The Art of the App Store: The Business of Apple Development

Introduction xv   Chapter 1: A Brief History of Time in the App Store 1  Time in a Table 1 The Early App Store 5 Novel Uses of the Touch Screen 6 Simplicity Succeeds While Complexity Fails 8 The Modern App Store 9 The Slow March Toward Complex Apps 10 How Niches Have Changed from the Early App Store 10 Summary 11  Chapter 2: Setting Your Goals, Costs, and Expectations 13  Confronting the \"Hero Inventor\" Syndrome 13 Benefitting by Doing It Yourself 14 Outsourcing 15 Avoiding the Pitfalls of Going It Alone 20 Considering Your Fundamental Costs 23 Programming 24 Factoring in UI/UX for Game/App Design 25 Factoring in Art Design 26 Considering Your Optional Costs 26 Audio Costs 26 Special Effects Costs 27 Localization for Foreign Markets 27 Quality Assurance/Testing 28 Public Relations and Marketing 29 Advertising Costs 30 Managing Your Expectations 31 The App Store as a Crowded Zoo 31 Planning for Cost Overruns 32 Scheduling with an Iron Fist 32 Summary 32  Chapter 3: Researching the App Store Market 33  Examining the Numbers and Trends 33 Making Decisions Based on Research 36 Opportunity Size: Is There a Hole in the Market? 37 Choosing Your Niche 38 Perform Due Diligence Early 39 Summary Decisions 40 Analyzing Successful Apps 41 Exploring Popular Features 48 Exploring Visual Styles 49 Exploring Social Integration 50 Exploring the iPhone Hall of Fame 51 Avoiding Pesky Ego Traps 51 Game Concepts: Old versus New 53 Analyzing Unsuccessful Apps 55 Learning from Other People\'s Mistakes 57 Learning from Other People\'s Complaints 58 Mixing and Matching 59 Borrowing Style and Functionality from Mainstream Applications/Games (the Picasso Way) 59 Pulling Out Successful Features for a Twist 60 Summary 60  Chapter 4: Knowing Your Customer 63  Understanding App Store Demographics 64 Casual and Traditional Gaming Pillars 65 iPhone Casual versus Traditional Casual 68 Meeting Your Customer\'s Expectations 68 Visual and Graphical Expectations 69 Gameplay and Feature Set Expectations 69 Competitive Feedback Research 91 Summary 91  Chapter 5: Plotting the Stages of Development 93  Leadership and Your Team 94 Assumptions about Your Role 95 Your Starting Lineup 95 A Controlling Idea to Kick Things Off 98 Concept through Release 100 Maximizing Your App through Agile Development 101 Planning - Envisioning Your Vision 104 Scheduling 107 Production and Stages of Development 115 Coordinating Marketing 119 Summary 121  Chapter 6: Guidelines and Expectations for Developing Your App 123  Potential Risk and Reward 124 Paid Apps Are Seen as WYSIWYG 124 What Incentives Can You Provide When Sales Dwindle? 124 Are You Planning on In-App Purchases? 124 Can You Go Free? 125 Like Winning the Lottery 125 Revenue Like a Rollercoaster 126 App Store Business Models 127 Free Apps 127 Paid App Revenue Models and Price Expectations 129 Creating for a Multitasking World 132 Understanding the Effects of Multitasking on the Brain 133 Seeing the Phone as the Ultimate Multitasking Tool 133 The Half-Second Window 133 Understanding Typical User Tendencies with Touch Screens 134 Building Initial Interactions That Meet the \"Half-Second Window\" 134 Depicting the Physical World 136 Using Physical Metaphors to Delight Your Audience 136 Designer/Branding Exercise: Creating Metaphors for Your App 139 Utilizing Physical Forces: Gravity, Weather, Objects 143 The Importance of Sound in Physical Metaphors 144 Summary 144  Chapter 7: Creating Free and Freemium Apps 145  App Revenue Terminology 146 Microtransaction 146 Downloadable Content (DLC) 146 Free App 148 Freemium App 148 In-App