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[ANNOUNCEMENT] I wanna change VPlayer to a PAID app.

At first, let me thanks for your supporting to VPlayer.
I want VPlayer to be free at first, because I think the users will help me if I give out a better app. Now I wanna change my mind.
Considering the situation:
Gingerbread, Tegra 2, HTC hero, Droid X, EVO...
Hundreds of devices and feature requests are coming to me every day. And I want to accomplish these requests as soon as possible.
However, I cannot make it. 'Cause I can't afford these devices and don't have enough time to programm for a free software.
Although I've recieved many donations, but the amount can't even afford a nexus S. So many people are using VPlayer and request more features everyday. But they won't help me at all.
They didn't send me $1, They didn't send me a crash log. They just gave me 1 star, "fc on droid 2 / Nexus S", "If you support HDMI for EVO, will 5 star".
How come they want more and more but won't help any more ?
At last, I think I should make VPlayer a paid app to make it better.

Well, I don't use VPlayer but I totally agree.... If you are putting in that much effort and require funds to continue then yes a paid version would be a good step forward.
I would recommend though you try to keep some form of 'Ad-Support' version. After all, you need new numbers to test and report back.... Plus what with Google's new 15min rule a lot of users are thinking twice now before parting with their cash.
Having said that, VPlayer is easily tested within 15mins.... Providing it does not lock out/FC/Time Slip/etc at 16 mins onwards.

I'd have to agree that a lot of commenters in Market are plain brain-dead and they really discourage developers who put a lot of effort to bring quality software for free.

I will gladly pay for your app, its one of my favs!

Go ahead and make it a paid app, it deserves to be (and its your choice). Also consider an ad supported (in the settings/menu) version for us xda folks
Thanks.

I found RockPlayer to be the only player that would play an avi on my Nexus S, so I looked into buying their product. Then I realise it is done off market and tied to you IMEI number. I e-mailed asking them about this, saying I change device every 2 or 3 months and they said they would move a license twice. For this they want $10?!?!?! (On sale at $5 now I think)
I am thinking of e-mailing them back just to let them know they have put me off buying. If it was tied to the market I would probably have paid $5 already.
Anyway, to bring it back to relevance to this thread, if you charged $1 or $2 I would probably pay for it, if I knew it would play all the video types I needed.
I have to be honest though, I think your logic and reasoning is wrong though. You surely wont make enough money from this to buy every device that someone says it doesn't work on. I would prefer you were honest and just said, this app is taking a lot of time and you'd like some pay back from it. I don't think anyone would deny you that. (That sounds harsh, I don't mean to imply your not being honest now...)
Thanks.

Abitno,
Go ahead and make it a paid app. Time is money. If nobody else is providing what you have to offer I believe you should be entitled to be compensated to support development for such great work. If people don't like it, they will then have to go without an app that supports all the formats VPlayer can handle. I for sure will be willing to pay for such great work. Just make sure you strike a midpoint price. I would suggest a price range between $2.99 -$4.99.
Thanks for the great work and count on me on making a purchase although I already have the latest free version.
Sent from my SPH-D700 using XDA App

Be careful, I would suggest anything over $1.99 will put a lot of people off and you would end up with less...
You might find $0.99 would actually be the most profitable price point. I buy quite a few apps at that price without caring too much if they're useful or not!

Yup! I'd pay a dollar, hey if you did that you might make a killing.
I was using you app last week to watch the Cleaveland Show, really pleased so far. Personally I would prefer if it was a smaller file as have limited space on my N1.
Keep up the good work!

I've tried Vplayer on my Evo and I liked it a lot! I'd be willing to pay for it. Great software.

Agree on everything, make it a paid app!

yea, make it a paid app. But please give us a ad-version too!
Sent from my HTC Desire using XDA App

best video app on the market i would go 3 on it no prob

ok, i hope you read this,
as you can see, i am living in egypt where not even Google Checkout is supported, i mean i can't even buy an app off the market even if i wanted to,
i developed a couple of apps, so i'll try to open some ideas for you,
Android Market have countries who can see paid apps, and most can't
making your application paid only leaves me no options to get it.
however making it ad-supported ( in a non spam-ing way ) makes it a good option,
you can also play with the filtering options as much as i can hear in the market to offer both versions in country specific way.
hope i made you see things more clear ...

mezo9090 said:
you can also play with the filtering options as much as i can hear in the market to offer both versions in country specific way.
hope i made you see things more clear ...
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Thank you

mezo9090 said:
making your application paid only leaves me no options to get it.
however making it ad-supported ( in a non spam-ing way ) makes it a good option,
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Click to collapse
I would suggest releasing two versions: Full/Paid, and a Free ad-supported one.
I've heard some people complaining that ads don't get you very much money, especially if no one clicks on them. I don't have firsthand experience with that, though. But even if the paid version doesn't add any extra features, label it a "donate/ad-free" version and some people would buy it just to get rid of the ads. Extra features in the full one just add more incentive, and the ad-supported one can still be used by those who can't buy it, like mezo9090.

