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Today we’re joined by Alex Solonsky and Vadim Shpakovski, the team behind the personal finance app Saver 2. Alex and Vadim recently released Saver 2 as a separate SKU from Saver 1, with the intention of moving their side business from a “hobby” to their full-time job. So today we talk to them about their experience in charging customers for updates, their choice of pricing models, their use of IAP subscriptions for premium features, and how they respond to customers who are resistant to paying for software on a recurring basis.
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We’ve all heard the time honored advice that you shouldn’t “put all your eggs in one basket,” but that’s exactly what many independent developers do. They have their entire business riding on the success (or failure) of one app, or maybe just a couple apps. Today we look at this phenomenon and consider the risk involved. Is this a necessary coping strategy for independent developers with too little time, or are we all putting our our businesses in danger?
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Today we take a moment to talk about all the cool things there are to do in Indianapolis when you visit for the conference this October, then we dive into our main topic: communicating with customers, and some of the problems we have in that regard. We discuss customers who don’t read App Store descriptions, the misunderstandings that can arise when that happens, and how we as developers can avoid such situations to begin with. We also talk about hostile emails from customers and how to handle those conflicts when they arise.
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Today we continue our discussion of Charles’ analysis of the distribution of App Store revenue, and the implications that it holds for indie developers. We talk about making a living, setting expectations, and achieving goals. We also consider what advice we’d give to people wanting to go indie, and take a close look at what exactly success looks like in today’s App Store.
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