut down.
... Oh well the "man" must have caught up with them.
Sent from my SGH-I897 using XDA Premium App

Wow, you really asked that on here? Applanet gets shut down on daily basis since it takes money out of developers pockets. If you want apps, pay for them. If you want to ask dumb ass questions like this, stick with google.
Sent from my blazing fast, voodoo lagfixed carrier pigeon.

vunuts said:
Wow, you really asked that on here? Applanet gets shut down on daily basis since it takes money out of developers pockets. If you want apps, pay for them. If you want to ask dumb ass questions like this, stick with google.
Sent from my blazing fast, voodoo lagfixed carrier pigeon.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Agreed. While i have no problem pirating an os, random computer programs and such I refuse to do the same with android apps. It is not stealing from a faceless corporation but from a guy doing his part to make android better.
Pony up the couple of dollars as a thank you for people spending countless hours developing the app
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I897 using XDA App

As Appplanet is warez we dont condone or trouble shoot the use of it. Thread closed

Why dont you guys put your apps in the market?

Is there a reason? I've used several nice apps from here, but just curious why you dont give them more exposure.

A lot of them are on the market, they are just posted here too.
Sent from my always stock, EC05 Epic 4G

It costs money to get on the market. Xda is free. Would you rather get something for free here, or pay for it on the market?
Sent from my PC36100 using XDA App

I think I remember reading in another thread that there was a fee you have to pay before putting apps on the market. I assume it doesn't matter if the app is free or not.
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voodoo55 said:
It costs money to get on the market. Xda is free.
Sent from my PC36100 using XDA App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thats true.
Its like 20$+ to be a developer for Android.
The devs may not be sure if they'll get that 20$+ back after putting it on the market and it doesn't sell as much... so they post it here

As a Dev $25 doesnt really matter to potentially get more exposure so I don't understand why other devs don't put their good apps on the market many of them are useful even for people other than power users

is $99 not $25 and not all devs are from market enabled countries

I'm pretty sure it's $25. The app store on iOS is 100.
Sent from my Nexus S using XDA App

The only reason I can see besides the $25 or $99 fee is the ratings.
Once an app is posted to the market you have somewhere around 9.2 million Americans with access to your app. If your app has bugs or is not perfect from the start you start getting 1 star ratings. These ratings will slowly knock your app away from any sort of recognition.
Developers on XDA post there app here in order to receive constructive criticism, instead of a market comment like "App has Force Close Errors 1 star." Instead on XDA the developers can get and give ideas to other. Then when they seem like the app is fully tested they can choose to post it to the market.

geiko said:
I'm pretty sure it's $25. The app store on iOS is 100.
Sent from my Nexus S using XDA App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The Android Market fee is a ONE-TIME $25. iOS is yearly.

Xda is a test bed for good ideas. Said good ideas get made into an app that gets throughly tested ppl with different phone models then the dev. Then the app can go to market.
Sent from my ADR6300 using XDA App

My apps are in the Android Market.

Mine is on the Market and has a thread on here, although I haven't attached the free APK to the thread.
And yeah, although the UI isn't great (I have plans for it) and I don't advertise a lot, I still managed to earn a little over $200 so far, making back well over the $25 I spent to be able to sell my app. It's worth it.

ironlood said:
Developers on XDA post there app here in order to receive constructive criticism, instead of a market comment like "App has Force Close Errors 1 star." Instead on XDA the developers can get and give ideas to other. Then when they seem like the app is fully tested they can choose to post it to the market.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The above is a very good reason for posting your app elsewhere before publishing on the market. Most of the market reviews I've had regarding a problem didn't include any useful information on how to replicate the issue. For example, you'll typically get comments like "Freezes!" or "Force closes!" with no indication where in the app these problems occur. Likewise, identifying and fixing device specific issues is particularly difficult if you only rely on market reviews.

xriderx66 said:
Thats true.
Its like 20$+ to be a developer for Android.
The devs may not be sure if they'll get that 20$+ back after putting it on the market and it doesn't sell as much... so they post it here
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm not sure this is a big deterrent. It's a $25 one-time fee to publish as many apps as you want and you wouldn't need many sales or ad clicks to cover this cost.

agree....you will get more useful info alot faster on XDA regarding fuctionality and bug reports.

