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Surviving the App Store

118 points by amirrajan 8y ago

chapium 8y ago
Title: “Surviving the Appstore, How to Make it as Indie Game Developer”
kumarm 8y ago
>>A successful iOS game makes $4,000 annually (this goes for any app frankly). A successful Android game makes one seventh of that (one third at best) Not true. Source: I run a mobile apps company with popular apps on Android.
- Hydraulix989 8y ago
  There's quite a few monetization models for games other than just charging for a download (arguably the worst way to get potential customers engaging with your app).
- ChristianGeek 8y ago
  So how do they really compare?
- 1123581321 8y ago
  Can you elaborate? 1/7th sounds like a stretch because App Store revenue is only double the Play Store revenue, but game revenue could only be equal if Android sells effectively no business software. https://www.google.com/amp/s/techcrunch.com/2018/07/16/apples-app-store-revenue-nearly-double-that-of-google-play-in-first-half-of-2018/amp/ https://www.google.com/amp/s/techcrunch.com/2018/07/16/apple...
  - spacehome 8y ago
    Do the two stores have the same number of apps?
    - 1123581321 8y ago
      Play Store has about twice as many as the App Store. However, I’d estimate the number of apps anyone downloads is closer since Apple does better quality control. And App Store almost certainly has more developer hours behind its apps. https://www.statista.com/statistics/276623/number-of-apps-available-in-leading-app-stores/ https://www.statista.com/statistics/276623/number-of-apps-av...
- charlesdm 8y ago
  I have to agree with you on this. I've built and sold several "successful" indie apps (iOS, macOS, Android) and almost all had sales well into the many hundreds of thousands $ per annum. Where is he getting this $4,000 number from?
  - tinus_hn 8y ago
    If you’d only get $4000 for a reasonably succesful app the store would probably have a lot less apps. You can’t run a business on that kind of money.
- endorphone 8y ago
  I also would deeply contest those number claims. To speak specifically to the Android claims, this author does what so many others have done: Long after the hype has worn down (hype that including mainstream media attention) they eventually get around to an Android port and then report miserable Android sales. Well, no kidding. I mean if it doesn't have the word of mouth pitch, does this look compelling- https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.yourcompany.adarkroom&hl=en https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.yourcompan... It looks like a hello world app. And the com.yourcompany bit is telling. We've seen this with a number of much more polished games as well: Release on iOS, get tonnes of press and attention, and then long after the hype has died down release something on Android. Do these people really think those users just sat waiting?
  - eps 8y ago
    > does this look compelling It actually does. It looked intriguing enough that I bought it without hearing of it beforehand when it came out.
- vonseel 8y ago
  Every app makes the exact same amount of money! No android app ever outearns iOS!!!
- deleted 8y ago
  [deleted]
- Reedx 8y ago
  Then what are the actual numbers for iOS vs Android?
- scarface74 8y ago
  This isn’t about a random outlier it’s about statistics.
Jerry2 8y ago
Thanks for making it available! PS: Does anyone know how to build an epub from it?
- adzicg 8y ago
  This looks like a source for a leanpub.com book (Book.txt gives it away, and the fact that this is all in a manuscript folder). I don’t think they have a command line tool to build epubs, but you should be able to get an epub from their web site if the author published it there
- lightwin 8y ago
  calibre [1] is also a pretty good open source tool, however there is a bit of work involved to convert html pages into epub. [1] https://manual.calibre-ebook.com/faq.html#how-do-i-convert-a-collection-of-html-files-in-a-specific-order https://manual.calibre-ebook.com/faq.html#how-do-i-convert-a...
- bmaupin 8y ago
  You can use pandoc if you don't mind a little bit of manual work: https://gist.github.com/bmaupin/6e3649af73120fac2b6907169632be2c https://gist.github.com/bmaupin/6e3649af73120fac2b6907169632...
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warrenmiller 8y ago
eCPMs on Android are about 1/3 of iOS but you tend to get more installs so we make about 1/2 on android as we make on iOS. Not sure where the 1/7 comes from
bla2 8y ago
How do I read this? Click the manuscript folder and then click through the md files in an arbitrary order? Or is there some better way I'm missing?
heynk 8y ago
The book was just pushed to Github 3 hours ago, so it is likely still in progress. There is no table of contents, but this page gives a bit of info about the structure of the book, and how to read it: https://github.com/amirrajan/survivingtheappstore/blob/master/manuscript/how-to-read-this-book.md https://github.com/amirrajan/survivingtheappstore/blob/maste...
ckrailo 8y ago
Great work on the book and RubyMotion!