What I suggest is that instead of making it paid, you should make it... open source. Yeah, open source. If such a great app becomes open, more developers will certainly join in (count me in once I finish that C++ course), which means more devices for testing and faster development in general. So, what do you think?

IMHO (as a non-developer) I would suggest you market it carefully. Id guess that your main competition is RockPlayer. I use both VPlayer and RockPlayer as I find some formats work better on one than the other.
I agree with a poster above that you would get a lot more response by pricing it low - I tend to be happy to throw a $ or two on a whim but anything more i tend to want to see a demo first ....

This is my favourite app - without it there would still be one area where Windows Mobile outperforms Android (well, there's RockPlayer, which was okay, but less developed, and with that annoying banner).
Add a price, and I'll pay it. My suggested price-point is £2 to £3. Congratulations on a fantastic App.
By the sounds of it, the Angry Bird developers have found it profitable to have an ad-supported version (although I know they have critical mass on their side). I's suggest a paid and an ad-free version if it's simple to put together.
All the best, very proud to have you on this board

I understand your case but if your app is to be on XDA it has to be free, or free with an optional paid version. Ads are reccomended in your case. PM me if you wish to carry on this application development, best wishes.

[POLL] How Many Apps Have You Purchased on Your Android Device?

I'm an app junkie. Free apps, paid apps, it doesn't matter. I love apps. I love useful apps, fun apps, games and books. I've downloaded and installed thousands upon thousands of apps starting from my G1 through my MT3G, Nexus One and now MT4G and many others in between. I've also purchased a whole lot of apps. Some simply to supports devs who are bettering the community. Others because I need them for daily use. I've purchased a ridiculous number of games and apps to amuse myself and my kids. So how many apps have you purchased? Do you prefer to use free apps? Vote above an leave a comment with your number.

AndroidAppCritic said:
I'm an app junkie. Free apps, paid apps, it doesn't matter. I love apps. I love useful apps, fun apps, games and books. I've downloaded and installed thousands upon thousands of apps starting from my G1 through my MT3G, Nexus One and now MT4G and many others in between. I've also purchased a whole lot of apps. Some simply to supports devs who are bettering the community. Others because I need them for daily use. I've purchased a ridiculous number of games and apps to amuse myself and my kids. So how many apps have you purchased? Do you prefer to use free apps? Vote above an leave a comment with your number.
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Same here...love apps and I do what I can to support the devs. Going into the Market is like my birthday, every day.

If I like an app payed or not doesn't matter. But I usually try the free version first.

Always like to contribute to good apps and one i THINK i will use.

I don't really purchase apps, mostly all my apps are free.

I enjoy apps. I prefer the very useful ones like UltimateJuice (must have)... Root Explorer, Titanium Backup and ROM Manager (if it worked on my Epic, so they say)

I also love trying out different apps. Since Christmas I've bought crap for almost $200. If I like an app I'll always try to support the developer by buying the paid version.
Sent from my GT-P1000 using XDA Premium App

I'm strict on apps, I only have like 15.
Sent from my Incredible with the XDA Premium App.

I can hold tons of apps on a 4GB SD Card.

I have probably spent 1000 bux or more on apps and use maybe 1/4 of them I need to slow down think maybe I have an adiction lol
Sent from my PC36100 using XDA Premium App

I'm definitely for buying apps just to support the developers and to make developing for android a nice option for would-be developers.
Not that many apps purchased but I'm hitting the 40 range. Will still pay for more especially the tegra games once I get my hands on the Xoom wifi.
Seriously I don't get why people don't spend a little more on apps. An app costs like a cup of coffee. Every app you pay for, just cut back on a cuppa.
Of course I only spend on stuff I really use, at least for a couple of weeks.

ruffneckZeVo said:
I have probably spent 1000 bux or more on apps and use maybe 1/4 of them I need to slow down think maybe I have an adiction lol
Sent from my PC36100 using XDA Premium App
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Holy moly that's alot of apps!
Me on the other hand, I have about 100 apps of which about a dozen are purchased, not because I'm a sting or anything but why should I pay for them when I can get someone else to pay for them (tapping on ads in the app)
Just out of interest though, when I do click on an ad, how much goes to the dev on average?
Sent from my GT-I9000 using XDA App

I am not buying any apps, because market accepts creditcard only. Bad luck for developers.
Sent from my HTC HD2

Just counted via my apps list in the market and I got all the way up to 31. This also includes live wallpapers (I think I paid for 3 or 4 even though I never use them for more than a day at a time) and a handful of widgets. Way more than I thought though. Those are just the paid apps, not free.

