Josh Ong
Tap Tap Tap head John Casasanta revealed the numbers in a post to the company's blog commemorating 2 million sales of the Camera+ application. Casasanta noted that reaching the second million in sales took just under three months.
"The one thing you learn to count on as an iPhone app developer is not to count on future sales based on past performance," he said, adding that "[the company's] fortune could change in a heartbeat."
Casasanta challenged reports that mobile apps are "quickly discarded" by using data showing that half of the purchasers of Camera+ upgraded to version 2.2 of the app within 6 days of the update's release.
He also cautioned developers from relying too heavily on income from in-app purchases. The $.99 "I (heart) Analog" effects pack included with Camera+ 2 sells to just 5 percent of purchasers on a given day. Casasanta admitted that a total of roughly $70,000 in income from the in-app purchase over a four and a half month period is "absolutely nothing to sneeze at," but also asserted that "it's very unlikely that this can be an effective business model."
Apple pulled the initial version of Camera+ from the App Store last year over violations to the company's developer agreement terms. The app contained a hidden 'easter egg' feature allowed users to remap the volume control buttons as shutter buttons.
TapTapTap had tried to include the feature officially, but Apple rejected it on the grounds that a volume shutter button could result in "user confusion." As a result, the developer included it as a hidden feature and revealing an activation URL via its official Twitter account. Apple promptly responded by removing the app from the App Store.
Four months later, the developer released an updated "Camera+ 2" with more than 50 new features, though the physical shutter button feature was noticeably absent.
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32 Comments
Of course apps get updated. Whether you actively use the app or not the App store prompts you that there is an update and it is a lot easier to "update all" than to pick and chose when the list is long. I've updated plenty of junky unused apps that I just haven't deleted from my iphone/ipad.
The In-App Purchase rate depends on a number of factors, including, but not limited to, whether the app itself is free or paid, how good the In-App Purchase feature is, and the business model for said app.
Be that as it may, it is both interesting and helpful to see these specific figures and numbers from this well known developer.
Thank you for this article!
"just 5%" !!! thats a pretty big percentage in marketing which is often used to 1% or less response rate.
I get about 5% in my apps, and I'm pretty pleased with that.
A large number of Camera+ users are still on version 1.2.1, which was the last update before they nuked the backdoor to using the volume control as a "shutter" release.
I guess that depends a lot on the app and the nature of the add-on. The Smurfs game was supposed to be making a killing on in-app purchases.