What’s a Quality App?
Deep Green 1.2 was released last week. I had been working on it for more than a year — although not full time. Over a period of six months, I had two simultaneous full-time assignments: rewriting the Moodagent API and developing Saxo Bank for iPhone.
During that six month period, I didn’t code much Deep Green. However, I did spend time reworking the graphical design with The Iconfactory. That it took four months just to get the shapes of the pieces right, tells something about the amount of details crafting a great app entails.
For app buyers I think it’s important to understand that Deep Green is what I call a quality app. And what I mean by that is not just that it’s well done, good looking etc., but that it gives users a lot value for their money over time. In terms of App Store pricing, Deep Green isn’t cheap. But even if you bought it in 2008, you’ll still be able to run it on any of your current iOS devices, also the ones that didn’t exist at the time. And at no extra cost.
I see lots of developers who not only take the easy and tempting solution to offer separate apps for iPhone and iPad (instead of one universal), but also adjust the price up and down, back and forth every so often to “optimise” revenue (or whatever). And to whose benefit? Certainly not the loyal users who bought the app early, at a higher price.
As a user I really don’t like to see an app I just bought now being offered at a lower price. I feel I made a bad decision buying the app. I regret the purchase. I also feel bad about buying an app I’ve already bought, just because I wish to run it on my iPad as well as my iPhone. Not only do I have to manage several versions of the same app, I have to pay for it again.
As a developer I really don’t want my users to feel the same way.
Deep Green has been $7.99 from the very beginning (except for the short introductory price at $4.99 in December of 2008), and it’ll stay that way. If anything, price will go up as more features are added. So regardless at what point you choose to buy Deep Green, you’ll never find yourself in a situation where you regret not having postponed the purchase.
That’s a quality app.