Alot of people just develop apps as a hobby with no intention of selling them. So why pay the $25?

and sometines you get banned without explanation so its a good place to upload you apk's google ban without send a warning maybe an icon, maybe something you did wrong and you couldnt fix they just ban and close you play store forever (and the next account you can made)

I put my Apps both on here and on the App Store.
I don't make any money from my apps, but I love Android because it's only a one time fee of $25 to publish apps to Android.
I was going to start with iOS but that's $100 yearly. Kind of ridiculous in my opinion.

Yup, Google Play is only a 1 time fee of $25. I dont think devs should be afraid of low ratings. You can't satisfy everyone. I get requests daily about what I should include in the app. There a lot of ideas and for a 99 cent app, I'm just not sure its worth it to build all these ideas into the app. The ones I do pay attention to are the ones where they say something doesn't work or it crashes when this or that happens.

Pay for updates

Hi,
I was just thinking, what if customers start paying for updates?
I for one, would gladly pay 20€ for a jellybean update for our device.
When I bought this phone, the salesman said that after a month I could update with latest gingerbread. So automatically, it was my right to have gingerbread.
Now the ics update and then jellybean, these updates does not include the money that I have paid for this phone.
So that is why I think, when you buy a Phone you get the first update free, and the updates after that I think customers should pay, and I would gladly pay for this. This way the fabric will be more motivated to do more updates much faster and a better OS.
To install windows 7 in a vista pc you will have to pay, If you have snow leopard and want to update to lion you also pay.
Why not for Android? Then yes, we have something to complain about functions not good or updates not on time.
Give us jellybean and I will gladly pay for mine!
Regards
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Windows & mac vs android... They are different and for this reason you cannot compare them... An android build (kernel + core) must be compiled adapting it to the phone you want to install it into (that's because it is a monolithic os). On the contrary windows is an "universal" os, potentially it could be installed on all the PCs..
It is not possible for a smartphone company to build a lot of updates for his phones... It requires a lot of time and money.

markop90 said:
Windows & mac vs android... They are different and for this reason you cannot compare them... An android build (kernel + core) must be compiled adapting it to the phone you want to install it into (that's because it is a monolithic os). On the contrary windows is an "universal" os, potentially it could be installed on all the PCs..
It is not possible for a smartphone company to build a lot of updates for his phones... It requires a lot of time and money.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Also, don't forget that Mac OS and Windows are closed-source... Even though Mac OS is based off of UNIX...
Android on the other hand, is open-sourced. It would contradict everything that Android is about. It's like Mozilla forcing you to pay so that you can use FireFox.

Yes I know, but the only reason why I don't mind paying for this is just to motivate LG, and give us the updates. Because it is time and money to develop these updates, if we would pay, I think they should be happy to release updates at a faster time scale. Android is open source, but LG still is a company that has a lot o electronic devices.
As owner of a company would you continue working on projects that is none profit?
On the other hand, it is really not a none profit project. (updates for after market phones) because I for one am already decided, that the day that my phone breaks or I can sell it to someone ignorant, I will never ever buy LG phones! Samsung seems to have better support, or Iphone with jailbreak.
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rjjcvb said:
Yes I know, but the only reason why I don't mind paying for this is just to motivate LG, and give us the updates. Because it is time and money to develop these updates, if we would pay, I think they should be happy to release updates at a faster time scale. Android is open source, but LG still is a company that has a lot o electronic devices.
As owner of a company would you continue working on projects that is none profit?
On the other hand, it is really not a none profit project. (updates for after market phones) because I for one am already decided, that the day that my phone breaks or I can sell it to someone ignorant, I will never ever buy LG phones! Samsung seems to have better support, or Iphone with jailbreak.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Really?you pay 400 bucks on a phone and you feel you're entitled to only one update? And it's not like lg doesn't profit. They promise to update my device, they keep it, I am happy, therefore I buy their next over the top expensive device.simple as that.
Sent from my LG-P990 using xda app-developers app

Paying for Linux?
Now you make me laugh, might as well use the Novell Suse crap then.
You paid for the updates and the whole device upfront, I think they should be entitled to updates.
But yeah... Lg is the smartphone sectors "special" kid. :screwy:
Sent from my Optimus 2X using Tapatalk 2

Even Apple doesn't charge you anything for an iOS update. I think this says it all.

