In a previous post I outlined some of the difficult choices developers face in deciding to embrace In App Purchase in free apps to allow users to upgrade to a full version.
The issues include:
- No upgrade path provided by Apple for current owners of a paid version.
- Difficulty in breaking into the free top lists on the App Store.
- In App Purchase requires OS 3.x and wireless access to the App Store.
Some of my clients have solved these issues by offering two versions of their apps on the App Store:
- A free app with In App Purchase to upgrade to the full set of features.
- A paid app with all content or functions already enabled.
If you have already been offering your app as a paid version and a free lite version, the only difference with this approach is the addition of In App Purchase to the lite version.
While this resolves most of the developers’ issues, it doesn’t help reduce the clutter on the App Store.
Update: I just noticed that Riptide Games have come to a similar conclusion after their experiments with In App Purchase. They also detail some of their statistics on sales and conversions. Recommended reading.
December 10th, 2009 at 06:39
I am sure many other developers will come to the same conclusion. This provides the best of both worlds. So now instead of paid or lite we will have paid or free . I wonder how apple react if this indeed becomes the trend. I doubt they like the clutter and confusion of two versions of every app.