Software Patents: One Developer's Perspective

Will the now ubiquitous "Pull-to-Refresh"
 mechanism patented by indie developer
Loren Brichter face similar outrage? 

Many app developers woke up to find some unpleasant mail waiting for them on Monday morning. It appears that Lodsys, a patent holding company, has contacted several independent iOS developers about claims of patent infringement regarding use of the iOS "in app purchase" method. They claim that use of this technology violates U.S. Patent 7,222,078, which they had purchased from inventor Daniel Abelow.

I am not one of the developers who has been contacted by Lodsys, so I can not comment on any of the specifics relating to those individuals.  However, Lodsys, in an effort to clarify their position and quell a public relations storm, created a blog.  You can read their blog here.

Intellectual Property Protection

Patents relating to software methodologies are difficult for many people to grasp. Unlike a more physical, tangible product, software is an abstract creation that develops in someones mind, is written in plain text characters, but then is transformed into something useful (or in the case of may iOS applications, something beautiful).  For many people, if they can't hold something, they have trouble completely understanding it. Or the complexity behind a simple "Click to Purchase" button seems absurd.

Personally, I am the inventor of software methodologies that benefit from intellectual property protection.  They are in a different field, completely unrelated to mobile technology.  In this field, protection of ideas is essential to the longevity and sustainability of the companies.  However, it should be apparent that protection of ideas is essential to the longevity and sustainability of any company.

The most obvious case of this is Apple.  For the most part, computing hardware is a commodity.  One might be designed and packaged by Jon Ive, but when you tear them down, they have basically the same components.  What is the difference between the iPhone and Android?  Software Patents.  Apple's superior iOS operating system (and the software patents that protect it) is the reason that consumers prefer the iPhone and Apple has the revenue and resources to continue to innovate.

Pull to Refresh Angst in the Developer Community

The immediate ripple through the developer community was one of outrage...to say the least.  It seemed unfathomable that a patent holding company would go after indie developers, when the biggest fish in the world, Apple, was on the hook.  In Lodsys' blog, one of the most interesting claims they make is that Apple licenses this patent for their use; although it is not clear in what capacity (i.e. for their software or for the iOS SDK).

As a developer, I would have thought that a feature included in the official SDK would have been adequately licensed to cover use by developers.  I would have thought that this was one of the expenses covered by the 70/30 split in app sales revenues with Apple.  Still, most of the developer outrage was not as well placed, but instead focused on vilifying Lodsys and proclamations that software patents are evil.

This situation made me remember a similar indie developer outrage...but from the other point of view.  In the fall of 2010, Facebook was chastised by indie developers for "borrowing" the innovative "Pull to Refresh" mechanism that was pioneered by Loren Brichter in the Tweetie iPhone app by AteBits  Facebook later apologized for what they called an "oversight" and fixed the code attribution.  When Tweetie was acquired by Twitter, it become known that Brichter had filed a patent for the "Pull to Refresh" mechanism.

If this patent is awarded, will there be similar outrage in the indie developer community when AteBits (one of their own) seeks licensing fees for a feature that has become ubiquitous in many iOS apps?

In Closing

As an active developer, inventor and scientist, I have a strong belief in the protection of intellectual property...especially software.  Yes, there are different levels of patent enforcement (and Lodsys may be on the bottom rung), but the entire system can not be disparaged because of this.

To many indie developers software patents may look evil, but it serves their interests just as well, if not better, as those of large corporations.  It is what prevents a large studio stealing all of your ideas and reproducing your games.  It is what allows you to invest time and resources, knowing that you can benefit from your innovation and diligence.  It is what will allow indie developer Loren Brichter to knock on the door at Facebook and tell Mark Zuckerberg, "We need to talk.".

Moms with Apps Presents "App Discovery Week"

All week long, users of the Moms with
Apps app will receive push notifications
directing them to promo codes for
educational and family friendly apps.

As larger publishers and recognizable brands are beginning to take the App Store more seriously, it will undoubtedly become even more difficult for small, independent app developers to get noticed and attract customers. Most independent developers work on shoe string budgets, are self-financed by personal savings, and are fueled sheer determination. This is especially true of the educational app market, as it represents a mere fraction of the Game market, and holds even less possibility for financial success (even with a hit).

The "gold rush" days of the App Store are long gone, and even with little prospect of breaking even, the indie developers tirelessly work to fill the App Store with high-quality titles that rival those of the largest, most established studios. While these developers can easily compete on app creativity and technical execution, it will become increasingly challenging to compete against their marketing resources.

We've Got Spirit, How About You?

One thing that the indie developers do have is community. While big studios look at their contemporaries as competitors, indie developers have camaraderie among themselves. This cooperative spirit is what drove the formation of Moms with Apps.

Formed by a few mom developers who met while promoting their apps on Twitter, it now includes over 300 developers (including dads) focused on educational and family-friendly apps. Together, these developers are banding together sharing ideas and strategies, trying to claim a stake of the educational app marketplace before there isn't any room left.

Feeding Word of Mouth

One of the missions of Moms with Apps is to help promote independent children's and family-friendly app developers. While our promotion methods can be considered "grass roots" campaigns, they are actually perfectly suited to the way that people discover new apps....word of mouth. With this in mind, Moms with Apps is proud to introduce App Discovery Week.

This week, Moms with Apps will be giving away 500 promo codes per day (Monday-Friday) through the Moms with Apps app. Collectively, the giveaway is worth over $4000. Each day, several times a day, users of the Moms with Apps app will receive a push notification that will direct them to a special page in the app. On this page, they will find promo codes donated by Moms with Apps members. Users can simply tap the "Redeem" button to instantly redeem the promo code on their iOS device.

Putting the Discovery in App Discovery Week

As you can see, there is no information about what app you are downloading. This is the discovery part. While recommendations are the number one way that people decide to purchase apps, they also bias customers to the download the same apps. People are less likely to buy apps that they've never heard of...even if it is only $0.99.

So this week, download a few new apps courtesy of Moms with Apps and maybe you'll discover a new app that will become one of you children's favorites. If you do find one you like, please make an effort to tell a friend or write a review in the App Store.

Don't Tell Your Friends About This

The promo code giveaways are on a first come, first download basis, so users should be ready to move quickly when they receive the push notification. However, if you want a little heads up, we will be sending out updates via Twitter and Facebook to let you know when we're about to send the notification. Simply become a fan of BabyBinks on Facebook and follow @babybinks on Twitter.

Don't forget: You can only redeem the promo codes through the Moms with Apps app, which is available as a Free download in the App Store.

Screen Time...Your Kids Will Hate It

Introducing the latest app from BabyBinks...Screen Time.

