App Development
App development is getting harder and harder. Before, all you did was learn a programming language, then make the app. Easy enough. You then had to make that available on a website either for free or through a Paypal buy button. Not terribly complex.
Then came app stores. They initially made it even easier. Just make the app and submit it to the store. Pick a price, and goes through and gets sold. But wait. What if you want to offer a free trial? Before, you made a limited version available for free on your website, easy enough. Now, you have to submit a separate app to the store. (I wont even go through the hassle of that process.) It gets even more complicated if you put a lot of effort into a new update and charge a bit extra for the update. The old way: just put the update up give your existing customers a discount. The new way: submit yet another app the app store. (Now you know why all these "app" stores have millions of apps :P )
This could all be fixed with one thing: App trials and paid upgrades. (I know paid upgrades aren't exactly what consumers want, but small developers don't exactly have billions of dollars at their disposal and if you want ongoing support and enhancements, then they kind of are necessary.) Sure, you can go with a subscription plan, but that only complicates things even more.
It used to just be: 1) Make app, 2) Put it on a website with a Paypal buy button.
Now it's more like: 1) Make app, 2) Make website, 3) Make secure back-end account system, 4) Deal with authentication and app licensing.
Yes, there are services that do some of this, but it only really makes things more complicated. And app development is complicated enough. Now only large and medium sized development companies can really do it, with dedicated app developers, designers, web developers (front end and back end), adding up to at least 20+ person companies just to get everything done. It's now insurmountably difficult to do everything as single person (or even 5 person teams) without large delays. Theirs just so much more that has to be done then before, where it was write app, done. (And I know, there was more to it, like getting web traffic and acquiring customers, that much is easier now, as long as you only want to the sell once model. (And no one does that anymore. Apple relies on on-going hardware sales, Microsoft relies on OEM sales and subscriptions, Adobe is all monthly payments now, Google has ad revenue. But their all multi-billion dollar companies, getting off the ground is now even harder.
Then came app stores. They initially made it even easier. Just make the app and submit it to the store. Pick a price, and goes through and gets sold. But wait. What if you want to offer a free trial? Before, you made a limited version available for free on your website, easy enough. Now, you have to submit a separate app to the store. (I wont even go through the hassle of that process.) It gets even more complicated if you put a lot of effort into a new update and charge a bit extra for the update. The old way: just put the update up give your existing customers a discount. The new way: submit yet another app the app store. (Now you know why all these "app" stores have millions of apps :P )
This could all be fixed with one thing: App trials and paid upgrades. (I know paid upgrades aren't exactly what consumers want, but small developers don't exactly have billions of dollars at their disposal and if you want ongoing support and enhancements, then they kind of are necessary.) Sure, you can go with a subscription plan, but that only complicates things even more.
It used to just be: 1) Make app, 2) Put it on a website with a Paypal buy button.
Now it's more like: 1) Make app, 2) Make website, 3) Make secure back-end account system, 4) Deal with authentication and app licensing.
Yes, there are services that do some of this, but it only really makes things more complicated. And app development is complicated enough. Now only large and medium sized development companies can really do it, with dedicated app developers, designers, web developers (front end and back end), adding up to at least 20+ person companies just to get everything done. It's now insurmountably difficult to do everything as single person (or even 5 person teams) without large delays. Theirs just so much more that has to be done then before, where it was write app, done. (And I know, there was more to it, like getting web traffic and acquiring customers, that much is easier now, as long as you only want to the sell once model. (And no one does that anymore. Apple relies on on-going hardware sales, Microsoft relies on OEM sales and subscriptions, Adobe is all monthly payments now, Google has ad revenue. But their all multi-billion dollar companies, getting off the ground is now even harder.
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