There has been a lot of discussion recently in the iOS community regarding the so called “health” of the paid application market. My feelings on whether it is better to pay for the software you use to ensure that you are the developer’s main customer are well documented both on this site and Coder Radio, but, for new readers, I am an advocate of paying (and charging) for software. The most recent developer to throw his hat into this debate has been Marco Arment – the famous developer of Instapaper and The Magazine. Marco is a great developer and someone whose work I respect. His post is well thought out and reasonable – up until the last line where he states: “The bar is higher, but the market is fine”. Before diving into how someone as euredite as Arment could be so mistaken, let’s first define what it means when we say the bar is higher – apps now require a “better user experience” and a good deal of marketing to even be noticed by a reasonable number of users.
Yes, I know Apple has changed the world! Users now demand simple and elegant experiences. Isn’t that great? Well, no if you’re a developer, that’s terrible. That’s terrible, because, as a developer, you likely do not possess the design skills or experience to properly design an app of design caliber that a professional designer would. Like developers, designers do not work for free and a gifted designer who has been working in the field for any length of time command and handsome hourly rate. That means that to hit the required level of design, developers need to invest a good deal of capital in it.
Let’s say that you’ve got your design down and you’ve come to terms with your newly shrunken bank account – my condolences on that by the way. What now? Do you just passively wait for users to download your app? Perhaps you pray for users? Do a rain dance? Sadly, there is no evidence to suggest that any of the preceding will actually help your app become successful. Like any product (and yes your app is a product, not some work of self-expression), your app needs to be marketed. There are a lot of ways of to market it an app, though few of them are effective, but none of them is free unless you are a known quantity (like Arment) or able to convince one to push your app. That means you will need even more capital to get advertising for your app.
Like Arment, I agree that the bar is higher for apps than it was just a few years ago, but I contend that the bar being higher is a problem for the average independent developer. Many of these developers simply do not have the capital required to hire a decent designer and effectively market an app. So, if Arment seems to agree that the bar is higher, then how could he be so blind to the issues that poses for small independent developers? The answer is surprisingly simple: Arment is something of a celebrity in the Apple developer world. That means he doesn’t need to spend the capitol that others would to market his apps; In fact, his name and connections do that for him. In short, the bar is higher for all of us, but it is only half as high for Arment.