Screen Time is a simple way to enforce time limits on an iPhone, iPad of iPod Touch device. You simply set a time and press start. After the time expires, a series of alert notifications will display over-and-over-and-over again. The only way to stop them is to go back to the Screen Time app and enter the correct passcode.

After frustrating your child and rendering the iPhone useless to them, they'll eventually return the it to you. Now when you say "only 5 minutes of Angry Birds", you can mean it.

Like our other apps, this one was born out of necessity. Trying to convince your 3-year, who can not tell time, that her 5 minutes are up can only end up in everyone crying. Especially daddy.

Because you can't put a price on making sure you get your iPhone back from your kids...Screen Time is available as a free download in the App Store.

It Wasn't An Honor Just To Be Nominated

Getting noticed is the hardest part of app development. Developing an app is straightforward (granted you have the idea). Managing provisioning profiles and submitting it to the App Store can be a painful experience, but nothing that a few hours of Googling will not get you through. Setting the price can be a fantastic internal struggle, but one that you will be wrestling with for months. Bring your app to market was the easy part...marketing it is the part that will make-or-break your business.

Getting your app noticed by Apple is a great way to begin the release of a new app. Out of the 5 apps released by BabyBinks over the past 2 years, 3 have been featured as New & Noteworthy. Based on the comparisons to 2 apps that were "overlooked", spending a week in the top row of the App Store makes a tremendous differnce in the life-cycle of your app. As an example, Elephonics (not featured) and Zombies Vs. Literacy (featured) are simply different themed versions of the same app, the difference between being featured translates into a 100 fold difference in downloads (to date).

And the Award Goes To

Being 'New & Noteworthy' is a great start, but it will not last very long. To sustain interest in you app, you have to do a lot of marketing (and this means more than just posting it on Facebook and tweeting about it on Twitter). There are many channels to market apps, and, despite what you may have been told, all of them are the same as marketing any product or service.

One channel that developers often overlook is awards. In the app market, winning awards is very social and a great marketing campaign (and a lot of friends) can vote your app into a nomination, or even the award winning spot.

And speaking of awards, I recently received an email for the Google Alert I set for Zombies Vs. Literacy. I clicked on the link and was directed to the Ericsson Labs blog for a post titled Vote on the Best Literacy Application. My excitment grew when I saw the full context for the reference:

Today is the World Read Aloud Day. Celebrate the Power of Words and Stories and Take Action for Global Literacy.

Let’s read aloud for someone. Read at home, at work, in a public space, on the train or anywhere. Read a book, a magazine or let the book be read by a device. Many applications exist that support reading text aloud.

We, at Ericsson Labs, support this World Read Aloud Day initiative and want to take action to show the world that the ability to read and write belongs to all people.

Today you can vote for the best literacy application. We have gathered 10 proposals we have received in a list below. Take a look at them and vote for the one you think is the best. They are web sites, web applications, Android applications and iPhone/ iPad applications.

Time to Dust Off My Awards Shelf

Move over Elementary School "Perfect Attendance" trophy. It's time for some real hardware. First, this is Ericsson Labs...as in Sony-Ericsson. Except for their recent attempt to create a Walkman, iPod "killer", Sony-Ericsson is one of the most successful companies in the world. Second, my app is on the same list as the Kindle app (Amazon) and The Cat in the Hat (Oceanhouse Media). That is pretty good company. Third, they have "gathered proposals". Someone actually like my app enough to submit a propsal for it to be considered for this award.

How do you know that I did not just submit a proposal for my app and then fein this fake humility? Look closely you can see for yourself:

Instead of linking Zombies Vs. Literacy to the App Store, the link is actually for an app pirating site. Clicking on the link takes you to a page where you can download the hacked .ipa file that you can download to your iPhone.

But I Just Dusted

As much as I appreciate the recognition for our app, I have to say this is one award I will not be touting too much. I realize its just an Ericsson Lab's blog, but I would have expected slightly more attention to detail from a global, billion dollar company. Especially one who is struggling to mount a response to the iPhone and will want to lure developers to its plaform.

Of course it does not really matter, as nothing could possibly trump my back-to-back-to-back "Best Dad of the Year" awards received each Father's Day...and, at least, I have the t-shirt, tie,and coffee mug to prove it.

Moms With Apps: Lessons From Our Educational App Store

The Moms with Apps app is an independent catalog of educational and family friendly apps in Apple's App Store for iOS devices.  It is the collaborative effort of the Moms with Apps (MWA) developer group to improve the search and discoverability of educational apps.

This feat is accomplished by curating and categorizing over 1000 apps from over 300 of the App Store's most applauded educational app developers. While the App Store bundles all educational apps into a single category, the MWA app provides additional categories such as Art, Creative Play, Early Learning, Foreign Language, Math, Reading, Science, Special Needs, etc.  Within these categories app can be further searched by recommended age.

Phew, Apple Likes It

The entire concept of redefining and improving the education category of Apple's App Store was a questionable undertaking in its own right.  As a group of developers who are all basing their livelihood off of the App Store, there is overwhelming pressure to always stay positive about Apple and its offerings.  However, the notable rise in the use of iPhone and iPads for educational purposes, seemed to motivate our cooperative to try and make the Educational App Store an easier place to navigate.  It was entirely plausible that Apple would take take offense by the underlying, yet unspoken message: The Educational App Store can be better.

Our trepidations were quickly assuaged, as the release of the MWA App was immediately recognized as the #1 app in the educational New & Noteworthy chart in 8 regional App Stores.  The app was sprinkled across the top Free downloads charts around the globe and, on some days, we were consistently seeing a few downloads a minute.

Being a resident of Canada's loud neighbor to the South and having little insight into their educational system, I do not fully understand the reasons but the Canadians have really embraced Moms with Apps.  We were fortunate enough to enjoy a week on the front page of their App Store as a featured app with our own custom artwork.  That's us in green...next to the Oscars!

Phew, Parents Get It

App developers who are also parents have a complex and distorted way of looking at the App Store, compared to the typical iPhone toting parent. Once you've seen the behind the scenes, inner workings (as a developer), the magic of the worlds biggest software store disappears and is replaced by bouts of frustation and disillusionment. It's kind of like the Matrix...but without the shiny outfits, guns, and bewildered grunts of Keanu Reeves.

The question that we, as educational developers, want to know is, "Are there parents out there that are looking for great educational software, but are just too flustered by the App Store to bother?" I see it myself when I go...pretty much anywhere. Two-year olds playing "Angry Birds", "Cut-the-Rope", or "Plants Vs. Zombies". Granted, every game (especially physics based ones) have some educational value, but is it simply that parents are not as concerned with the apps their toddlers are playing as educational developers think they are.

Thankfully, they are.

