Mobile Evolution - Thoughts, insight, and experiences related to the mobile software industry

Here's another tip for newbie iPhone developers, concerning how setting the release date for a new app works.

Setting release dates properly has been a frustrating process for me. The release date can greatly affect where your app appears in the New Releases list on the AppStore, which is the only guaranteed list exposure your app will get. However, if you do not set the release date properly, you will lose that opportunity as well.

Maximizing revenue on the AppStore is the goal of every developer. Setting the right price and changing it at the right time (increase or sale) is truly an art. Many variables are at play, but if you experiment carefully, you can find the sweet spot for revenue. This sweet spot may surprise you, so it's important to experiment, or you'll miss out on your revenue potential. Of course, when a competitor comes into the mix, you may have to adjust. It's very important to monitor things regularly, so you are not caught unawares. This post will reiterate a few things from a previous post of mine on pricing, and share some of our experiences with iOS price experimentation.

So many sensational articles about iOS development dominate the scene, from the get-rich-quick-we-sold-a-million-copies to the “median paid app earns $682 per year.” However, neither of these two situations are realistic for business planning. While doing taxes and accounting this week, plus monitoring our newly released in-app purchase in Trip Boss travel manager, I was reminded that I've been meaning to write about how it really IS possible to make a living writing iOS apps. Ask yourself: can your business support you? If so, how can you plan for this? I'm not one to “hope,” I want to “make” it happen. All serious businesses should have a plan, rather than “just writing apps and hoping for the best.” This post shares our experiences in sales, in promotions, and lastly our business plan.

UPDATE: We took 3rd place! Thanks to all who voted for us!!

We're ecstatic that Serving Sizer Pro Recipe Cards on the iPad made Finalist in the 2010 Best App Ever awards. Thank you to all who nominated us! Our app is in the Parenting category for iPad. We've got some tough competition, so please take the time to enter your vote for us. Voting ends Tuesday, January 25. Thank you for your support.

Serving Sizer Pro Recipe Cards for iPad--your recipes, organized for cooking, update is now live in the iPad AppStore.


We've added several new features:

A few days ago I had a discussion on twitter with a few developer friends about links to the review section on the AppStores from within apps. Since people are prompted to "review on delete," the number of reviews can be slanted towards one-star, especially for 99c "throwaway" apps. No mechanism currently exists to prompt users who use and find value with their apps to rate and write reviews. So, many developers have added "Review this app" links inside their apps.

Recipe cards for your iPad! Creative Algorithms is pleased to announce our first iPad app: Serving Sizer Pro for iPad - recipe converter cookbook now available on the AppStore.

Lots of screenshots available on our main website, along with a walkthru on how it works. It has all the goodness of the iPhone version: scales by serving size, easy entry of ingredients, no website access required (save directly to iPad), but in a whole new custom format for iPad.