The Android Market is growing every they with wonderful apps to choose from.

0 charchar
CM7

Interesting poll. Also, disappointing results - i cant believe 30% have only purchased 1-3 apps. As a development studio it saddens us that people with ultra-expensive smartphones are too miserly to spend a few bucks on really cool apps with interesting functionality.

Why don't you add the option 'None', because I'm so sure there are a lot of people who want a different payment method than creditcard.

6 - but this is mainly caused by the fact that I still use old G1 phone. I don't need most of paid utilities - free ones are enough. But I think I would buy a LOT of games if they would work on my device :-D
Also I like to pay for someone's work even if I don't have to. For example Star Traders RPG Elite gives you very little more than free version, but I have bought it to support its author

I paid for so many I can't remember >.<

[Q] why develop paid games and apps for android?

ok, first of all I'd like to state that I am not in fact trolling. This is a serious question from one dev to another. I have been devving on android for almost 2 years now and have been devving on wp7 for around 3 months. Studies have shown that despite the clear difference in market share that people who are developing the same app for each OS are making quite a bit more for wp7 and even more for ios of course due to app pirating. I understand why all these rooting and rom apps and over locking apps are made but why would anyone spend all the time to develop a game when the security is so minimal that any app could be either just stolen or given a crack without issue. Its sad really to see developers hard work go unrewarded but app pirating is way too easy. You can go download a folder with 10000 apks of all these different games on a torrent site in about a minute and honestly its sad. I really don't see how android devs survive without ad support.

z33dev33l said:
ok, first of all I'd like to state that I am not in fact trolling. This is a serious question from one dev to another. I have been devving on android for almost 2 years now and have been devving on wp7 for around 3 months. Studies have shown that despite the clear difference in market share that people who are developing the same app for each OS are making quite a bit more for wp7 and even more for ios of course due to app pirating. I understand why all these rooting and rom apps and over locking apps are made but why would anyone spend all the time to develop a game when the security is so minimal that any app could be either just stolen or given a crack without issue. Its sad really to see developers hard work go unrewarded but app pirating is way too easy. You can go download a folder with 10000 apks of all these different games on a torrent site in about a minute and honestly its sad. I really don't see how android devs survive without ad support.
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lol... there are bad people in this world.. and everyone can become a bad person.. so everyone desires to be one? so everyone becomes bad.. nope
k do this.. go to your android market.. search for robo-defence..look at its price.. and look at its downlaods, it will say >500,000 and it cost 2.90 dollars
i think ill do the maths
thats around 1450000 dollars ...
obviously developer actually dint make this much .. but u get my idea.. he made a lot of money .. and if for instance he thought like u .. he would have not made all that money. he dint allow negativity to take over him.
and people who look for un-faithfull means.. find it.. and there are many who know about piracy but they have human values , they always pay.
and trust me there are so many who wodnt even know about where to find these pirated apps .. they actually dont care . These people pay

jags_the1 said:
lol... there are bad people in this world.. and everyone can become a bad person.. so everyone desires to be one? so everyone becomes bad.. nope
k do this.. go to your android market.. search for robo-defence..look at its price.. and look at its downlaods, it will say >500,000 and it cost 2.90 dollars
i think ill do the maths
thats around 1450000 dollars ...
obviously developer actually dint make this much .. but u get my idea.. he made a lot of money .. and if for instance he thought like u .. he would have not made all that money. he dint allow negativity to take over him.
and people who look for un-faithfull means.. find it.. and there are many who know about piracy but they have human values , they always pay.
and trust me there are so many who wodnt even know about where to find these pirated apps .. they actually dont care . These people pay
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You are absolutely right my friend.even though I know where I can find those pirated stuff I bought talking tom, fruit ninja, file downloader plus from the market.respect you in this aspect that people pay