The most telling (and encouraging statistic) that we have observed from the MWA app is the average time per use. Simply, this tells us how long a users is using the app in a single session. In the first month, the MWA app average time per use was 23:59. This is averaged over 135,000 visits from 50,000 users. Quite simply, parents are spending a significant amount of time searching for apps that meets their families needs. They were waiting for a better way to discover apps.

The Report Card: Trends in Educational Apps

As with any app that has benefited from exposure by Apple, we had a very strong start, but downloads have plateaued (cumulative downloads shown in blue).  This is not discouraging, as on any given day we see anywhere from 200-500 downloads per day.

Category Browsing Patterns

Within the app, users spent 45% of their time searching through apps, 30% of their time looking through Books, 20% of their time looking through our "Apple Picks" sections, and 5% spread out among other app features (e.g. New Releases, Viewing History, Developers, etc.).  Apple picks is a historical listing of the apps featured by Apple.

While browsing through the Apps category, the most popular categories with parents are as follows:

1. Early Learning
2. Art
3. Creative Play
4. Parents
5. Special Needs
6. Games
7. Reading
8. Music
9. Foreign Language
10. Math

App Browsing Patterns

During the first month, each user viewed, on average, 22 apps per session.  This correlates well with the average session time of 24 minutes per session: parents are taking time to actually read the app descriptions.  For developers, this means that the hours of analyzing each word in an app description were not lost.  It is actually a very important part of marketing your app.

I, for one, found this surprising, as an informal survey of non-developer iPhone owners indicated that purchasing decisions were based on recommendations from friends and screenshots.  When asked if they read the descriptions, I received a unanimous "No".

Unfortunately, the layout of iTunes actually encourages this impulsive purchasing by requiring you to click to read the entire description, so it is not surprising that iOS users have begun to devalue the app description.

Most Viewed Apps

Overall During the first month, the following apps were the 10 most popular in terms of times viewed. It is nice to see some newer apps listed alongside some of the tried-and-true staples of great educational apps:

My Very First App by Night & Day Studio, Inc. ABC 123 Blocks = Learning Tool For Toddlers by The Guys in the Booth Bug Builder by Zinc Roe Rapunzel Classic Story HD by Kwiq Apps, Inc. Baa Baa Black Sheep - by Duck Duck Moose

A Family Matters by Weiner Family Studios ABC 123 Blocks = Learning Tool For Toddlers LITE by The Guys in the Booth Draw with Stars by L'Escapadou iTouchiLearn Words for Preschool Kids Letters, Spelling & Puzzles by Staytooned My Underwear by Thumb Arcade

Book Browsing Patterns

When the MWA App was designed, the debate between "What's an App and what's a book?" had not really taken hold.  Now it is front and center and a major concern for the book-style app developers in MWA and across the entire app ecosystem.  Tales of rejections and suggestions by Apple to release book-apps through iBooks are starting to become more prevalent.

Unfortunately, this segregation was not as clear to myself and, as such, didn't amply separate out statistics for Books vs. Apps.  However, the app has been updated to monitor this and the next Report Card will be able to shed more light on the subject.

The one main pattern to take away is that 98% of the Book views all originated from "View By Release Date".  It appears that users are treating the virtual bookstore, much like the traditional brick-and-mortar bookstore, and starting at the new releases.

A Horse to Water

It should be no secret that the MWA app, in addition to its altruistic goals, is designed to be a marketing tool for educational app developers.  The MWA developers have invested their time and efforts to curate and annotate their apps, in the hopes of making it easier for parents to find their apps and converting them to happy, paying customers.  It's a win-win scenario, parents find the apps they're looking for, developers get customers who appreciate their apps (and aren't scoffing at a $0.99 price tag).

In the MWA app, the user has the option to view the app they're looking at in the App Store.  This has the advantage of letting the users read reviews and, potentially, purchase the app.  During the first month, 16% of the apps viewed resulted in a tap-through to the App Store.  This is not purchases but simply getting to the App Store.  Once in the App Store, the users may see unfavorable reviews and elect not to purchase, among other scenarios.

Without anything comparable to analyze this rate against, it is difficult to draw many conclusions.  If you consider the MWA app as simply an advertisement tool, than the number is huge compared to the sub 1% click-through-rate seen in in-app ads (at least in my apps).  If you think of it as a store front, than we would need more cooperation from Apple to compare it (but I'm not going to hold my breath).  It falls somewhere in-between and so there are more questions than answers at this point.  At the end of the day, we can say that we are helping parents find apps to better fit their needs and helping to direct them to the App Store for more information.

Moving Forward

The feedback from users has been great.  For once, I 'm proud to point people to my App Store reviews for a Free app.  Parents are just as excited about the role of iOS devices in education as are the developers who are working on them.  However, they have been very clear that they want more from the MWA App.

We have been listening and working hard to implement them.  In the next major release (coming soon), we will be introducing "Page 2", a second page in the MWA App.  Page 2 will contain exclusive content from leading researchers, educators, technologists, bloggers and industry professionals all providing insights on apps, books, and parenting the 'iOS generation'.  We hope that the addition of Page 2 will continue to forward the mission of MWA to advocate healthy intersections of kids and family life with technology.


The Moms with Apps app is available as a free download in Apple's App Store .

Why iPads in Schools Won't Matter (to Developers)

Like many iOS developers, I fantasize about quitting my day job to go full-time at building a sustainable software development company. The bloating of the App Store, the notorious 'race-to-bottom' and even the more recent in-app subscription controversy, all seemed like enough obstacles to keep me dismayed at day job while joyously programming iPhone apps at night.

However, the excitement brewing in the educational app market, from the realization that the magical qualities of the iPad might have more to do with children learning, provided a small glimpse of a larger and more predictable app marketplace...educational institutions. If schools embrace the iPad and start purchasing them in large numbers for their students, they are going to need to purchase apps to go on each device.

Cranking the Volume in Education

Apple foresaw this and introduced "Educational Volume Purchase Program" that developers can enable on their apps. At the developers discretion, they can reduce the cost of their apps up to 50% for bulk educational buys.

My optimism about the educational market was further sparked when one of my apps, Elephonics, has been benefited from educational volume purchasing. Currently, there is a school district in Ohio and a school in Oregon that use Elephonics as part of their curriculum. Given that my sole motivation for developing the app was to help my daughter learn her sight words, it was great to know that, not only did other kids like the app, but that educators also valued it.

There's More to Rhode Island Than the Setting for Family Guy

The headline of an article published in the Rhode Island News on Monday, again provided more concrete validation about the increasing role iPads might play in formal education. Titled, "Electronic tables break down educational barriers in R.I. schools", it described a pilot program at a South Providence middle school where each student was given an iPad. It further described how school districts across the state were being trained on how to use the iPad in the classroom.

