Existing users, 
Does Free iPhone Software Pay?
Posted 29 August 2008 @ 12pm in Development, News
Developers of certain high-profile iPhone applications have discovered a stream of significant, new-platform money. Smaller developers have also been able to generate modest income, with the first paychecks for many coders now received from Apple.
One category of revenue intake many developers are closely watching is that of free-to-paid conversion. Since no real shareware model exists for the iPhone, some developers have decided to offer free, limited-functionality versions of their applications alongside paid, full-functionality versions. The question is whether or not users will convert to the paid version after having used (or at least downloaded) the free version.
Stats from one developer paint a fairly grim portrait, though not one that is wholly out of line with shareware conversion rates for other platforms.
Josh Anon, the developer of FlipBook, an application that allows free-form doodling and image manipulation, says that less than 1% of users who download the “lite” version of his application purchase the full edition.
“We’re quite happy with the number of people who have decided to try FlipBook Lite and the great reviews it’s receiving! Of course we’d be happier if the conversion rate to the paid version were higher (it’s under 1%), but we’ll see what happens as time goes on. ”
FlipBook Lite currently holds the #6 spot in the free software category on the iPhone AppStore with 251,360 downloads so far.
How is your iPhone software performing? Let us know.
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7 Comments
Posted by KeyBcodeR
30 August 2008 @ 5pm
……..and a better calibration on landscape mode when Safari or Coverflow are in use…..
Posted by rosnow
1 September 2008 @ 1pm
I always think its better to just lower the price.
Posted by jeffmatt
2 September 2008 @ 7am
My iphone software perfrom good. And I also found some free iphone games, share it here
http://www.mac-dvd.com/free-iphone-ipod-games.html
Posted by outaru
3 September 2008 @ 5am
the only app i bought was hold ‘em i like the multiplayer mode.. however i hope they include some AI players in it..
Posted by Picon
3 September 2008 @ 5pm
Why have two comments been approved, while my original comment still says “awaiting moderation”?
Posted by fusionbay
5 September 2008 @ 7am
This is a good post — I think a lot of people are wondering the same thing. The unfortunate problem is that since Apple doesn’t offer a shareware model, us developers are left to come up with a solution. And coming up with that solution isn’t exactly easy with Apple’s arbitrary review process and set of rules.
The game we created, Wordabble, was supposed to have a ‘lite’ version which would have provided limited functionality in a shareware style of game. Apple denied that version, stating that we couldn’t provide a game that had limited functionality or that tried to upsell to something in paid form. That’s quite unfortunate. We thought we had a good solution on our hands that would have had a high conversion rate, especially since there were things within the game that would have always worked. It’s not like we prevented the application from opening after 30 days.
If developers can’t mention their paid for version, or explain what features are missing in the free versions, I don’t expect conversion rates to ever be very high between free to paid apps. We’re sticking with the paid only model for now, but I would love to be able to offer a free version of Wordabble sometime in the future when the shareware model becomes a bit less ambiguous.
-Jason Lancaster
Posted by jtrascap
8 September 2008 @ 12am
I think Flipbook is a good example to use, for a number of reasons but not for the argument you’re supposing.
First - I’ve tried quite a few free apps and have only upgraded to the final version in a couple of primarily because of the lack of depth in many applications. My general feeling is that they’ve been rushed to market to capitalize on early placement in the App Store.
For me, an application has to be able to solve a problem or satisfy an need BEYOND merely existing for purchase. Many apps in the store do not qualify under those terms.
Flipbook is a technical achievement but has a number use issues that kept me from buying it:
* There are no primary objects to use to create drawings - not everyone is an artist..
* Besides primaries, the tools seem to lack a fill option. Perhaps it’s not in the design by the developer, but as a user I expected it to be more like a paint program…
* The digitizer or the handling isn’t really smooth enough - I wish there was a snapping option to make sure frame deltas aligned properly.
* How do I export my animations? Is my only option to film the screen??
and ultimately, the price. 8 euros is too much for a squiggly drawing app which doesn’t add up to much more than a moments squiggly line-drawing.