jags_the1 said:
lol... there are bad people in this world.. and everyone can become a bad person.. so everyone desires to be one? so everyone becomes bad.. nope
k do this.. go to your android market.. search for robo-defence..look at its price.. and look at its downlaods, it will say >500,000 and it cost 2.90 dollars
i think ill do the maths
thats around 1450000 dollars ...
obviously developer actually dint make this much .. but u get my idea.. he made a lot of money .. and if for instance he thought like u .. he would have not made all that money. he dint allow negativity to take over him.
and people who look for un-faithfull means.. find it.. and there are many who know about piracy but they have human values , they always pay.
and trust me there are so many who wodnt even know about where to find these pirated apps .. they actually dont care . These people pay
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well I'm on wp7 I i understand paying for apps. I've bought 13 Xbox live titles. Robo defense though has been around since my g1 was still a big device, pirating android apps didn't really start til after the Verizon droid came out and android went mainstream, sure it was there but it wasn't so easy. My stepmom could not navigate Facebook on her computer but she knows how to pirate apps, its made too easy. When I paid 9.99 for zenonia the day it came out and my friend pirated it for free 3 days I i was pretty peeved. These things are just far too easy on android and right now I'm considering if it's worth porting my new RPG over to android or not...

Are you trying to say that you cant pirate wp7 apps? Or that wp7 users have better morals than us droids?

Every platform has piracy. Apologies if it's not right to discuss it here, but jailbreak WP7 and you're free to sideload XNA apps at no cost. Not ethically right, but possible. Exploits will always be found.
It has to do with the user base. As a mass market platform, the vast majority of Android users don't know or care about sideloading applications. You overestimate the lengths people will go to to save one or two dollars. If the right app is available for one click downloading, the convenience outweighs digging around for the right apk file. Same reason why iTunes was so successful in combating music piracy. Make piracy the less appealing option.

When I was a young poor student I was going to the torrent sites for all the software i use. Today i use linux at home( i'd buy a legal os otherwise) and buy all my apps from the market.
Sent from my HTC Desire using XDA Premium App

aFo3262 said:
Every platform has piracy. Apologies if it's not right to discuss it here, but jailbreak WP7 and you're free to sideload XNA apps at no cost. Not ethically right, but possible. Exploits will always be found.
It has to do with the user base. As a mass market platform, the vast majority of Android users don't know or care about sideloading applications. You overestimate the lengths people will go to to save one or two dollars. If the right app is available for one click downloading, the convenience outweighs digging around for the right apk file. Same reason why iTunes was so successful in combating music piracy. Make piracy the less appealing option.
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Exactly, why bother going to the effort of hunting around the net, finding an old version of the apk, risking warez sites throwing malware etc at you, just to save $1.99
Yes there is piracy of WP7 apps too, and with such a small market share, there's the potential for it to hit developers' incomes far greater. So perhaps the question should be "Why develope for WP7 when piracy can have a greater impact?"
Think about it, if you've got a large enough market share that 10% piracy still leaves you with a large income from legitimate sales, then although it's a pain, it's still making you lots of money, where as if your sales are low due to the few users who own the device you're developing for, you need that 10% to make a reasonable amount as you can't have the same number of sales as the more popular operating systems.
If I sell $100,000 worth of bananas and it turns out $10,000 was actually stolen, then that still leaves $90,000 in my pocket.
But if I sell only $1000 worth of bananas and $100 were actually stolen, then I've only got $900 in my pocket.

I guess because the majority of users will stay pay for a game or app that they want.
It's the same with PC software and games...many people crack and download them for free, but the majority will still pay for them.

You have to jailbreak iOS and WP7 to sideload apps. That means that >90% of iOS/WP7 users will have to pay.
You can sideload apps on Android straight out of the box without rooting, which makes piracy just as easy as on desktop operating systems.

rogier666 said:
You have to jailbreak iOS and WP7 to sideload apps. That means that >90% of iOS/WP7 users will have to pay.
You can sideload apps on Android straight out of the box without rooting, which makes piracy just as easy as on desktop operating systems.
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And yet people are still making computer programs.
To some developers the trade off is worth it even when you factor in piracy. Look at how many indie games don't have drm making an app is pretty much the same. There are enough people who will buy the app to make a living off of
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I897 using XDA App

ok, that is very interesting

dardragon said:
And yet people are still making computer programs.
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Of course.
Piracy is just a bit of background noise. Most pirates wouldn't have bought the app anyway.