I was just about to storm down the hallway to quit my day job, when the article revealed a disheartening detail that made me slink back into my chair.

At Trinity, the iPad has nearly eliminated the need for paperback novels. The school buys one book for $6 and downloads 34 copies.

Buy One, Get the Entire School District for Free

Another magical feature of the iPad is that you can transfer purchases to other devices using the same iTunes account.

I know a few teachers in different school districts who explained to me that a single IT administrator is responsible for all the computing equipment at their schools. It is logical to assume that, if a school makes an investment in iPads, than a single person will be in charge of maintaing them and loading software on them. Using the same iTunes account, a single app purchase could them be installed on all the devices at the school.

This is exactly what the school in Rhode Island is doing.

Making the Overly Complex, Difficult

On the surface, it appears that the App Store Volume Purchasing Program was created to encourage schools to purchase multiple versions of an app because the management and distribution of the software would be simpler. The alternative, as described in the article, requires a lot of man-hours and patience to install the same apps on a lot of devices.

The teachers who were involved in the Volume Purchasing of Elephonics told me that the process was so complex that in the future they would probably just look for Free app alternatives. Just what we need...another reason for users to look for free apps instead of paying for quality software.

The Outlook

As a parent observing how my children have benefited from iOS devices, I am excited to see these devices move into the classroom. As a developer, I hope that educational institutions do not take the approach of the Rhode Island school and load a classroom full of iPads from a single app purchase. If others adopt this mentality then there will be even less motivation for developers to create great apps for educators.

Hopefully, a solution will arrive that makes it as easy for educators to purchase and install quality software as it is for my daughter to practice her sight words.

Introducing Moms with Apps

Once you have kids, everything you have is up for grabs. Last Oreo cookie...gone. Tivo space...occupied by Dora the Explorer. Last sip of Coke...shared. Nice leather couch...a canvas to paint on. Playboy subscription...cancelled. Sleeping in on the weekends...never. New iPhone 4...hand it over.

Some of these concessions are livable, after all I don't really need another Oreo. Some of them are heart-breaking, since I've had that couch since college. However, some of them could jumpstart a lifetime of learning...and I'm not talking about reading it just for the articles.

Taking Education By the Hand

Parents and educators have been quick to note the fantastic educational potential of the iPhone. The interface is intuitive and engaging, while the vast selection of educational applications guarantees that you will be able to meet your children's educational needs. Want to practice early reading skills, while teaching you children how to avoid zombies? There's an app for that. For any educational subject and school topic, you can be sure that there isn't just an app for that....actually, there are hundreds.

Therein lies the problem.

Type Math, I Dare You

While the App Store has revolutionized the software industry, it is cluttered and notoriously difficult to navigate (and that's being nice). It also made $0.99 seem like a lot of money to a lot of people.

Let's just say that I want to find an app to help my 5-year old develop her math skills. I type "Math" into the search bar and you get "Math+-x+", "Math This", "Math That", "Math Math Math", "Mathy McMath Math", and so on.  Are these the best math apps, or just the ones with math in the title? What kind of math is in the app? Why does iTunes only show the first two sentences? It's 3 clicks to find out what type of math this app is for. And even once you establish that it's actually a math app, what ages is it suitable for? It's enough to make you want teach your kids math the old fashioned way...with a nun wielding a ruler.

Introducing Moms with Apps

For as frustrated as users get, developers have it even worse. They have spent hundreds and hundreds of hours developing their apps. Testing, tweaking and refining every last detail. Then, because the title of their name didn't lead with "Math" followed by some random unicode symbol, their app is stuck on page 4 of search results.

Some developers decided to do something about it. Not just any developers, but the members of Moms with Apps. Moms With Apps is a collaborative group of family-friendly developers seeking to promote quality apps for kids and families. It started with a few moms chatting over Twitter, evolved into forum, and finally graduated in to a fully fledged movement to promote the best in educational apps for children.

Members of Moms with Apps represent the very best and most renown developers in the App Store. Check out the member list and you find that it mirrors the Top Educational App Lists. Collectively, over 40% of the Moms with Apps member's apps have been featured by Apple in the App Store. These developers have set the standard for excellence in educational apps.

The Moms with Apps App

In collaboration with Moms with Apps, BabyBinks is proud to introduce the Moms with Apps app. While the name is a veritable marketing nightmare, the app is a comprehensive catalog of educational and family-friendly apps from Moms with App members. The developers have painstakingly categorized all of their apps by educational subjects and provided a recommended age.

These are not the categories your not going to find in the App Store. Categories like Art, Science, Music, Special Needs and Early Learning. And what about Math? You'll be searching through Counting, Addition, Subtraction, Fractions, Division and Money to find exactly the app that is appropriate for you children. The app also keeps a historical record of the educational apps that have been featured by Apple.

It's not going to get you your Playboy subscription back, but rest assured, when you son finds a box in the basement labeled "College Textbooks" that has 18 years of magazines in it, you'll be glad you were able to find an app that helped develop early literacy skills. That way when he swears he was reading them for the articles...you'll be able to half-heartedly believe him.

Here's What Your Kids Are Missing

Breaking News: Educational Apps are Coming to the Desktop

In my constant search to pawn as much of my children's education off technology, I stumbled across "The Land of Me". It is an interactive storybook about "The Land of Me". It's has nostalgic graphic design, a zen musical score, and comforting narration.  What really makes it standout is that its not available for the iPhone. It is a desktop application.

For my kids, this required a bit of clarification from me: "The computer is not just something to plug your iPhone into to recharge it."

The Desktop?

To be honest, I thought that desktop based educational games were 'done', conceding to the iPhone/iPad. I was clearly mistaken as I witnessed something very rare when going through the first chapter of The Land of Me....it completely captivated all of my kids at the same time. The only things capable of doing this is Flav-O-Ice popsicles, the Hex Girls Scooby-Doo episode, and the squirrel who likes to eat outside our kitchen window.

I also witnessed something else, they were playing together. This was a stark contrast to the iPhone, where each kid get a "turn", after which the device is begrudging handed off and the next kid huddles over the screen. We usually only get through 2 rotations before someone starts crying.

They all played "The Land of Me" together interacting with the characters, designing vehicles and monsters. There were some parts that responded to typing, so Ava (the oldest) searched for letters on the keyboard and sounded them out to her younger siblings.

Typing Uphill, Both Ways

Maybe gathering around the computer is our generations equivalent to huddling around the radio to hear Little Orphan Annie (apparently it was a radio show before it was a comic, before it was a movie). There is definitely something to be said for the cooperative interactions of playing together as a family, as opposed to  just handing off my iPhone and hoping it doesn't get dropped.