Purchase 149 Free-to-Play App (F2P) 149 Lite App 149 Long Tail Strategy 150 Business Reasons behind Revenue Models 150 Free App Considerations 150 Freemium App Considerations 151 Lite App Considerations 153 Considering Risks and Rewards 155 Free Apps 155 \'Freemium Apps 156 Lite Apps 156 Minimizing Risk for Any App 157 How to Succeed with a Free App 157 Free Apps 157 Lite Apps 160 Supporting Your App with Ads 165 How to Succeed with a Freemium App 168 Microtransactions and the Long Tail 169 Viable Ways to Monetize 170 Implementing a Virtual Currency System 172 Succeeding with the Freemium Model 176 Summary 176  Chapter 8: Creating Paid and Premium Apps 177  Business Reasons behind Revenue Models 178 Two Types of Paid Apps 178 Entertainment versus Practicality or Education in Price Point Determination 179 Non-Premium Paid App Considerations 180 Premium Paid App Considerations 181 Considering Risks and Rewards 183 Non-Premium Paid Apps 183 Premium Paid Apps 184 How to Succeed with Paid Apps 184 The Paid App Mentality 184 Integrating Your Lite Version 187 Adding In-App Purchases 192 Summary 193  Chapter 9: Adopting Apple\'s Approach 195  Infusing an Insane Amount of Care 196 Treating User Experience as King 197 The Little Things Matter... More Than You Think 200 Value-Added Benefits (Go Farther Than You Think You Should) 202 Customer as King 203 Adapting Apps to iPad 204 Case Study: Tapbots 206 High-Contrast Branding 206 Refined, Responsive, Simplistic Interface 207 No Transitions 208 Standard Conventions 208 Summary 209  Chapter 10: Riding the Social Networking Wave 211  Fostering the Ultimate Viral Marketing: Social Networks 212 Integrating In-App Networks 212 Building Achievements, Medals, Badges, and Other Rewards 218 Taking Cues from Facebook 219 Everything Is More Fun with Friends 220 It\'s All about Metrics - Tweak Values Early and Often 220 Ignoring Facebook Conventions 222 Waiting Is Not Fun 223 No Forced Friends, Please 223 Rewarding Users for Promoting Your App 224 Gifting with Virtual Objects, Free Stuff 224 Providing Users with a Sense of Community 227 Social Interaction as Features 227 Features versus Extras 228 Setting the Stage for Users to Compete 228 Providing the Tools for Users to Connect 232 Implementing Facebook Connect and Twitter 232 Fostering Your In-App User Community 234 Maximizing Viral Channels 235 Summary 240  Chapter 11: Feedback, Maintaining, and Sc aling 243  Evaluating Feedback 244 Soft Launch Preparation 244 Main Launch Feedback 245 Taking the Good and the Bad 246 Converting Data into Actionables 247 Maintenance Isn\'t Just Fixing, It\'s Marketing 250 Customer Support Is Key 250 Timely Updates 253 Scaling 253 Releasing New Content 253 Building for Other Platforms 254 The Future of Your App 254 Summary 256  Appendix A: Reading List of Recommended Books 257  App Development 257 Business and Project Management 257 iOS Programming 258 Design and Art 258 Marketing 258 Creativity and Inspiration 259  Appendix B: Online Resources 261  Research and Metrics 261 App Store Metrics and Rankings 261 App Usage and Engagement Metrics 262 Website Metrics and SEO 262 Planning and Communicating 263 Outsourcing 263 Project Management 263 E-Mail, Video Conferencing, Chat, and Screen Sharing 265 Developing 265 iOS Development 265 Social Game Solutions 266 Brainstorming and Prototyping 267 Documentation 268 Cross-Platform Development 268 Royalty-Free Audio 269 Marketing 269 App News and Review Sites 269 Ad Networks and Affiliates 270 Award Sites 271 Press Release Submission 271 E-Mail Marketing 272 Full-Featured Marketing Solutions 272 Social Media 272 Customer Support 274  Index 275