What I get from the people around me, is that if the app is good enough or do fit their needs, they're willing to pay for it.
I like to see it this way:
When I get hungry I go to a vending machine a buy let say a Mars or something for 1 euro.
When I'm bored and I have to wait for a few minutes, I look on the android market and buy a funny game for about that same amount of money.
I hope that other users see it the same way. The amount that an app or game will cost is so small, that most probably will spend more in the weekend on a beer.

An app is not a Mars bar.
Candy bars are not free. If you want a Nuts or a Bounty instead of a Mars you'll still have to pay.
For every paid app there's a free alternative. Usually there are many free alternatives, and the market has a built-in feature to find the free beer.
The Android Market has a "related apps" link. What other markets force their merchants to provide free advertising for their competitors in their very own market stall?

Tricky-Design said:
I hope that other users see it the same way. The amount that an app or game will cost is so small, that most probably will spend more in the weekend on a beer.
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Spot on.
Ive paid for damn near every app on my phone. I appreciate the work and am more than willing to contribute. And still, all in all, ive spent maybe 15bucks total in the past 4months. Seriously, apps are one of the more affordable ( and not to mention hella convenient) luxuries in this day and age(and in this economy).
Try and go see a movie these days? How much?
Go buy a board game at wal- mart? How much?
Go to the arcade? (if you can find one anymore) how much?
Go buy a book at books a million? How much?

xaccers said:
Exactly, why bother going to the effort of hunting around the net, finding an old version of the apk, risking warez sites throwing malware etc at you, just to save $1.99
Yes there is piracy of WP7 apps too, and with such a small market share, there's the potential for it to hit developers' incomes far greater. So perhaps the question should be "Why develope for WP7 when piracy can have a greater impact?"
Think about it, if you've got a large enough market share that 10% piracy still leaves you with a large income from legitimate sales, then although it's a pain, it's still making you lots of money, where as if your sales are low due to the few users who own the device you're developing for, you need that 10% to make a reasonable amount as you can't have the same number of sales as the more popular operating systems.
If I sell $100,000 worth of bananas and it turns out $10,000 was actually stolen, then that still leaves $90,000 in my pocket.
But if I sell only $1000 worth of bananas and $100 were actually stolen, then I've only got $900 in my pocket.
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you should really look at the general profit margins from OS to OS, even your average developer makes more on wp7 than android because as someone already stated, there's a free version of pretty much everything on android and what's not can be pirated. Then there's the fragmentation for every app that was made for 2.1 plus. Sure, you CAN pirate on wp7, its a long, complex process that doesn't work fully on Xbl games and actually requires some knowledge, its not androids out-of-box pirating or iOSes one click jailbreak with everything done for you. Its the only OS that adds some level of complexity to doing such things and that little bit is more than enough for your average user.

Next OS ; WHY CANT I MAKE AS MUCH ON WP7 APPS random_os001 makes more WAHHHH
(YEAR OR TWO LATER~!) RANDOM_os002 WAS RELEASED (os001 sorry ur gonna lose money now unless u try to stick with the pack.)

Extremely disappointed with the android community

I just need to vent. I'm a fairly active developer for the android platform. I've created a number of kernel patches and applications that I have released at no charge to the community for about 10 or so devices.
All this I do in my "spare time", which I have very little of because I am a full time professional student who takes on 32 credit hour semesters.
Recently, since my 1994 geo prizm is literally falling apart and I was hoping to scrounge together a little bit of money to get a new car so I don't end up stranded on my way to class, I decided to release a paid application. Fastcharge / Force AC toggle which allows you to toggle on and off the force AC feature. A feature which I have personally implemented and released source patches for on a number of devices.
Not only in every thread where I released the patch on a device did I write up how to toggle the feature through the command line, but I also stated that I also implemented a toggle into my completely free application that you can also download from the market, IncrediControl.
In good faith and knowing how annoying licensing is, I elected to not include licensing in my application. This is a huge regret.
Within a couple days of releasing the application to the market I googled it to see if anyone was talking about it. One of the first links was to a piracy site where a user was requesting the widget, to which another user obliged and posted the apk to a filesharing site. Doing something I never though I would have to do, I filed a DMCA takedown request, which was answered quickly and the app was taken down. Monitoring the thread, every single time a link gets taken down, another user requests the app and the original user reuploads it, most recently to 11 different sites.
So now, after filing dozens of takedown requests. This user has decided to unzip my apk, change out the artwork, and now is going around releasing it as his own work.
Really, all this to avoid paying $1.50 (only ~$1 of it actually going to me) to an individual whose yearly income is low enough that he doesn't have to file taxes?
This disgusts me.
This is even worse than the 50% "order cancellation rate" that the widget has. I'm not stupid, I know exactly what users are doing, but yet initially I was willing to ignore it. But this has gone too far.
What is even the point of pissing off a developer so much that he is considering saying screw the platform all together? It doesn't even make sense. We, the developers improve your devices, generally at little or no cost, and this is how we're repaid. With ~50% of current users of the application having pirated it. To avoid paying just over $1.
Now before someone even counters with the "my area doesn't support paid applications" argument I've actually gladly GIVEN the widget away to a number of users who casually mentioned in the release threads that they couldn't download it for this reason. Not to mention, everyone knows there are apps that unlock the market in these areas to be able to purchase apps.
How much more generous can a developer be than to provide source code patches for a feature, provide information on how to toggle the feature, provide a COMPLETELY FREE way to toggle the feature, and then charge a measly $1.50 for a secondary, slightly more convenient way to toggle.
Yet he's repaid like this .