The iPhone, due to its size is a device for only one person to operate.  This leads to an individual experience not a cooperative one, no matter how much you hover over your kids while they're playing,

It seems plausible that with the way technology is evolving, typing on a keyboard may be a thing of the past. Just like my parents, who walked uphill both ways to school, someday I might be regaling stories of having to type on a keyboard using my hands. But, before that time comes, I think that there still might be a place (and advantages) to educational desktop apps.

Disclaimer: Of course, the major problem with introducing your children to desktop applications after they have only been exposed to the iPhone...fingerprints.

How I Doubled My App Store Profits in One Year

The App Store is a harsh mistress. For some, it unlocks a lifetime of riches and for others it swallows months of hard work into the dark oblivion. In between, there are those who make comfortable living or those of us who make enough to pay for a family vacation.

It's easy to forget that the mobile application market is in its infancy; it's also easy to forget what a 'smartphone' meant just a few years ago. While developers flocked to iOS and rapidly adapted their craft to deal with obsfucated method names and an endless stream of braces ']]]]', their skills only gained them entry into the App Store. As we all found out, building an App was the easy part...building a sustainable business is the hard part.

But I Just Wanted to Make An App

We all had reasons to make an App, mine was to help pick a name for our new baby boy. We ended up naming him Oscar. Ironically, Stork Drop wasn't finished until 3 months after his birth.

Building Stork Drop ended up involving a lot things that I never anticipated: lawyers, bankers, marketing, budgeting, finance, etc. It started out as a "hobby", but you quickly become more and more vested in the business of software development, not just an app developer.

Doubling Down on iOS

At some point, it became apparent to me that I was heavily investing in Apple and its iOS. I paid into the developer program, I bought a MacBook Pro, I bought an iPhone and iPod Touch. Most important, I was investing hundreds of hours programming Cocoa Touch. With all of this direct investment into iOS, I was also heaving vested in Apple's success as a company.

Indirectly, I was betting that Apple would maintain it position as the industry innovator and leader in iOS. I was betting that my investment of time, money and effort were for the long term. So, I decided to double down on my investment in iOS and invest my profits from the App Store directly into Apple stock. As the plot shows, this has effectively doubled my profits from the App Store. On the release date of Stork Drop Apple sold for $149, today it closed at $314.

The success of developers, on any platform, rely heavily on the success of that platform. Apple has made it very clear how it feels about its future when it rebranded itself as a mobile computing company. Shrewd developers who believe in the future of iOS can benefit from their success in the App Store as well as in the success of Apple as a company.

In the App Store: A Week in Education New & Noteworthy

It was a dark and stormy night. The full moon, barely visible behind heavy cloud cover, cast shadows over the sleepy suburban town. Down a darkened street, a single house had a single light on. From the house, eerie screams could be heard, "Daaadddyyyy. Daaaddddy. I want a drink of water."

Awoken from a dead sleep, I fulfilled the hollow request. As I shuffled my way back through the kitchen, I grabbed my iPhone to check the status of my latest app. I was rewarded for my fatherly diligence by an email from Apple: "Zombies Vs. Literacy is Ready For Sale". It's alive...alive!

I returned to sleep, drifting off dreaming about the App Store successes that awaited me.

Zombies Vs. Literacy Arises

Zombies Vs. Literacy is a simple app to help practice early reading skills. I designed it for my daughter who is learning "sight words" for Kindergarten. The teacher had prepared notecards with the words printed on them for parents to review with their children at home each night. I scoffed, "Notecards? What is this 1998?" Nobody in the room laughed...especially my wife.

Why would you want to have printed notecards that cost $1.49 for a pack of 100, when you could do the same thing with a $300 iPhone that is extremely fragile, needs to be charged daily, and has enough distractions to practically ensure that your children will end up with Attention Deficit Disorder? Why...ummm...in retrospect, seems like it probably wasn't the best idea.

Either, way I developed Zombies Vs. Literacy. The app functions by swiping to advance through sight words lists (both Dolch and Fry) and tapping to hear each letter spoken. As you advance through the list, the zombie advances towards the brain. When he reaches the brain, he declares "Brain too big!" to eat. My daughter complained that it was boring, so I included a zombie mob that runs across the screen when you shake your iPhone. They rearrange the letters and you have to fix them before you can move on.

I Won't Be Coming in to Work Today, I'm New & Noteworthy

It probably wasn't until noon of the following day, that something different was happening with Zombies Vs. Literacy. I had received 10 support emails that morning about the app. For BabyBinks this was highly unusual, as we have received just over 50 emails in nearly two years in the App Store.

With cautious optimism, I opened iTunes on my MacBook Pro. With one eye, I looked at "New & Noteworthy", but alas nothing. Shouldn't have got excited. Then I switched the education store and (wait for it)...Zombies Vs. Literacy in the #1 slot in "New & Noteworthy".

Over dinner, I told my kids how daddy would be able to spend a lot more time with them, now that I quit my job. Ok, that really didn't happen, but that dream was still alive. I was still anxiously awaiting what "New & Noteworthy" meant in terms of sales. Well I have to say, that I wasn't disappointed. Other than a "Free Day" downloads of Stork Drop, this was by far my biggest day in the App Store.

I Will Be Coming in to Work Today, I'm New & Noteworthy But...

While the first day success was intoxicating, reality set in on the next day. There was a five fold reduction in downloads. This trend continues to this very day. The part that surprised me most, was that Zombies Vs. Literacy spent the entire week in "New & Noteworthy". Literally, Monday to Monday it was listed, but only the first day saw big download numbers.

What Did I Learn

1. Being featured is a great feeling. Even if it doesn't translate into fame and fortune, it does mean that someone at Apple liked your app...and they've seen a lot of them. This is probably the best encouragement you can receive to continue to spend your late nights coding away.
2. Have a special screenshot prepared in case you get featured. I like make fancy screenshots with text and combined iPhone images for my iTuness screenshots. These look great when you have the app open to its dedicated page, but are difficult to read in your app is featured.
3. The undead are marketing gold! The dirty little secret here is that Zombies Vs. Literacy is really just a themed version of one of my other apps Elephonics. Elephonics has the same features, but has an elephant instead of a zombie. This wasn't part of some masterminded marketing scheme, it was simply that my daughter became infatuated with zombies after watching an episode of Scooby-Doo. I had put significant effort into marketing Elephonics (watch the commercial) which was release a few months ago, but it never caught on.

