Comments on: In App Purchase – Roundup http://iPhoneIncubator.com/blog/in-app-purchase/in-app-purchase-roundup Tips and Tricks for iPhone SDK Developers Thu, 11 Mar 2010 21:29:19 -0700 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.6 hourly 1 By: Nick http://iPhoneIncubator.com/blog/in-app-purchase/in-app-purchase-roundup/comment-page-1#comment-1398 Nick Sat, 31 Oct 2009 13:26:53 +0000 http://iPhoneIncubator.com/blog/?p=316#comment-1398 @iPhoneHound: I agree that the top-lists are a big problem when you consider if you should use In App Purchase for your app. (I touched on this in my first article.) I wouldn't hold my breath for Apple revealing any more details about how the top-lists are calculated. Secrecy is in their DNA. As for the staff picks, they have a committee that meets weekly and decides on the staff picks for the week. I have clients who have met with people in the group and managed to get their apps nominated for the weekly committee meeting. But even so, it takes a good app and some luck to actually get the nod. @iPhoneHound: I agree that the top-lists are a big problem when you consider if you should use In App Purchase for your app. (I touched on this in my first article.)
I wouldn’t hold my breath for Apple revealing any more details about how the top-lists are calculated. Secrecy is in their DNA. As for the staff picks, they have a committee that meets weekly and decides on the staff picks for the week. I have clients who have met with people in the group and managed to get their apps nominated for the weekly committee meeting. But even so, it takes a good app and some luck to actually get the nod.

]]> By: iPhoneHound http://iPhoneIncubator.com/blog/in-app-purchase/in-app-purchase-roundup/comment-page-1#comment-1392 iPhoneHound Sat, 31 Oct 2009 03:23:55 +0000 http://iPhoneIncubator.com/blog/?p=316#comment-1392 Thanks for pulling all these useful resources together. However, I don't think any of these sources give enough weight to the problem that getting on the list of free apps could seriously harm the rank of an application. An app with in-app purchases will likely get downloaded much less often than a completely free app, even if its much better. Therefore, it will appear lower on the free list after a lot of junk, so it would have been better to remain on the paid list. I'm sure most developers are going to take a wait and see attitude on this before they move to in-app purchase for free apps. Also, its stunning that Apple does not provide information on how its rankings are constructed (such as whether in-app purchases count for the top-grossing list). These lists are the key to marketing on the iPhone, yet Apple fails to provide even the most basic information. They also give their own lists (staff picks, etc) far more prominence than the more objective lists, and then provide no information on how selections are made. This concentrates all power in Apple's hands, but harms their platform. Other platforms such as Andriod should take note if they want to get the developers. Thanks for pulling all these useful resources together.

However, I don’t think any of these sources give enough weight to the problem that getting on the list of free apps could seriously harm the rank of an application. An app with in-app purchases will likely get downloaded much less often than a completely free app, even if its much better. Therefore, it will appear lower on the free list after a lot of junk, so it would have been better to remain on the paid list. I’m sure most developers are going to take a wait and see attitude on this before they move to in-app purchase for free apps.

Also, its stunning that Apple does not provide information on how its rankings are constructed (such as whether in-app purchases count for the top-grossing list). These lists are the key to marketing on the iPhone, yet Apple fails to provide even the most basic information. They also give their own lists (staff picks, etc) far more prominence than the more objective lists, and then provide no information on how selections are made. This concentrates all power in Apple’s hands, but harms their platform. Other platforms such as Andriod should take note if they want to get the developers.

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