Dancing App Stores - Android Open 2011

Dancing App Stores

Jesse Vincent@[email protected]

Wednesday, October 19, 11

Dancing App Stores?


“That company in Brooklyn is so hip they have dancing app stores

on their website”



There are many, many Android App Stores


(not quite as many app stores as

dancing hamsters)


I almost calledthis talk...


88 Lines About44 App Stores


If I spent 20 seconds on each Android App Store, this talk would

run over time





http://amazon.com/appstorehttp://andappstore.com

http://android.pdassi.dehttp://andspot.com

http://appoke.comhttp://apps.fasmicro.nethttp://appslib.com

http://m.djuzz.comhttp://market.android.com

http://mjelly.com/apps/tags/androidhttp://mplayit.comhttp://open.app.qq.com

http://promo.appcity.comhttp://sc.hiapk.com/himarket

http://slideme.orghttp://soc.io

http://store.handmark.comhttp://storeoid.comhttp://wandoujia.com

http://www.airtel.in/appshttp://www.androidpit.com

http://www.androlib.comhttp://www.apktop.com

http://www.appchina.comhttp://www.appia.com

http://www.appitalism.comhttp://www.applanet.net

http://www.camangimarket.comhttp://www.docomo-market.info

http://www.eoemarket.comhttp://www.explorepda.com/products.php?OS=Androidhttp://www.fastapp.com

http://www.getjar.comhttp://www.goapk.com

http://www.handango.comhttp://www.handster.comhttp://www.maopao.com

http://www.mobango.comhttp://www.mobihand.com

http://www.mobile2day.comhttp://www.mobileapps.com

http://www.mobiles24.comhttp://www.mobspot.comhttp://www.motorola.com/Consumers/US-EN/SHOP4APPS/US-EN

http://www.nduoa.comhttp://www.nn4d.com/appwarehouse

http://www.pocketgear.comhttp://www.samsungapps.com

http://www.whiteapp.com

http://yaam.mobihttps://bloomworlds.com

https://market.android.comhttps://marketplace.cisco.com/apphq

https://nookdeveloper.barnesandnoble.comhttp://f-droid.orghttp://m.sonyericsson.com/playnow

http://www1.orange.co.uk/entertainment/OrangeWorldhttp://mobile.optuszoo.com.au/cocoon

http://www.nexva.comhttp://emocion.movistar.es/mstorehttp://www.ubi-nuri.com

http://www.mmarket.comhttp://hyper.biz.tr/

http://mikandi.comhttp://www.lgworld.com/web.gateway.dev

http://www.insydemarket.comhttp://www.esdn.wshttp://droydmarket.com

http://blapkmarket.comhttp://www.appstorehq.com

http://www.apptown.com/Add_App.htmlhttp://www.92apk.com


http://amazon.com/appstore






















































































































































(73)


(Yes, I left out a screenshot

so the grid fit)


Some markets are for specific places


Some are for specific types of apps


Some are tied to a carrier or manufacturer


Some are tied to afree software ethos


I am an Android hobbyist


K-9 is myopen source

hobby project


K-9 Mail


4-5 active committers


4 Google Summer of Code students


There are around a dozen forks of K-9 on the Android Market


...like Kaiten Mail


Kaiten Mail is my commercial

hobby project


Kaiten Mail


Kaiten Mail


Kaiten usually gets1-2 hours of my day


Kaiten earns$5000-$6000per month


90+% of that comes from the Google Android Market


My experiences so far


Amazon App Store


Initial Posting of K-9took weeks


Every change needs to be manually reviewed

and approved by Amazon


Amazon editsyour prose


Amazon reserves the right to discount your

app dramatically


Even if they give your app away free, you still get 20% of list price...


...except it looks like mostly, you don’t.


App review time is unpredictable


You can’t refund unhappy users


Stats are very limited


There’s no provision for an emergency

release


Posted Kaiten by Amazon’s review

deadline for their App Store launch


Kaiten appeared about 2 weeks after the App

Store launched


Initial Kaiten Mail Release Price: $20


Initial sales...


...I had no idea.


Amazon’s sales stats were down for the first 2 weeks Kaiten was up


First two weeks...


I sold 5 copies


I dropped theprice to $5


...I put in a request that Amazon drop the price

to $5.


It only took them 2 days to approve the

pricing change!


Sales picked up a bit


I sold 28 copies in the second two weeks


Currently the #6 paid communications app


I now make $100-$300/month

from Amazon



Listing Kaiten on Android Market


Sales sucked


I sucked


I did no marketing


I did no advertising


Slowly, Kaiten crept up the charts


It got into the top 100 communications apps


Sales started to get a lot better


Two things made for a “good” sales day


A new releaseimproves sales


Functionalitydoesn’t matter


Usually #30-40 paid Communcations app


Kaiten Mail


Kaiten Mail


That’s 10 days withno new upload


I did it for you guys


Currently #56 paid Communications app


Tomorrow, timefor a new upload


Good, recent reviewsimprove sales


★ ★ ★ ★ ★

★ ★ ★ ★ ★

★ ★ ★ ★ ★ =

SALES


★ ★ ★ ★ ★

★ ★ ★ ★ ★

★ ★ ★ ★ ★ =

SADNESS


Reviews with comments matter


Past a certain point, average ratingdoesn’t matter


AndroidPIT


2nd tier App Market


They pay, but notas fast as Google


They approached me for a paid promotion

in September


For EUR1000, they’d advertise Kaiten in

their weekly newsletter


They asked to discount Kaiten from $5 to $3


Lots of people bought Kaiten during the

promo period


(Saw an uptick on the Android Market, too)


I made my money back and then a bit


Nothing earth-shattering


I sell a couple copies a day on AndroidPIT


They just launched a second Kaiten promo


Currently #2 paid Communcations app &

#9 top paid app


AndroidPIT earns me around $400-$600/mo


Motorola Shop4Apps


Country-specific app stores


Automatic and manual Vetting processes


Even less feedback than Amazon


They used to have Central- and South-American app stores


They still have a Chinese app store


I posted Kaiten with a full Chinese listing


In 3 months, I’ve sold...


...one copy


UPDATE!


I checked today


I’ve now sold...


three more copies!


SlideME


Others have had lots of success with SlideME


It’s the place to take your NES Emulator when Google pulls

your account


Their UI is awful


Their performance is awful


Their app selection is awful


They have a weird, complex “inventory”

scheme


I sell O(1) copy per week there.


The warez scene



apktop


Kaiten often ends up on apktop before

shows up on Amazon


Pirates are brazen


They write for free tech support


...and then tell me they had pirated Kaiten, but bought the app because the support was good


Other app stores I’ve dealt with...


...are less awesome.


Many don’t support paid apps


Many are operated by shadowy, sketchy

companies


Not all of those are Mobile carriers!


The app stores with the tightest carrier

relationships seem to be the most painful


It took months for one of them to tell me they hadn’t posted my app...


...because I was missing a marketing asset


So, what do I recommend?


AassaaS


AndroidappstoresubmissionasaService


Please startan AassaaScompany!


I Will Pay You


Don’t limit yourself to the Google

Android Market


Amazon’s going to become more

prominent


(I like safe predictions)


Pick a couple more markets to try



F/LOSS Apps only


Based on APKtor



Some folks like GetJAR


(they don’t do paid apps)


App store directories

• http://www.wipconnector.com/appstores/

• http://www.android-markets-info.com/


http://www.wipconnector.com/appstores/




Thanks!

Jesse Vincent@[email protected]


Technology

Dancing App Stores - Android Open 2011