Success, Anyway You Look At It

The whole point of creating Zombies Vs. Literacy and Elephonics was to help my daughter practice her sight words. Together, we have used both apps enough to more than justify the development time. Also, she played a very important role in the app development. Watching her interact with it and listening to her brutally honest criticism, helped me to fine tune the usability and features. She also provided the voice overs for the letter pronunciations and, more importantly, the zombie sounds.

So, she is learning to read, I got a small glimpse of success in the App Store, and we got to spend a lot of time together...I would say that anyway you look at it, Zombies Vs. Literacy was a success.

I just hope that we will be as successful working together defending ourself during the next zombie uprising.

Using Elephonics to Upgrade to an iPhone 4

BabyBinks is excited to announce the first major update of Elephonics. Based on user feedback, we fixed a couple of bugs and cleaned up some of the audio. We also introduced a new feature: the stampede. Every minute, a stampede of elephants will run across the screen and jumble the letters. You'll need to fix them to move on to the next level. You can also start the stampede by shaking your device.

In addition, all of the images have been updated to take advantage of the new higher resolution displays in the iPhone 4. If you don't have an iPhone 4 you'll just have to squint your eyes or ask a friend to hold it between 5-10 feet away from your face. If you really want an iPhone 4, but you significant other doesn't understand why you need to get rid of your perfectly functioning iPhone 3G and could care less that, since you upgraded to iOS 4, it takes 4 minutes to check your Twitter status, then follow these simple instructions:

1. Download Elephonics telling your significant other that its a great app to teach your children to read
2. Give you kid a bag of potato chips. None of that expensive, baked stuff from the organic aisle. The greasier the better (and usually better tasting).
3. Show your kid how to active the new "Stampede" feature in Elephonics by shaking the iPhone.
4. Backup your iPhone and hand it over to your kid.
5. Go into the next room to talk with your significant other about going out of town this weekend to visit her parents.
6. Listen for the crash...and act surprised.

In the best case scenario, you're off to the Apple Store. In the worst case scenario, you're off to the Apple store on your way out of town to visit your in-laws. Either way, you've got an iPhone 4 to play with on the car ride.

For more compelling reasons to get Elephonics, watch the new commercial.

Look What the Stork Dropped: A Year in the App Store

The first year being a developer in the App store has been a fun and educational experience. First off, it was probably only fun because I am not relying on income from my app to support my family. I have a day job that I like and don't plan on leaving to become a full-time developer. It is a hobby, the result of late nights and lunch hours, but I take great pride in my app Stork Drop. Also, I have never had any unrealistic expectations about becoming an overnight millionaire. I do, however, strongly believe that I created a software product of value that could be sold.

The App Store Is The Revolution, Not the iPhone
If I might digress, I believe the App Store is a revolution unto itself. I have studied business and entrepreneurship and never has the barrier of entry to a market been so low where the stakes were so high. Is there any doubt that competition in the App Store is so fierce? Apple has created a platform, environment and level playing field for designers, programmers and marketers to compete against each other solely on the merit and implementation of their ideas.

The App Store may be the first instance of an actual Global Marketplace. Where else could a developer in the Midwest United States wake up and find out that, while he rocking a crying baby to sleep at 3:30 in the morning, he sold his product in 11 countries (two of which he has never heard of and six of which he doesn't even know what their currency is). As far as I'm concerned, the App Store has rewritten all the rules of entrepreneurship.

A Brief History of Stork Drop
The idea for Stork Drop was conceived when I tried to find a baby naming app in the App Store when my wife was pregnant. There were plenty of apps, but they were all boring lists. None of then took advantage of the capabilities of the iPhone...or were any fun. After a brainstorming session with my 3-year old, Stork Drop was conceived. Yes, that's a pregnancy joke.

When I first starting out to work on a baby naming app for the iPhone, my wife was in her second trimester. By the time it was approved in the App Store, Oscar was two months old. During the first six moths, Stork Drop was a Paid app, with the price ranging from $.99 to $2.99 to coincide with random promotions. After fighting a saturated market with many free, albeit inferior, offerings, I moved to two versions: Stork Drop Free with advertising and Stork Drop Premium, ad-free at $2.99. Here is more detailed post about going Free.

Going Ga-Ga for Google
After a month shuffling AdMob, Greystripe and Mobclix, I was ecstatic when I was contacted by Google (yes, someone actually called me) and invited to participate in the AdSense for Mobile Content Beta. My traffic was significantly lower than they required, but I had an offering with a very lucrative demographic that they were anxious to get some ads in front of.

The great thing about Google ads is that they are served from keywords you set. This way the ads are targeted and you don't end up with random ad spam (e.g. Get Ripped Quick, Loose Weight Today, Meet Local Singles) which had been defacing my app with the other networks. Now the ads being served were all relevant to parents and babies...that meant clicks.

Blah, Blah, Blah Get to the Income
Bottom line, I made twice as much the first week from AdSense than I did in two months from the other ad networks. The page eCPM fluctuates dramatically from day to day, but on a weekly basis the income is pretty consistent. There are a couple of nice spikes that seem to coincide with holidays.

Through some rudimentary analytics I implemented with Google App Engine, it was very clear sales of Stork Drop Premium did not correlate to price changes or Stork Drop Free downloads. The conversion rate of Free to Premium was 0.2%. My best guess is that some people probably just can not stand in app advertising or they saw the Premium version in the App Store first.

Regardless of our pricing strategy or offering, we are proud to say that we have been a fixture in the top 10 ranked baby naming app in the store. This translates to between 100-200 downloads of the free version a day. Overall, we have cracked the 100,000 download mark. And just so all you game developers don't feel like your the only ones getting screwed, there is cracked version of the Stork Drop Premium circulating the Internet. Either software piracy can not just be attributed to teenage hackers or those teenage hackers don't know when to pull out. Of course, that assumes that they're getting laid.

Enough Already, How Much Did You Make?
Here is plot of the income generated from Stork Drop Free (red) and Stork Drop Premium (blue) since the implementation of AdSense. The Y-axis has been purposefully removed but it should be apparent that I am not one of the overnight millionaires you have begrudgingly read about. The Google AdSense Beta program explicitly forbids disclosing the financial details, and the last thing I want to do is get on their bad side. Its not the AdSense income I'm worried about losing; its that Google knows so much about me by now and the last thing I want is my kids finding out that I made an "independent" film back in college.




In Midwest, suburban father terms, I made enough income to make half a year of car payments on a Toyota Sienna minivan and take my family on a nice Disney World Vacation without sweating profusely over paying $20.00 for a 8x10" of my daughter and Cinderella (despite the fact I took the same picture with my digital camera).

