I'm right there with you, String, on being torn on what to do now. I can say if this in-app purchase thing were available when I launched my app, I would have used it.
I tried the one app unlocks another app thing, and no one understood it. I think those people would understand the 'purchase a license' *if* they start with the DEMO app and want to unlock. But if they start with the PRO app with a price tag attached, they expect a fully functional package. Right now, I just wouldn't want to rock the boat so much. My paid app can be found without , people can still find the DEMO under related apps. The DEMO has never been anywhere close to the top where people can find it. Some people have installed it at position 265. The paid app has 0.5 extra points in ratings. That makes sense, most people who like the app will be reviewing the paid app instead. So perhaps I'll save the in-app purchases thing for premium content. And only make it available in a paid app, since those people have proven that they will pay something and can deal with Google Checkout. In app purchase may be my big chance to do something that the Market has never done: present a proper message to people when authorization fails. Nathan On Feb 3, 12:53 pm, String <sterling.ud...@googlemail.com> wrote: > On Thursday, February 3, 2011 2:25:29 AM UTC, hackbod wrote: > > How about using it to be able to put your app up on market as a free trial > > > version, using in-app billing to unlock the full version? > > I've been thinking about this since the announcement yesterday. I used to > think this was a good use for in-app billing, but now I'm not so sure. > > My issue is with how to present the app. That's *app,* singular, because > you'll only have one, as opposed to the lite/pro or trial/unlock pairs which > are common now. With this current approach, especially lite/pro, users > understand what they're getting with the free aspect. They see "Lite" in the > title, and they immediately know they're not getting the whole enchilada. > Expectations are managed. > > If the app is all-in-one (unlocked through in-app billing), I'm betting many > users won't realize that they need to pay until AFTER they install it. It's > well established that a large percentage don't read the Market description. > So then they'll be annoyed that they didn't get the full version, with > crappy 1* Market comments following soon after. Not a recipe for success. > > OTOH, I've had good results with separate lite/pro apps. My top-selling app > was fed by a Lite version which rose in the Free rankings of its category, > then more recently has fallen back down. But not before the Pro version rose > high enough to gain decent visibility on the Paid side, and it's now doing > well enough that it doesn't need the support of Lite any more. Moral: with > two apps, you get two shots at success. > > I'm not saying that in-app billing to unlock a trial may not be right for > some apps, some devs. Just that I, for one, am not convinced. > > String -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Android Developers" group. To post to this group, send email to android-developers@googlegroups.com To unsubscribe from this group, send email to android-developers+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/android-developers?hl=en