Of course, this must suck for a developer like you. Unfortunately, it seems to happen more and more often, and all I can really say is:
I would gladly pay a few bucks for an application like IC or BootManager. That BootManager seemed really interesting, but we can't buy apps from the Play Store without CC (and as a 16-year old, I don't have one). I asked the developer if he accepted Paypal, but he didn't.
Don't get me wrong, and this is not an attack to you personally: developers, if you made something really nice, and people will like it, 70% of the people will gladly pay for it, just make sure you allow them to.

Chaosz-X said:
70% of the people will gladly pay for it, just make sure you allow them to.
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I honestly thought this was the case. It's really not. The problem is much worse than that. If 70% of users in the root community paid for apps it would be astonishing. Its made pretty clear by the number of users who download the app, back it up and then cancel the order.
If a 16 year old kid had made me that offer, the e-mail reply I sent would have the apk attached.

Well, that is a real flaw of Android: tweakability is really impressing, but these things make it really difficult to earn some money as a developer.
We have been thinking about anti-piracy measures as well, with stuff such as authentication with a server, and locking down the code and verifying integrity of APKs and stuff to make sure it's really hard to mess with the code, but it's just sad that there's a need for these measures..

The trouble is everything has piracy right from movies to game consoles through to mobiles and music.
I mean the iPhones appstore would be a hell of a lot bigger if there was no jailbreaking and installous.
Every platform has been cracked so you'll get it regardless of what you develop for.
Sent from my HTC Desire using XDA

I think you know you just needed to vent but can I change your picture.
There are some people in this world who just don't buy the idea of an idea as property. That's not compatible with this business model. That's the first problem.
The next problem is that
there's a million and one apps out there and which one are we going to choose? Where does it start, where does it end? We all have our limits. What's yours?
For me, the app has to be something very unique and possible generate me cash. For example something I use every day at work. If it's something that the phone should do anyway I tend to skip it and save the $1 for the next phone that does it out of the box. Your app is a great thing, but there's many utility apps out there. It just doesn't fall into the kind of thing I'd cave my strict budgeting for. There are people here with a 1000 apps installed and you expect them to pay $1000 in this sense.
Another way would be having utility in the cloud and then the app is free. Another one of course, advertising.
The difference with both of these is we don't need to risk a credit card with the market. That's the main reason I personally haven't bought many apps and I'd imagine it's a problem for minors too.
The very community that allowed us to create the app fails to pay for it's products is like life itself.
I'd say make something for the iphone instead because there's more profit there but that would never have been possible, see what I'm saying? That's the 3rd problem.
So you've got 3 problems there all converging into one big push towards piracy. But remember, can your app assure security that the pirated version cannot for example? This is how one has to think.
In short,
you can't do something and hope to make a bit from it on the side. You got to go out from the start and get the money aspect central from the start. I mean, that's business and of course that's exactly what the android community works hard to free us from.
Still, summarising those 3 points for suggestion:
- offer something free things can't (i.e. security, brand etc) For example, I never run pirated stuff for fear of insecurity on my data whereas I'll try out software that way on an old PC
- can always put a service in the cloud aka the javascript trap
- iphone is there if you want...
- needs to "the one app" a certain person would pay for, not something everyone likes
Also just to make that point again, if one does not believe in property then inconveniently there is no moral crime here. I suggest learn to live with this and go with the flow

I hope google sells PlayStore cards (like itunes cards) that allows user to buy apps, music, movies, books without a credit card. I really want to buy some amazing apps but i dont have a credit card so i just use free apps. I think that if u cant buy an app that cant be a reason to piracy or sidedownload that app.