The Future
I am optimistic about the future of App development, especially for those of us "second shift" developers. For the most part, all it costs me is time, and that's time that I probably would have just been sleeping anyway. As a rule, I have never taken time away that could be spend with my family to work on any app. I have however, extensively involved them in brainstorming and beta testing. BabyBinks has just recently released a new app, Elephonics, that I developed alongside my 4-year old daughter to help develop early reading skills. Her input was invaluable as I remember she said in response to the prototype, "It's not very fun".

As far as Stork Drop is concerned, I have a major upgrade in the works that will transform it from a just a baby naming app to a complete pregnancy tracking app. It's the most requested feature from customers and it will give me a chance to try out the In-App-Purchasing model.

Of course, just like a few other successful apps out there, I have also been busy shopping around a script for "Stork Drop: The Movie". The bad news is that my old director friend from college has picked up the option on it. The good news is that the nudity is very tasteful.

In the App Store: 6 Months with Stork Drop

Our baby naming application, Stork Drop, has found a nice little niche in the baby names reference category of the App Store. Unfortunately, "niche" could easily be replaced with "stagnant".

Believe Me I Tried

I am not one the developers who is idly waiting for my retirement check from Apple, I have been actively marketing Stork Drop. I continually email app review sites, parenting blogs, parenting networks to request an app review.  I've tried to be active in forums, blogging, twitter'ing, Facebook'ing. Everything short of sexting. I even print business cards with my app logo and a promo code and hand them out to expecting mothers at the Apple store in my town (really).

In the app itself, I implemented two social network options, Facebook and Twitter, allowing people to automatically update their status with their favorite baby names.  Of course, the tag line "...from Stork Drop for the iPhone" was on the bottom of each update.  I thought this would help to generate the valuable word-of-mouth exposure that it seemed to be lacking.

Yes, I have done everything...except spend any money. Stork Drop has not brought in enough profits to justify any real marketing expenditures. I have gone back and forth about reinvesting everything in an ad campaign, but I have a very targeted market that should easy to reach.

It Should Be Easy, Right?

Unlike a lot of apps in the App Store, we have an established market: expecting parents. Many other developers have the burden of convincing a potential customer why they should spend their time popping bubbles, growing flowers, or running from spiders. We have it easy, our customers come to us (so to speak). If you have an iPhone and are expecting a baby, there is a pretty good chance that some day you will type "baby names" into the App Store search bar.

Herein lies the problem...Stork Drop is #12 on the returned app list.  In iTunes, you are presented with 6 apps from the query: 2 free, 4 paid.  The apps range from a poorly rated free app (at position #1) or highly rated $3.99 app.  Of course, there is a pet naming app there which doesn't make any sense, but, if you want to live in the App Store, you need to come to terms with the oddities and insanity that exist.

A Drive to the Top 6
I ran the numbers and figured out if I could get in the Top 6 than I could retire in 2 months.  Of course that's a joke, but who really knows.  My goal is simply to be on the front page when you query "baby names".  My strategy was to release a Lite version that would reach the front page, driving sales of the paid version once people realized how awesome it was.

Originally, I was hesitant to release a Lite version, thinking it would cannibalize sales.  After all, even though most people think they want to be creative and unique when naming their baby, the same names have been in the top 100 list for the past 50 years.  People stick to the most popular ones and those are the ones that would have to be released in the Lite version.

Instead of a Lite version per-se, I tried to "web 2.0" it up and called it Stork Drop Social Edition.  It contained a smaller name database, but you could unlock more names by using the social networking features.  All of these Lite users who used the Twitter and Facebook integration to unlock more names would be running a small ad campaign to all of their followers.

Except I Forgot About One Very Important Thing

The Lite version launched without much fanfare, just a blog post, but was instantly downloaded about 8:1 over the paid version.  The graph shows the month after the launch date (cyan:Social Edition; navy: Paid).  The Lite version gradually pulled the paid version up, but it was not significant.  What was most disappointing was very few people, literally 11, used the social networking features.  I came to two conclusions: they were content with the name lists provided or they don't want to share their favorite names.

I'm a parent of three so I don't know how I forgot that protecting your favorite baby names is something to be taken very seriously.  In particular, I know a family where two sisters who haven't talked in 5 years after one named her baby Max, even though the other sister had "called" it.  She wasn't even pregnant when she "called" it.

That was clearly a mistake on my part, but either way it proved that the Lite version was adequate for most peoples needs and they weren't interested in the paid version.  This was evident by the 0.9% upgrade conversion rate.  This was not what I had wanted from a Lite version and was not going to get us in the top 6.

When All Else Fails, Brute Force

I decided that I needed to get it that top 6 any way I could, to see if that exposure would drive a sales boon. I thought a free day after the New Year would keep the uptick in sales that we saw over Christmas rolling along. So on Jan. 4, I changed the price to free.  The results were pretty incredible, as seen in the plot.  The time period outlined in red corresponds the plot previously shown.

During the free day, at some times we were averaging 2 downloads a minute. On some days, we see only 2 downloads a day.  This blew my mind and our server, which had been comfortably calculating real-time name popularity statistics.  I guess you can view it as a good thing when your Google App Engine account rolls over from a free service to a paid service because of the traffic hit.

It Worked For About 4 Hours

During the free day, we hit as high as #2 but never lower than #4 for a "baby names" query. Thanks to the iTunes connect latency, our price updated faster than the popularity ranking switch from free to paid, so we enjoyed a #3 ranking the following day and a dramatic uptick in sales.

This had confirmed what we had thought, being in the top 6 results in iTunes connect for a targeted audience would be essential to any continued success. Unfortunately, when Apple's server switched us from free to paid, we dropped right back to #12, like nothing had ever happened.  That's not exactly true...our rating, which had been 4-1/2 stars, dropped to 3 stars from all the unsatisfied, free customers that had downloaded it that day.  We saw this before on our last price drop.

What Next?
After 6 months, maybe it is just quite possible that our app is where its supposed to be in the App Store.  Despite our efforts, we can't seem to get penetration in the App Store popularity algorithm that holds back any sales breakthroughs.

We can simply enjoy that our app is near the top of the popularity list for "baby names" and that we have great reviews and feedback from our users. There are several new apps in our pipeline that need more attention at this point, although I can't stop imagining how the name drop will look across a 10" tablet screen. In addition, many of lessons we learned from marketing Stork Drop are probably more valuable than any lost sales during our pricing experiments (A Week at $.99, A Day at Free).

Overall, our sales numbers are pretty consistent day-to-day and that helps pay for the essentials in life: diapers, formula and beer.

The iPhone (Service) That Ruined New Years

While just last week I was extolling the iPhone for saving our Christmas, problems with AT&T's service ruined our New Year. This year our extended family all decided to celebrate the Holiday season at Disney World. With a 3:1 children to parent ratio, it was guaranteed to be a considerable amount of chaos and unrest, but everyone agreed that it would lifelong memories. Unfortunately, so did 100,000 other people.