Wow.. seriously? We need to pay for updates?
Sent from my thoughts using telepathy :banghead:

Not the greatest idea, paying for open source.
What happens with the rooters, flashes and devs? Unofficially upgrading to the latest release of android for free? Would it make xda development illegal?
No way would I pay for it.
Sent from my LG-P990 using xda app-developers app

rjjcvb said:
Hi,
This way the fabric will be more motivated to do more updates much faster and a better OS.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Updates much faster? Maybe
Better OS? Definitely NO

I see the point being made that if we paid the updates would come promptly.. on the other hand these big companies have decided to go for an open source project to rival other platforms so it is down to them to keep up to date with the free stuff.. I've said before the way we use our phones has changed so much In the last 3 years and the companies need to realise that we won't simply just pay £500+ for every new phone they decide to make being as the ones before were claimed to be future proof.. we have changed so should they
Sent from my LG-P990 using xda app-developers app

You have already paid for updates when you bought the phone. Even the most expensive phones cost less than 200 dollars to produce when they are new and cutting edge (the price usually drops quickly in a few months following the release of the device). Some of the money go to cover R&D costs (which with android phones are usually minimal), some go to cover company expenses (like salaries bills etc), some go to cover SUPPORT, and the rest are profit for the company. So when LG is selling you a phone for 550 dollars when it actually costs around 180 dollars to produce and then completely forget about updates, they are robbing you blind. And yes, the price of the p990 has gone down, but so has the price to make one.
If you don't like the way a company treats you you don't give them more money, you go elsewhere. Sony was constantly losing market share because they didn't support their devices so they where forced to change. Almost their entire 2011 xperia line was updated to ICS during Q1 and Q2 including cheaper phones like minis and rays.

Why should we pay for updates if we have already paid for a expensive device.
If you want to pay, you just can donate the developer.
And do you think if someones rom is well used if he wants money for it
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And please press the "Thanks" button if you found this tread/post very helpful.
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New on xda, but not new on Android
Sorry for my bad English, i'm Dutch
please hit the thanksbutton if my post/reply was helpful.

I'm sorry but I have already paid.
the next one will possibly experience google

As a developer myself, I feel a moral obligation to provide updates to paid and non paid projects, just my 2 cents.
Sent from a sexy turtle.
---------- Post added at 12:29 AM ---------- Previous post was at 12:27 AM ----------
I would never charge a penny, fixing things and features should of been in said final version, I'm just trying to get them more of what they paid for.
Sent from a sexy turtle.

Custom ROMs
The problem with the idea of paid updates is that it would also mean that LG would need to implement a locked bootloader, otherwise, just one customer would buy the update and give it to XDA developers who would start creating their free custom ROMs. I am not so interested in ICS if I need to have a locked bootloader.
Tom

Bouba123 said:
The problem with the idea of paid updates is that it would also mean that LG would need to implement a locked bootloader, otherwise, just one customer would buy the update and give it to XDA developers who would start creating their free custom ROMs. I am not so interested in ICS if I need to have a locked bootloader.
Tom
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The only way paid upgrades could work I believe is through something like kickstarter.
If enough people promise to pay it's worth for them to develop it and then release it (for everyone of course, not just the ones who paid through kickstarter). If too few people are interested, there they don't waste time developing for a dead phone.
I personally think that at least one year of upgrades should be included in the price of the phone, but after that I wouldn't mind paying a little to get continued upgrades. (I have donated money to cyanogenmod because I think they're doing a great job for precisely this reason)