jago25_98 said:
For me, the app has to be something very unique and possible generate me cash. For example something I use every day at work. If it's something that the phone should do anyway I tend to skip it and save the $1 for the next phone that does it out of the box. Your app is a great thing, but there's many utility apps out there. It just doesn't fall into the kind of thing I'd cave my strict budgeting for. There are people here with a 1000 apps installed and you expect them to pay $1000 in this sense.
Another way would be having utility in the cloud and then the app is free. Another one of course, advertising.
The difference with both of these is we don't need to risk a credit card with the market. That's the main reason I personally haven't bought many apps and I'd imagine it's a problem for minors too.
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The feature is 100% unique and so is the widget. Not to mention, if you didn't want to pay the $1, I provided a free way to toggle the feature in the utility app. The point is, that there is nothing forcing people to pay for the widget to use the feature. But instead of using the free option provided, they not only pirate the paid app, but edit the artwork and release it for free as their own. It defies logic.
Also, ad based apps don't work with the rooted community. I learned that early on. Myfree utility app is ad supported. With over 40,000 installs you would think it would make even a dollar a day. Nope, makes nearly nothing. That's when I realized that the same niche I was marketing to are the same people who block ads. Even if someone didn't want to block ads, they can't install a single ROM that doesn't include an ad blocking hosts file out of the box.

chad0989 said:
[...] How much more generous can a developer be than to provide source code patches for a feature, provide information on how to toggle the feature, provide a COMPLETELY FREE way to toggle the feature, and then charge a measly $1.50 for a secondary, slightly more convenient way to toggle.
Yet he's repaid like this .
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Be sure you're looking at all sides. Yes, you're in a losing war with guys intent on pirating your app. You can't stop them, and well, you goofed on the licensing, so someone will no doubt release the clone.
First of all, don't do the Big Media thing and assume that everybody that pirates your app would have paid for it if it hadn't been available. A lot of folks collect, or just try something once. You'll only work yourself into a funk thinking about all that money you "would" have if only they hadn't been able to pirate it. They wouldn't have. At least not all of them.
More importantly, be aware that placing something out there with value does reach folks that otherwise would have no idea of you or your plight. More than once, I've purchased an app that I don't really need, but found clever and cheap enough I can buy it without thinking about the investment. I've spent more on Android software at $1-15 over the last year than I did over the last 25+ at $30-100 a pop. I've only refunded an app once, by accident.
Finally, be up front about your situation. A guy trying to make do does influence my impulse buying. So does his reputation. If you're doing a lot, be sure that's clear on your app page, and let us know clearly you're the guy that also brought us whatever.
I am curious, though: How much did you actually bring in?

Chad- thanks for telling your story, I agree that you have every right to be disappointed. Especially the buying and refunding, that to me send almost worse because you can't stop dedicated pirating, but I would have hoped the rest would have bought the app.
It's easy to forget the human side of development, so thanks for sharing your side.

Jesus christ Chad. This is f$%&*#@ ridiculous. Probably the best and most generous kernel dev I have ever come into contact with, and people are cheating you out of 1.50. Please don't abandon Android. I need kernels when I get my rezound! but in all seriousness, warez needs to stop.
Sent from my ADR6400L

Yep. Sucks. After getting serious about android , which wasn't too far in, joining with a nexus one and seeing all the free HARD work we get, I definitely try buying stuff I use. If I can't pay sometimes I will see if dev does something else I can donate to. Its an issue I've thought about and part of it really boils down to how sorry people are in general. They want free and cheap. $1 is laughable even when it can be easily had for free. You really should market yourself a bit even though you don't want to. And people should really put a complimentary $5 or so budget a month or more and try to support devs. Maybe if you have something he gave free but has an app you won't use for a buck, buy the dollar app and uninstall after the 15 minute period. Or throw him a 5 through PayPal or something. Its simple really. If these devs don't have to resort to ramen and water they keep dev'ing especially for the community supporting him or her. And if they're eating vegetables and have plenty of red bull money it gives them wings. Otoh, the devs that make us pay to reinstall an app after we bought it on another or lost our phone suck. Balls. Won't buys theirs anymore.
teach a man to fish, you feed him for life. teach a man to fastboot, and you create competency. and less threads on xda.