With maximum capacity at all the parks, staying together as a group was more frustrating that waiting in line for 180 minutes to ride Dumbo, so we decided to split up. We all agreed to keep in contact to meet early to get good seats for the New Year's fireworks. Seemed like the easy solution until I tried to call Grandpa: Call Failed. Grandma: Call Failed. Aunt V: Fail...and so on. Every attempt to make a phone call from the park was met with an immediate call failed message on the iPhone. I know we weren't alone because in almost every line we waited in you could see people flailing around in frustration while trying to make calls on their iPhones.

Our grand plans to watch the fireworks as family weren't totally ruined. My immediate family serendipitously found the Grandparents, but we were missing several of the others. So heed this warning, if you plan to go to Disney World, remember your iPhone doesn't work. No phone calls, no messaging, no internet and there is no wi-fi available. You essentially have a glorified iPod touch. All services worked back at the Disney Resorts properties, but inside the Magic Kingdom, Epcot and the Animal Kingdom was a wasteland.

Looks like Disney World is ripe for a Verizon commercial.

The iPhone That Saved Christmas

Like many dads on Christmas Eve, I found myself out on an important, last minute, errand with the kids to give mommy time to wrap presents.  All was fine until we needed an emergency potty break on the ride home.  I pulled off and ran into the first restaurant we saw.  We made it to the potty just-in-time to avoid any accidents.

After we washed hands and put jackets, hats, gloves and boots back on (yes, my daughter can't go potty with her shoes on), I grabbed the door handle and SNAP.  The handle snapped off in my hand, locking us in.  I banged on the door for several minutes, but no one heard us.  Christmas was coming fast and the girls were not happy.

Finally, I reached for the "does everything, there's an App for that" technological wonder in my coat pocket: the iPhone.  Since I was in such a hurry, I didn't remember the name of the restaurant we in...not a problem.  I used Maps to get my location, then a local Google search to find the name and phone number of the restaurant.  I called the restaurant and told them I was trapped in the bathroom.  Within seconds someone can to rescue us.  Apparently, the restaurant was closing when we snuck in to use the bathroom, so there were only 2 people left doing the closing in the back room and hadn't heard us knocking.

Once again, the iPhone has proven itself as more than a great way to waste time, play a game or pick a baby name.  I'm just glad that I don't live in New York City, or I might have spent Christmas locked in bathroom.  At least, I would have been with family.

Daddy, Daughter Review of Elf Command iPhone App

I'm completely resigned to the fact that my iPhone is no longer my iPhone. While I am charged with carrying it, I'm merely holding it for whichever of my kids wants to play on it. At 2 and 4 years old, my daughters have pretty much mastered it (much better than their grandmother). They can both unlock it, find their favorite apps, and launch them. Thanks to cover flow, they can even navigate through my iTunes library to find their favorite songs.

Lately, my 4-year old has become tired of the drawing and memory matching that have held her attention for so long and has taken an interest in games. It's actually quite difficult to find games that work for pre-kindergarten. They have to be simple, easy to play, and fun.

In the spirit of the season, we downloaded a new game Elf Command from Retro Dreamer. They are the creators of the popular Sneezies game. The premise of the game is simple: you help a robot elf sort presents for Santa.

A 4-Year Old's Review
Judging from the time amount of requests to "see" my iPhone, Elf Command is a big hit. She was able to pick up the concept as well as the gameplay very quickly. The only downside was that she felt bad if she didn't score high, because that meant the "some boys and girls might not get their present".

Dad's Review
In general I'm not a big iPhone gamer, nor a big gamer in general. I still have my original Nintendo hooked up in my den, so it shouldn't be a surprise that I enjoyed this game. It's an old-school game (both graphics and sound) that's simple and mildly addictive. Most importantly, it was great to have a game that I could enjoy playing with my daughter.

One thing that was a little frustrating for my daughter was the location of the pause button in the interface. It is easy to accidently hit it, pausing the game and launching a new screen. Even after many plays, she was hitting it quite often, and would end up closing the app and relaunching it. I've found that this is a common problem with many of the kids apps. It's too easy to exit the main screen or exit the app.

Wrap up
Elf Command is free, so it's a no-brainer to download and give it a try. Too bad it will be cleared off my our iPhone is a couple of weeks. Who knows, maybe there will be a Bunny Command for Easter.

Stork Drop Social Edition: A New Class of Apps

In the Beginning
On the first day, Steve created the iPhone...and everyone thought that was good.  He looked around and saw the iPhone had no companions, so he allowed native Apps. On the second day there was Paid apps, but the people said that was no good. On the third day there was Free apps, but but the developers said that was no good.  On the fourth day there was Lite apps, but everyone felt a little screwed.  On the fifth day there was Freemium apps, but no one is quite sure how that's going to work out.

Today, on the sixth day, there is Social, a new class of iPhone apps. On the seventh day, everyone has to shovel, because the Midwest just got a ton of snow dumped on it.

Stork Drop Social Edition
Today, BabyBinks is proud to announce their latest iPhone application, Stork Drop Social Edition.  This is a free version of their not-very popular, but highly rated baby naming application Stork Drop.  Stork Drop SE has all the features of the full Stork Drop app, with a limited database of names.  You might be thinking, that sounds just like a Lite version.  Yeah, it pretty much is...but with a social twist.

Being Social Has Its Benefits
We are also introducing a new class of apps: social.  Social apps allow you to unlock additional functionality by sharing via your Facebook and/or Twitter accounts.  When you download Stork Drop SE to your iPhone, you will have access to the name, meaning, and origin of the top 100 baby names of all time.  If you choose to sign-in to your Facebook or Twitter accounts, you will unlock 900 more names.  While signed in to either social networking service, your status will be automatically updated with your top 5 favorite baby names.

Of course, if you want access to almost 10,000 baby names you can always purchase the full version of Stork Drop.

It's Not a Marketing Secret; We Want You to Share
The biggest obstacle to success in the App Store is visibility.  Getting featured on the front page of the iTunes Store, either as a Favorite, Noteworthy, or in a Top 10 list increases your visibility.  Having websites or blogs review your app increases visibility.  Of course, getting this kind (or any) of visibility is difficult, especially for small, unknown developers.

So, with over 115,000 apps (and growing), how do you let people know about your product?  We decided to turn to social networking (my local news told me its all the rage).  By rewarding Stork Drop SE users to link their social networking, we enter in a mutually beneficial arrangement: users get more functionality; BabyBinks gets more visibility.

The Bottom Line
A Lite app allows customers to try before they buy.  A Social app allows customers to try before they buy...and tells the whole world about it.