The App Cubby Jr Sale
April 28, 2010 01:00 PM
One of the things that saddens me about the internet is how it tends to strip the humanity from human interaction. People hide behind the perceived anonymity to do some rather inhuman things. The App Store seems to have become a microcosm of those unhealthy tendencies. Developers are lambasted for charging anything over $0.99, reviews are often irrelevant and mean spirited, and most people have absolutely no idea the time, effort, and creativity that goes into the apps they buy. Read More...
Comments
Selling Out Gracefully
December 23, 2009 01:00 PM
When in the course of human events a large company drives up to your house with a dump truck full of money, nobel ideals such as independence lose out to more visceral notions like greed, entitlement, and living the American dream. As an independent iPhone developer, how could I not accept the cash, build a mansion, and fill a swimming pool with Cristal? Read More...
App Cubby: An App Store Success Story
October 07, 2009 05:00 PM
I'm not an iPhone millionaire, but I'm doing quite well, all things considered. App Cubby has been a TON of work and caused quite a few sleepless nights, but these last 18 months have been some of the more fulfilling times in my life, both personally and professionally, and I can't wait to see what the next 18 hold. Read More...
5 is the new 10
July 21, 2009 02:30 PM
The App Store is a tough place to do business. In addition to the countless hours I’ve spent overseeing the development of the App Cubby apps, I’ve also spent a ton of time pouring over the App Store charts, experimenting with pricing and marketing, and reading accounts from other developers. I’ve managed to create some great apps and build a successful little business while swimming upstream in the App Store, but I’m finally willing to concede that for most apps, the price ceiling is now $5. Read More...
The Experiment
February 10, 2009 10:30 AM
With App Store shoppers seemingly hesitant to risk $5+ on a new app, I decided to do a pricing experiment. For a limited time, App Store shoppers were able to purchase any App Cubby app for $0.99. I asked that if they felt the app was worth more than the $0.99 they paid, they make a donation to fund future development. Read More...
App Store Pricing (It's not a free market!)
December 19, 2008 12:19 PM
Many people continue misinterpreting what Craig Hockenberry, myself, and other developers have been trying to convey. Here’s another stab at it: We're not complaining at the existence of $0.99 apps. We're frustrated that artificial market forces are driving down the price of apps, which in turn drives down the perceived value of the products we have invested significant time and money to create. Marketing can help, but it’s throwing good money after bad if the market discourages charging a fair price for an app. Read More...
Financial Realities of the App Store
December 10, 2008 02:18 PM
There have been a lot of uninformed people spouting nonsense about Craig Hockenberry’s “Ringtone Apps” blog post, so I thought I’d set the record straight with some real numbers from the App Cubby bank account. There are some amazing success stories on the App Store, but for every successful developer there are quite a few who haven’t come close to recouping their investment of time and/or money. App Cubby is doing quite well, all things considered, but it took a “Staff Pick” from Apple to get us over the hump. Read More...
The Icon Saga
December 04, 2008 01:27 PM
When the initial ideas for App Cubby started to take shape back in March of 2008, I decided that I didn’t want to create a few quick apps and see how it went. My goal was to lay the foundation for a brand that would become a trusted name in the App Store. With such a lofty goal, I knew that visual branding was going to play a very important role. Read More...