Maybe you should implement a system like some developers do where you download the app for free with a time limited trail, then they would go to another website to pay for the app to unlock it, and the unlock codes would be unique for every user which would minimize piracy.
Sent from my GT-N7000 Samsung Galaxy Note "Go big or go home" using XDA app

rafa6571 said:
I hope google sells PlayStore cards (like itunes cards) that allows user to buy apps, music, movies, books without a credit card. I really want to buy some amazing apps but i dont have a credit card so i just use free apps. I think that if u cant buy an app that cant be a reason to piracy or sidedownload that app.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
In the Netherlands we have prepaid Visa card.
Works well.
Maybe you google something similar in your own country.
(3V prepaid Visa cards)

That does suck but if someone wants to pirate an app even licencing doesn't stop them as there is an app that apparently patches licence checks.
It is so easy for even a non root and new user to find cracked apps, I have seen links on here and even on peoples facebook sites, it's got to the point where people can just browse a webpage and click a link to get the cracked version of an app.
Unfortunately if someone wants to crack it they can. Unless you could implement your own security check somehow, something obfuscated in the code, licencing is the only alternative as it would stop people using backed up cancelled versions at least.
Unfortunately it seems a lot of people just don't want to pay for apps.
Dave
Sent from my LG P920 using Tapatalk

also have to look at both sides. some people just refuse to pay for **** whatever it is, or get it as cheaply as they can. being android apps, the free route is how they're going to go. but the other side, you hsould be grateful for all the people that do pay. they're the ones helping keeping google, open source, android and everything in between chugging along. open source is the future and you can tell every corporation i said that. and thanks for you your work even though i've never used it.

jago25_98 said:
...
Also just to make that point again, if one does not believe in property then inconveniently there is no moral crime here. I suggest learn to live with this and go with the flow
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
There is plenty to disagree with in your post as it all seems like an attempt at rationalizing ways to get around the system. This last statement is a ridiculous attempt at summarizing why stealing is OK. Your morals don't define the crime, the law does. Stealing property, physical or intellectual, is not legal and not right regardless of your morals or lack of.
Chad,
I am sorry to hear of your products' abuse. I used your kernels all the time on my Incredible devices and bought IncrediControl to support development. I have purchased many applications just to support development and believe that is the way to get high quality applications.

Piracy is just so damn easy on Android. I know ppl that are doing it who I wouldn't even expect to be doing such a thing. This guy I know love android only because he can get everything free by just googling the apk.

awww thats sad i feel really bad for you!

I've used pre paid visa debit cards to buy apps. You can find them in Any money shop like Cheque cashing places for example. You can even just stick a dicky diver (£5) on them. Perfect for situations like this
Sent from my GT-I9100 using xda premium

Should I create an app for my store?

Hey guys, I run an e-commerce store and I have been thinking of ways to market my store beyond the usual social media and advertising. I talked to a friend recently who advised me to build a mobile app for my store. He thinks it may help more people discover my store. I don't own a huge store with tons of products. I have about 300 hundred products. This is my store for your reference: Hello Curve.
What do you guys think? Is it worth the time and money for me to make an app?
Do you think it will drive sales to my store?
I don't have much experience or knowledge about apps myself, so really looking forward to all you kind ladies and gentlemens' tips!

samanthach said:
Hey guys, I run an e-commerce store and I have been thinking of ways to market my store beyond the usual social media and advertising. I talked to a friend recently who advised me to build a mobile app for my store. He thinks it may help more people discover my store. I don't own a huge store with tons of products. I have about 300 hundred products. This is my store for your reference: [MOD EDIT: Link removed]
What do you guys think? Is it worth the time and money for me to make an app?
Do you think it will drive sales to my store?
I don't have much experience or knowledge about apps myself, so really looking forward to all you kind ladies and gentlemens' tips!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No, should come later as your business grows, if it grows.
For now, 10-20 social media platforms will get you more exposure than a single app would.
Sent from my SM-S767VL using Tapatalk

Yep, maybe later on... cheers

Droidriven said:
No, should come later as your business grows, if it grows.
For now, 10-20 social media platforms will get you more exposure than a single app would.
Sent from my SM-S767VL using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thank you. I will look into growing my social media instead as suggest.

No! At least now, don't have a app build for your store. You business still needs to grow. I think you should spend money on increasing the quality of your products and services as both will automatically increase your constumers. Also for now social media marketing is enough and should help you grow.
Cheers!

SHAH RUKH 45 said:
No! At least now, do have a app build for your store. You business still needs to grow. I think you should spend money on increasing the quality of your products and services as both will automatically increase your constumers. Also for now social media marketing is enough and should help you grow.
Cheers!
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Click to collapse
Thank you Shah Rukh! That's what I was thinking too, to focus on my product offering. I will work on that!