ergoen said:
The only way paid upgrades could work I believe is through something like kickstarter.
If enough people promise to pay it's worth for them to develop it and then release it (for everyone of course, not just the ones who paid through kickstarter). If too few people are interested, there they don't waste time developing for a dead phone.
I personally think that at least one year of upgrades should be included in the price of the phone, but after that I wouldn't mind paying a little to get continued upgrades. (I have donated money to cyanogenmod because I think they're doing a great job for precisely this reason)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Donating to the cyanogen team makes sense, but isn't comparable to paying an OEM for software, simply because the profit margin is so large that you shouldn't have to. If Xiaomi can sell their newest phone for 350$ when it includes a 4core s4 chipset, a 720p ips screen, 2gb of ram and a good camera and still make a profit AND have the cash to offer timely updates, so can every other OEM under the sun.

Paying for an open source thing? Sounds funny, its better to donate it to devs instead of giving it to companies... (like LG)

Nova Policy Change

I just wanted to share my experience with Nova Launcher Prime and their changes to their family sharing. This is effective immediately. It's sad that I really enjoy the app but this is to mainly inform those who share as a family.

Could you explain in a few simple words what just happened?
Thanks!
All my family members have their personal Prime since.. I don't remember when.
Does it affect me in any way?

I wiped my step daughters phone trying to resolve an issue with he screen not turning back on. Though it was a deep sleep issue. When I restored the OS it wasn't listed as able to download. In the screenshot it gives the date of purchases affected by the new policy. I have this app shared with wife and kids. I imagine they will eventually push an update to block my wife's app.

What's the change? Was it permitted to share with family members prior to 07/02 16?

3char

Yes, I've been sharing it almost since they came out with the family sharing. I've owned Prime since July 2012.

raul6 said:
What's the change? Was it permitted to share with family members prior to 07/02 16?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I never knew this was a thing either!

Yeah, I have Prime but never heard of this family share...

Does this include the beta version?

galaxys said:
Yeah, I have Prime but never heard of this family share...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It's a thing Google play offers for purchased apps and games.

roaduardo said:
Does this include the beta version?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm pretty sure I'm a beta tester, don't think it matters. Keep in mind this isn't saying everyone has to repurchase the app, just cuts the date off for older purchases directly related to family sharing.

There are plenty of other good launchers out there. Apex is pretty much the same as nova. Hyperion is another great better launcher than nova that is made by the same people who developed substartum. Hell, we have a ton of amazin launchers here on xda. It's not like nova is the only good launcher. I know it's sh$%ty of them to do that, but I'd go with other options if I were you.
Sent from my SM-N960U using Tapatalk

I dont understand what the OP is cribbing about.
Family share is valid from July 2016. It is totally up to the dev to make it family share or not.
The price of the app is so small compared to any single device you purchase and the support is amazing.
Cannot understand why people want everything for free... Can you not see the amount of time the devs put into these apps.
No wonder why some good apps are dying out.
Also if you dont want to purchase use some of the other launchers out there.. There are many that are free

Techvir said:
I dont understand what the OP is cribbing about.
Family share is valid from July 2016. It is totally up to the dev to make it family share or not.
The price of the app is so small compared to any single device you purchase and the support is amazing.
Cannot understand why people want everything for free... Can you not see the amount of time the devs put into these apps.
No wonder why some good apps are dying out.
Also if you dont want to purchase use some of the other launchers out there.. There are many that are free
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Agreed. Can't believe someone is making a big deal over a few dollars.

It's 80% off right now so it's only 99 cents.

The "loyal customer" line made me laugh. If you really cared about supporting them, you'd purchase their (very reasonably priced) app again and move on.
Such entitlement.

Nova is worth more than the price they ask for, just buy each member their own Prime.
And how can you call yourself a loyal customer if you ever only bought that one thing from them and then went on to abuse a program they're a part of?
It's amazing to me that they continue t support this cheap app instead of brining out a new version to buy.