iOS Anyone else getting Nervous?

[dleute]

appstore distribution channel

The App Store is an excellent place for apps to be sold but it doesn't make normal marketing obsolete. I am much more likely to buy an app that I have heard of outside of the App Store. Thus far I have only downloaded free apps as I am waiting for the dust to settle and apple to approve more apps for distrubution (including my own). A lot of these early apps are immature. I can't tell you how much I've learned from reading the early comments/reviews on the appstore. It's making it very clear what the user wants and expects. I hope other developers learn to follow that.

--Derrek

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[iphonedev100]

App reviews

It's important to understand:

1. Reviews can be posted by anyone. Even by people who have never downloaded or used the application. There are quite a few of these and all comments are made based on the description. People were psotign reviews before they could download and install the apps(!?) Doesn't make much sense and aren't truly of value to those trying to select apps. I suspect in some case it's a competitor trying to lower reviews or may be the developer pumping up their reviews.

2. Reviews have not been updated since Friday morning for most apps. So good/bad, many have not changed.


Once reviews are re-enabled and the store has been running long enough that the good or bad fictious reviews are equalized out of the system then you'll have a chance to get the true story.

 

[dwm]

Exactly

It's important to understand:

1. Reviews can be posted by anyone. Even by people who have never downloaded or used the application. There are quite a few of these and all comments are made based on the description. People were psotign reviews before they could download and install the apps(!?) Doesn't make much sense and aren't truly of value to those trying to select apps. I suspect in some case it's a competitor trying to lower reviews or may be the developer pumping up their reviews.

I thought I was one of the fortunate few (~500) who had an app "ready for sale" on opening day. My app is a utility not actually meant for the lay public, that is, a vertical app for a specifc market (maybe a few thousand or even just hundreds of potential customers - but where else can I market the app?), and yes, it costs MONEY to buy (and build - I contracted out the core programming because I could not get up to speed with Cocoa Touch in time having never used Cocoa, the frameworks, or Obj-C).

The "reviews" (they're not actually reviews at all) so far have been brutal for my app, not at all about its functionality or value in the right hands (because almost all of the reviewers had no clue what the app was even for), but all bitching that it COSTS money and it should be FREE.

So, I was getting real paranoid until I went through the reviews of almost every app that costs more than $2. They were ALL the same! Bitching about the price and that the apps should be free. People were even bitching that apps selling for $.99 should be free and are a "ripoff" for $.99!

My price point was completely arbitrary and decided on what I thought was fair for my target market and I had to choose in a total vacuum. Even if I wanted to change the price, I'm frozen now because with the download count broken I have no data to base the price decision on (and if I lower it, I don't want to piss off early buyers, the number of which I have no idea).

APPLE: You have the unique ability to make reviews more valuable than any other review environment. You know who is signed on, you know if they have bought a particular app, so let someone review a product ONLY if they have actually purchased the product.

 

[dgdosen]

I'd say don't be afraid of mistakes.

I think the app pricing will sort itself out in the very near future. I like the ideas of comments, even though reviews might be harsh, and you can't please everybody, I think the cream will rise to the top with the ratings.

 

[iSee]

...
APPLE: You have the unique ability to make reviews more valuable than any other review environment. You know who is signed on, you know if they have bought a particular app, so let someone review a product ONLY if they have actually purchased the product.

Or at least have an indicator of whether or not the reviewer has downloaded the app. But don't worry too much. People reading reviews can generally tell when the reviewer doesn't know what they are talking about.

In your particular case, your real potential customers--those in your vertical market--will quickly see which reviews mean anything to them.

I noticed that through the iTunes app store, browsers can vote on whether a particular review is helpful or not. And, by default, reviews are sorted by helpfulness. That will help bury the stupid reviews. It doesn't look like the iPhone app store shows this, though--hopefully that will be updated in the near future.

 

[Greencardman]

I noticed that through the iTunes app store, browsers can vote on whether a particular review is helpful or not. And, by default, reviews are sorted by helpfulness.

I would argue that its perfectly ok for a developer to review the reviews if they are useless. Go through yours and mark the ones useless as useless. You may think your vote is just a drop in the pond, but its worthwhile in my opinion.

dwm - were you able to get a hold of your download stats before they stopped showing them? Apple was showing how many times an app had been downloaded from inside the App Store app on the iphone. Try googling your app and seeing if anyone caught the numbers.

Don't be afraid of adjusting your price though. It's sometimes just as important to have it priced properly going forward than it is to not upset customers in the past. If you're always afraid of upsetting past customers, then you'll lose all flexibility. A competitor could come in with a lower price and you'd be too stuck to switch.

If you do need to adjust the price, I'd suggest not doing it all at once. Spread it out over a month or two until you get to where you need to be.