Smiling Frog Software

I have had the price of Simply Lists at $0.99 or a while now, and there was an initial increase in downloads, but this has also resulted in several people giving one star reviews.  I was making just as much on the app at a higher level, but with better reviews.  In anticipation of the release of Simply Lists 2.0 I have decided to move the price to $1.99 I think this is more than fair for the work I have done.

I have also decided to make the Gene Lab App free with embedded ad’s.

This week there has been a bunch of positive and negative discussion around the news that Tweetie 2.0 for the iPhone is nearly complete, and that it will be a new application, not a free upgrade. You can read the announcement here at the Atebits blog.  I’m a user of the Tweetie 1.0 on the iPhone and of the desktop app.  I  personally think that Tweetie is one of the best designed apps on the App store. Apple didn’t give Loren Brichter an Apple Design Award for nothing.

A couple of days later Mr. Brichter did an interview about the new version at Just Another iPhone Blog.  The reason for so much discussion is that many users are upset that they will have to spend an additional $2.99 to get the new application, instead of getting it as a free update to Tweetie 1.0.  As an iPhone developer I have been following this with great interest, because to be honest I have been pretty disappointed so far with the performance of the App store.  I don’t have any applications in the App store yet that are even remotely as popular as Tweetie, I’m still trying to find the right idea.  My primary App in the store ‘Simply Lists‘ was originally priced the same as Tweetie $2.99  I viewed this as a fair price, but in a crowded market for these types of apps I quickly found the only way to keep selling was to move to $0.99.

In the above interview with Mr. Brichter he states:

“Without the option for paid upgrades, developers (who work on anything more substantial than ringtone apps) have two options: 
1. Support the app forever and release free updates forever. 
2. Abandon the app.

No developer can afford to do (1), so the app will die.  Users can be scary to developers, even if the angry ones are just a vocal minority.  Changing the perception that iPhone apps will get free upgrades forever is going to be an uphill battle, and I think other developers are thankful I’ve taken a step in that direction.”

He is absolutely correct here. There is a balance to be found between bug fixes, minor improvements, new functionality, and major new versions of an Application.  On the desktop this is an established system.  Bug fixes and minor changes are often provided as free updates, but Major new versions are almost always paid for. If you want quality software on the iPhone then this same system must be accepted.

As for me, well I’m currently looking for a full time job again, I haven’t even been able to cover the costs of setting up my business so far.  I have done some contracting work as well to help, and I hope to continue doing so.  I will keep Smiling Frog Software going, and I’m going to keep working on new software for the iPhone in my spare time, but unless I get lucky with a new App there is no way I can currently make this a full time job.  You have no idea how disappointing it is to say that.

Simply Lists 2.0 will be submitted to the App store shortly, it contains many new features, and bug fixes.  It will be a free upgrade for existing users.

I was super excited to see that Just Another iPhone Blog gave my application Simply Lists a positive mention yesterday. Really happy to see that they liked it.

I have also reduced the price of Simply Lists to $0.99.  This was a hard move for me to make. I really do not like the trend for all apps to be One Dollar.  I believe the time and energy spent to develop these applications is worth more, and the trend to lower prices will result in many developers leaving the iPhone or worse producing trivial software that lacks functionality.  Only time will tell whether the changes Apple will surely be making to the app store will improve the current pricing situation.

I saw a comment on FriendFeed recently where Robert Scoble mentioned that he refused to pay more than $5 for an app. Why $5? What makes applications for the iPhone worth less than desktop software.  Is the price of the application somehow tied to the size of the screen of the device you are running the software on? Don’t get me wrong I think Scoble is entitled to set any price limit he wants on his personal purchases on the app store. I just wonder why there seems to be a perception that the work someone does for the iPhone is worth less than the same application on the desktop. Seems like a strange difference.

Gene Lab 1.1 is now Available in the iTunes App Store.

I have submitted Gene Lab 1.1. It should be available in the next few weeks.

What’s in 1.1:

• In App Settings Menu
• 3 New Creature Types

Waiting is hard.  My new app Gene Lab was submitted a week ago and I hope it will be approved soon.

The 1.1 update for Simply Lists is taking longer to make its way through the approval process than I expected.  Discussions on the official developer forum seem to indicate that there is a big backlog of updates going through the system right now.  Hopefully the update will be released soon.

My first application ‘Simply Lists’ was released to the iPhone App store a couple of weeks ago.  I submitted a new version of the app a few days ago.  Last night I received a rejection E Mail from Apple. This wasn’t like many of the horror stories you may have heard though.  The E Mail I received was friendly and list the specific steps to reproduce a crashing bug in my application.  I was able to quickly fix the problem, which I had introduced with a recent change, and submit a new binary for testing.

Negative experiences make better news stories than positive stories.  There are many serious issues with the process, and more importantly for me with the application discovery process. However, my experience with the whole process has been very positive.

Special thanks go to the tester that I communicated with, I have no idea who you are, but your doing a good job.

The next version of Simply Lists will require iPhone OS 3.0.  I’ll be shocked if anyone does not upgrade to this version of the OS.  The upgrade is worth it for copy and paste alone.

Simply Lists v1.1 has the following improvements and fixes:

• Support for iPhone OS 3.0 Built In Email
• Improved E Mail format
• Landscape Keyboard in name and note editing
• New toolbar icon for Tags view
• Support for sharing lists via iPhone OS 3.0 Peer to Peer (This feature does not work on 1st generation iPhones or the 1st generation iPod touch)
• Fixed bug with list renaming
• Fixed bug with sounds not working

From the logs I can see that very few people have purchased the app so far. I hope that those that have will tell their friends about the app. I also want to encourage everyone to let me know if there is anything that is keeping you from using Simply Lists.

As WWDC looms nearer I can’t help but think about what wonderful news will trickle down to me via Twitter and the 4 or 5 Tech websites I will be feverishly refreshing.  Some of the rumors and assumptions surrounding the likely new version of the iPhone seem obvious others sound down right insane.

Features I believe we will see:

• Upgraded camera: I would be shocked if we they don’t announce an upgraded video capable camera.  I would expect to see 3+ mega pixel with some form of focusing.
• Larger storage capacity: 32 meg for an high end model is very likely.  Might even see 64 meg for the iPod Touch.
• Faster Processor: Almost a given at this point. Faster processor equals better gaming, equals more money for Apple.
• Non-exclusive with at least one more network: We will most likely see Verizon become an iPhone provider along with AT&T.
• One more thing: I may be hoping for too much here, but I’m expecting them to announce a new feature or two that we haven’t heard any thing about.

Features I find hard to imagine:

• FM Transmitter or Receiver:  I find it really hard to believe that Apple would consider adding support for something that could be done by a 3rd party hardware company for a limited audience.  They have added a bunch of additional access to add on devices via Blue Tooth and the dock connector. Why complicate the hardware with this?
• Video Editing: If they have this at all, it will be very simple trimming.

I would love to see them also announce a new tablet or large scale Media device based on the Touch APIs.