Prices for the WinMo platform have been very steep I must admit. Seems odd to think how much we paid for apps on that platform. I agree that marketing is a critical area as well.

Wow – surprised to hear that. I don't think I'd pay that much for any single news source.

I have thought that Mobile applications have been over priced, with many rivaling desktop application pricing, despite being far less complex. This has been particularly true with Window Mobile Applications. With Apple finally handling distribution, and giving developers a fair cut of the sales, developers realize they can make a lot of money even when charging less than $5.00 per application.

The biggest issue developers need to address is marketing. Many think all they need to do is put their app in the app store and people will find it. Those that really want to succeed need to find new ways to reach those of us with an iPhone, so we know about their work.

I agree with your first couple points, mostly. Of course not all apps appeal to a wide audience, and each of us has our priorities and preferences. On the idea that many buyers are 12 and 13 year olds – that may be true, and likely some of them will use less 'serious' apps – but I wouldn't class them all that way too quickly – hell, there are 12 year olds out there developing apps.

I would like to see something like smart playlists or a Genius type feature in the store. And I would love to have a way to banish the one trick pony apps from my line of sight, for sure. In fact, though I'm not sure it's at all feasible, I'd like to see a 'Novelty' section established and have a lot of harmless / useless stuff moved to that section.

All this "hand wringing" and "gnashing of teeth" over app store pricing gets tiresome. The market will eventually sort itself out. Unfortunately for some devs/companies it may take longer than they can survive.

That said, Apple really needs to get off their duff and implement something like "smart playlists" for the app store so we can have a remote chance of seeing the wheat in all the chaf. Fawd I'd kill for the ability to screen out all those devs who produce 25, 50, 100 or more one trick pony apps (call dad, call mom, call for some kind of freaking relief from retard developers without a clue!!!!)

Please Apple, give us some serious tools to mine the app store. Now!!! 🙂

Rich

I've probably made the most mistakes at the lower purchase points as well. And I completely agree that there are some amazing free apps out there.

I believe the market will continue to grow as well – but do think some of the fears about quality of apps are legitimate concerns, given the quotes in that post from some heavy hitters in the apps development arena.

I hope they're going to address that soon – seems such a big, obvious one.

Yeah, that's the problem. I know i could use lite version, but they are, uhm, lite. Usually there aren't some of the feature you want to try out, so you have to use cracked versions. I'm a student, i'm eighteen, i can't afford buying apps in this "blind" way.

So yeah, i'd buy a 10 bucks app if it's worth

Part of what makes me reluctant to buy more of the higher-priced apps is the lack of ability to test them first. I agree with appcubby's point about trial periods. I don't want to spend too much on an app that I'm only relying on user ratings for. If I could have a trial period, I'd be more likely to pay a higher price.