Chapter 15: App Monetization Strategies Making money from apps is possible but hard work. There are hundreds of thousands of apps available. The revenue generated from an individual app is small. The app stores take a 30% cut of revenue that apps generate. The simplest method to monetizing an app is to charge for the download. If the user buys the app, you get the money. The market is very price sensitive. From Learning Mobile App Development by Jakob Iversen and Michael Eierman (ISBN: 032194786X) Copyright © 2014 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.

Chapter 15: Getting the customer to find your app is challenging. Customers focus on free apps. By embedding ads within the free app screens is a way to make money. Ensure the the basic steps are followed to embed ads in an Android app, after properly registereing for AdMob with Google. See Listing 15.1 – 15.3 Ad Widget XML Code to Retrieve an Ad Add Ad Activity to Manifest Apple offers its own ad network, called iAd, which provides the same features as AdMob, and is built in to the iOS platform. From Learning Mobile App Development by Jakob Iversen and Michael Eierman (ISBN: 032194786X) Copyright © 2014 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.

Making money from ad-supported apps is challenging. In-App Purchases Making money from ad-supported apps is challenging. An app needs to be popular to generate a significant amount of money. Releasing a free app that is supported by in-app purchases is a strategy. Generate downloads with the free app, get the users hooked, and then allow them to add features by advertising the feature in the app. More than 75% of the revenue in this area came from in-app purchases. This establishes a “freemium” business model. Usage and purchase: Games, contacts, saving data, subscriptions, etc. To implement in-app purchases in Android, get the Google Play Billing Library from the Android SDK Manager. To Implement in-app purchases in iOS get the code add the StoreKit framework. From Learning Mobile App Development by Jakob Iversen and Michael Eierman (ISBN: 032194786X) Copyright © 2014 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.

In-App Purchases (contd.) Economics of App Stores Apple and Google are paid 30% of sales to set up an entirely new sales channel. To avoid giving 30% of sales to Google and Apple, carry out the sales outside of the app stores. Be aware of restrictions on the purchasing of content outside the app store. From Learning Mobile App Development by Jakob Iversen and Michael Eierman (ISBN: 032194786X) Copyright © 2014 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.

Starting a business It is recommended that you should have a business if you are going to sell apps. It is recommended to create a Limited Liability Corporation, or LLC. In the United States, an LLC is a legal entity that is organized by registering the business with a state. Establish the business name. Create Articles of Organization. Identify a registered agent. Create an Operating Agreement. File forms and pay registration fees. The LLC shields personal assets in the event you get sued. If you are found liable only business assets, not personal assets are affected. LLC’s are useful for U.S. Income tax purposes. From Learning Mobile App Development by Jakob Iversen and Michael Eierman (ISBN: 032194786X) Copyright © 2014 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.

Who the competitors are? How do you want to run your business? Developing a business plan helps with the mission of your organization. Who the market is? Who the competitors are? How do you want to run your business? Making money from apps requires money for marketing and development. A good business plan is needed to attract enough capital to develop and test the app and begin establishing demand for your products. Working for others is a good way to make money from app development. You can get paid to develop aps for someone else. You get paid whether the app sells or not. You can become an independent consultant or a contract developer. From Learning Mobile App Development by Jakob Iversen and Michael Eierman (ISBN: 032194786X) Copyright © 2014 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.

What Platform Should You Develop? Should you develop for Android or iOS? Both? Android has the biggest market share for devices sold and biggest potential for app sales. Phones primarily used as dumb phones. Users are less willing to pay for an app. Some segments use Android devices at greater rates. Small businesses are primarily Android users. Android’s barrier to entry is lower. Developer fee is “one time”. Apps are for both Windows or Mac computers. Publishing an app is easy. From Learning Mobile App Development by Jakob Iversen and Michael Eierman (ISBN: 032194786X) Copyright © 2014 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.

What Platform Should You Develop? (contd.) iOS market is smaller than Android. iPhone users like the apps. Users search and pay for apps. Higher annual fee for developers. Publishing is complicated. Mac uses Xcode to create apps. You cannot create an iOS app on a Windows machine. For maximum benefit, consider publishing on both! From Learning Mobile App Development by Jakob Iversen and Michael Eierman (ISBN: 032194786X) Copyright © 2014 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.