118 points by amirrajan 8y ago

Title: “Surviving the Appstore, How to Make it as Indie Game Developer”

>>A successful iOS game makes $4,000 annually (this goes for any app frankly). A successful Android game makes one seventh of that (one third at best) Not true. Source: I run a mobile apps company with popular apps on Android.

Hydraulix989 8y ago
There's quite a few monetization models for games other than just charging for a download (arguably the worst way to get potential customers engaging with your app).
ChristianGeek 8y ago
So how do they really compare?
1123581321 8y ago
Can you elaborate? 1/7th sounds like a stretch because App Store revenue is only double the Play Store revenue, but game revenue could only be equal if Android sells effectively no business software. https://www.google.com/amp/s/techcrunch.com/2018/07/16/apples-app-store-revenue-nearly-double-that-of-google-play-in-first-half-of-2018/amp/ https://www.google.com/amp/s/techcrunch.com/2018/07/16/apple...
- spacehome 8y ago
  Do the two stores have the same number of apps?
  - 1123581321 8y ago
    Play Store has about twice as many as the App Store. However, I’d estimate the number of apps anyone downloads is closer since Apple does better quality control. And App Store almost certainly has more developer hours behind its apps. https://www.statista.com/statistics/276623/number-of-apps-available-in-leading-app-stores/ https://www.statista.com/statistics/276623/number-of-apps-av...
charlesdm 8y ago
I have to agree with you on this. I've built and sold several "successful" indie apps (iOS, macOS, Android) and almost all had sales well into the many hundreds of thousands $ per annum. Where is he getting this $4,000 number from?
- tinus_hn 8y ago
  If you’d only get $4000 for a reasonably succesful app the store would probably have a lot less apps. You can’t run a business on that kind of money.
endorphone 8y ago
I also would deeply contest those number claims. To speak specifically to the Android claims, this author does what so many others have done: Long after the hype has worn down (hype that including mainstream media attention) they eventually get around to an Android port and then report miserable Android sales. Well, no kidding. I mean if it doesn't have the word of mouth pitch, does this look compelling- https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.yourcompany.adarkroom&hl=en https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.yourcompan... It looks like a hello world app. And the com.yourcompany bit is telling. We've seen this with a number of much more polished games as well: Release on iOS, get tonnes of press and attention, and then long after the hype has died down release something on Android. Do these people really think those users just sat waiting?
- eps 8y ago
  > does this look compelling It actually does. It looked intriguing enough that I bought it without hearing of it beforehand when it came out.
vonseel 8y ago
Every app makes the exact same amount of money! No android app ever outearns iOS!!!
deleted 8y ago
[deleted]
Reedx 8y ago
Then what are the actual numbers for iOS vs Android?
scarface74 8y ago
This isn’t about a random outlier it’s about statistics.

Jerry2 8y ago

Thanks for making it available! PS: Does anyone know how to build an epub from it?

adzicg 8y ago
This looks like a source for a leanpub.com book (Book.txt gives it away, and the fact that this is all in a manuscript folder). I don’t think they have a command line tool to build epubs, but you should be able to get an epub from their web site if the author published it there
lightwin 8y ago
calibre [1] is also a pretty good open source tool, however there is a bit of work involved to convert html pages into epub. [1] https://manual.calibre-ebook.com/faq.html#how-do-i-convert-a-collection-of-html-files-in-a-specific-order https://manual.calibre-ebook.com/faq.html#how-do-i-convert-a...
bmaupin 8y ago
You can use pandoc if you don't mind a little bit of manual work: https://gist.github.com/bmaupin/6e3649af73120fac2b6907169632be2c https://gist.github.com/bmaupin/6e3649af73120fac2b6907169632...

deleted 8y ago

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warrenmiller 8y ago

eCPMs on Android are about 1/3 of iOS but you tend to get more installs so we make about 1/2 on android as we make on iOS. Not sure where the 1/7 comes from

bla2 8y ago

How do I read this? Click the manuscript folder and then click through the md files in an arbitrary order? Or is there some better way I'm missing?

heynk 8y ago

The book was just pushed to Github 3 hours ago, so it is likely still in progress. There is no table of contents, but this page gives a bit of info about the structure of the book, and how to read it: https://github.com/amirrajan/survivingtheappstore/blob/master/manuscript/how-to-read-this-book.md https://github.com/amirrajan/survivingtheappstore/blob/maste...

ckrailo 8y ago

Great work on the book and RubyMotion!